DECAL

Keeping hundreds of independent films looking their best across every screen and shelf

The design engine behind hundreds of film releases — turning key art into scroll-stopping streaming thumbnails and shelf-worthy physical media for some of independent film’s most acclaimed distributors.

Project Overview

DECAL is an independent film distribution company — launched in February 2021 as a joint venture between NEON and Bleecker Street to handle home entertainment distribution for both labels’ curated slates of features, along with titles from XYZ Films and other partners. Their catalog spans some of the most celebrated films in recent independent cinema: Parasite, I, Tonya, Captain Fantastic, The Platform, Pig. If you’ve encountered cover art while scrolling a streaming platform or browsed the Blu-ray aisle, you may have already been in DECAL’s world without knowing it.

DECAL came to us to handle the production of digital assets for streaming platforms alongside packaging design for Blu-ray and DVD. It is an ongoing engagement, now spanning hundreds of titles.

Arts & Culture, Brand Rollout & Marketing Activation

decalreleasing.com

2021-Present

Illustration & Infographics
Brand Rollout & Marketing Activation

The Challenge

Home entertainment design is a volume business with no margin for error. For each title, DECAL needed platform-ready digital assets across a long list of streaming services — Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, DirecTV, Fandango at Home (formerly VUDU), and others — each with their own specs, aspect ratios, and technical requirements. At the same time, physical Blu-ray and DVD packaging had to be designed to work with existing key art, communicate production details and bonus features clearly, and feel like a worthy artifact for the kind of film-lover who still buys discs.

Doing this well, at scale, week after week, requires a studio that understands both the technical demands and the emotional stakes. A badly adapted thumbnail can tank a film’s discoverability. A careless packaging layout disrespects the work.

The Goal: Deliver end-to-end digital and physical design production for every DECAL title — consistently, on deadline, and at a quality level that reflects the ambition of the films themselves.

Our Approach

Our process starts with the streaming assets. For each title, we adapt the existing key art to meet every platform’s specific requirements from the outset — rather than retrofitting a single design after the fact. Getting this right early saves time during release campaigns and ensures the artwork reads correctly whether it’s a full bleed banner or a thumbnail competing for attention on a crowded homepage.

Physical packaging follows the same principle: begin with the key art and translate it thoughtfully to the sleeve and disc. That means not just resizing, but reconsidering hierarchy, typography, and layout for a format that gets picked up and examined in ways a digital thumbnail doesn’t. We treat Blu-ray and DVD design with respect for the physical medium — these are artifacts, and they should feel like it.

Beyond individual titles, we’ve also handled bundle art for NEON — multi-film combo packs organized by genre or performer, designed for Apple, Amazon, and Fandango at Home. And for Amazon’s Priorities Page, we produce the additional priority placements that drive visibility for featured titles.

What We Built

VOD Platform Assets
For every title in the DECAL catalog, we produce digital assets formatted for: Apple, Amazon, DirecTV, Fandango at Home, Google, Vubiquity, Gracenote, TiVo, Hulu, Tubi, Showtime, and Kanopy, among others. Each platform gets assets built to its own spec — not a one-size-fits-all adaptation.

DVD + Blu-Ray Packaging
Following VOD asset approval, we design packaging for each physical release. The process begins with the key art and considers sleeve, disc, and insert formats individually. Production details, bonus features, laurels, and pull quotes are incorporated clearly without cluttering the visual hierarchy. The goal is a package that rewards a physical purchase.

NEON Bundle Art
Multi-film combo packs for NEON across Apple, Amazon, and Fandango at Home — organized by genre and by actor, designed to surface the catalog and drive discovery among viewers who already know and trust the NEON brand.

Amazon Priorities Page
Priority placement assets for Amazon’s featuring system, which drives additional visibility for select titles during their release window.

The Impact

Since 2021, we’ve worked across hundreds of titles for DECAL, including releases from XYZ Films, Aura Entertainment, and additional NEON titles as the label has grown. DECAL handles home entertainment distribution for titles like Longlegs, one of NEON’s biggest theatrical hits and the highest-grossing indie horror release of 2024, and Parasite, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2020. The breadth and quality of the DECAL catalog reflects the ambition of what these labels are doing — and PXP’s ongoing role means design is never the bottleneck on getting those films in front of audiences.

Working at volume across a single catalog also means our team has developed deep familiarity with each label’s visual standards and release patterns — which translates into faster turnarounds and fewer revision cycles as the relationship continues.

Ready to dive in?

Whether you’re launching something new, refreshing an existing brand, or bringing more consistency to your story—we’ll help you do it right from the start.

We’re not just here for deliverables. We’re here for the long haul.