Design Hero: Annie Atkins

From fake passports and official documents to hand painted road signs, Annie Atkins has established herself as a prolific graphic designer known for creating immersive graphic props for film and television. Her work has helped define the visual worlds of movies such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Bridge of Spies, and Isle of Dogs. By focusing on the small details that are often overlooked in movies, Atkins elevates storytelling and has helped define the growing field of graphic design within filmmaking.

Born in 1980 in Snowdonia, North Wales, Atkins grew up surrounded by creativity. Her mother was an illustrator who drew detailed observations of nature and wildlife, and her father ran a design business together with her mother making signage and artwork for parks, historical locations, and scenic tourist spots. Atkins has said that because both of her parents were artists, "there seemed no question that she would also go that route."

Atkins pursued a bachelor's degree in visual communications in 2003 from Ravensbourne University in London. After graduating, she worked as an art director at McCann-Erickson in Reykjavík, where she created commercial design and advertising. Looking to change direction, in 2007 she pursued a masters in Film from University College Dublin in Ireland, where she discovered prop and historical graphic design for film.

After getting her masters, Annie was hired as a graphic designer on the TV series The Tudors in 2008. She went on to work on productions such as Camelot, Vikings, and Penny Dreadful, developing expertise in period-accurate design. During this time, she developed a guiding principle: if something was made by hand at the time, she makes it by hand now.

In 2014, Atkins had her breakthrough working as lead graphic designer on Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, creating meticulously crafted props such as vintage hotel stationery, documents, and love letters. The film won the Academy Award for Best Production Design at the 87th Academy Awards. Beyond her film work, Atkins published Fake Love Letters, Forged Telegrams, and Prison Escape Maps: Designing Graphic Props for Filmmaking in 2020.