diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 88a7e107b1..7ab5fc7c5d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ help: ## show make targets
 
 .PHONY: clean-src
 clean-src:
-	[ ! -d src ] || $(CHOWN) -R $(shell id -u):$(shell id -g) src
-	$(RM) -r src
+	@[ ! -d src ] || $(CHOWN) -R $(shell id -u):$(shell id -g) src
+	@$(RM) -r src
 
 .PHONY: src
 src: src/github.com/docker/cli src/github.com/docker/docker src/github.com/docker/buildx src/github.com/docker/compose src/github.com/docker/scan-cli-plugin ## clone source
@@ -50,22 +50,27 @@ src/github.com/docker/scan-cli-plugin:
 
 .PHONY: checkout-cli
 checkout-cli: src/github.com/docker/cli
+	$(call title,Checkout $(DOCKER_CLI_REPO)#$(DOCKER_CLI_REF))
 	./scripts/checkout.sh src/github.com/docker/cli "$(DOCKER_CLI_REF)"
 
 .PHONY: checkout-docker
 checkout-docker: src/github.com/docker/docker
+	$(call title,Checkout $(DOCKER_ENGINE_REPO)#$(DOCKER_ENGINE_REF))
 	./scripts/checkout.sh src/github.com/docker/docker "$(DOCKER_ENGINE_REF)"
 
 .PHONY: checkout-buildx
 checkout-buildx: src/github.com/docker/buildx
+	$(call title,Checkout $(DOCKER_BUILDX_REPO)#$(DOCKER_BUILDX_REF))
 	./scripts/checkout.sh src/github.com/docker/buildx "$(DOCKER_BUILDX_REF)"
 
 .PHONY: checkout-compose
 checkout-compose: src/github.com/docker/compose
+	$(call title,Checkout $(DOCKER_COMPOSE_REPO)#$(DOCKER_COMPOSE_REF))
 	./scripts/checkout.sh src/github.com/docker/compose "$(DOCKER_COMPOSE_REF)"
 
 .PHONY: checkout-scan-cli-plugin
 checkout-scan-cli-plugin: src/github.com/docker/scan-cli-plugin
+	$(call title,Checkout $(DOCKER_SCAN_REPO)#$(DOCKER_SCAN_REF))
 	./scripts/checkout.sh src/github.com/docker/scan-cli-plugin "$(DOCKER_SCAN_REF)"
 
 .PHONY: checkout
diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index 56794365d6..eeb77e2c7e 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -63,3 +63,17 @@ export DOCKER_ENGINE_REF
 export DOCKER_SCAN_REF
 export DOCKER_COMPOSE_REF
 export DOCKER_BUILDX_REF
+
+# utilities
+BOLD := $(shell tput -T linux bold)
+PURPLE := $(shell tput -T linux setaf 5)
+GREEN := $(shell tput -T linux setaf 2)
+CYAN := $(shell tput -T linux setaf 6)
+RED := $(shell tput -T linux setaf 1)
+RESET := $(shell tput -T linux sgr0)
+TITLE := $(BOLD)$(PURPLE)
+SUCCESS := $(BOLD)$(GREEN)
+
+define title
+    @printf '$(TITLE)$(1)$(RESET)\n'
+endef
diff --git a/scripts/checkout.sh b/scripts/checkout.sh
index 6bc18479dd..91078c0252 100755
--- a/scripts/checkout.sh
+++ b/scripts/checkout.sh
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #   limitations under the License.
 
 checkout() (
-	set -ex
+	set -e
 	SRC="$1"
 	REF="$2"
 	REF_FETCH="$REF"
@@ -27,11 +27,13 @@ checkout() (
 	else
 		REF="FETCH_HEAD"
 	fi
-	git -C "$SRC" fetch --update-head-ok --depth 1 origin "$REF_FETCH"
-	git -C "$SRC" checkout -q "$REF"
+	(
+	  set -x
+    git -C "$SRC" fetch --update-head-ok --depth 1 origin "$REF_FETCH"
+    git -C "$SRC" checkout -q "$REF"
+	)
 )
 
-
 # Only execute checkout function above if this file is executed, not sourced from another script
 prog=checkout.sh # needs to be in sync with this file's name
 if [ "$(basename -- $0)" = "$prog" ]; then
diff --git a/static/Makefile b/static/Makefile
index f28d477b3c..5f7add7ee0 100644
--- a/static/Makefile
+++ b/static/Makefile
@@ -17,19 +17,21 @@ export CONTAINERD_VERSION
 export RUNC_VERSION
 
 .PHONY: help
-help:
-	@grep -E '^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## .*$$' $(MAKEFILE_LIST) | sort | awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "}; {printf "$(BOLD)$(CYAN)%-25s$(RESET)%s\n", $$1, $$2}'
+help: ## show make targets
+	@awk 'BEGIN {FS = ":.*?## "} /^[a-zA-Z_-]+:.*?## / {sub("\\\\n",sprintf("\n%22c"," "), $$2);printf " \033[36m%-20s\033[0m  %s\n", $$1, $$2}' $(MAKEFILE_LIST)
 
 .PHONY: clean
 clean: ## remove build artifacts
+	$(call title,Removing build artifacts)
 	@[ ! -d build ] || $(CHOWN) -R $(shell id -u):$(shell id -g) build
 	@$(RM) -r build
 
 .PHONY: build
 build: ## build static package
+	$(call title,Building static package for $(TARGETPLATFORM))
 	./build-static "$(CURDIR)" "$(TARGETPLATFORM)"
 
 .PHONY: hash_files
 hash_files: ## hash files
-	@echo "Hashing directory $(DIR_TO_HASH)"
+	$(call title,Hashing directory $(DIR_TO_HASH))
 	$(HASH_CMD) "$(DIR_TO_HASH)"