Movie posters are everywhere. Plastered inside and outside of every theatre across America, flashed across every computer screen, splashed on some page in every magazine—nobody can escape this forgotten form of art. But what is it that attracts us to a movie poster? What makes the movie poster for “E.T.” great, but the poster for “Changeling” ridiculous?
Back in the day, movie posters were designed strictly for informative purposes. The image would consist of a title, the director’s name, the actor’s name, the theater name, and maybe the ticket price. But as films themselves evolved, so did the posters that attract us to them. The modern film poster is one with zero creative boundaries, but also one with unspoken “rules.”
Designing a film poster is not easy. It takes careful consideration and a very delicate balance between style and planning to perfect the art. To do this, there are basic “essentials” every designer should consider to convince the viewer.
The first requires the poster to be memorable. Stay away from the clichéd, cookie-cutter aspects of blockbuster movie posters. Don’t put the A-list star’s big, fat face front and center; put him in front of a huge plane with his back to the viewer, such as the incredibly memorable poster for the 2009 George Clooney film, “Up In Air.” I have no idea what this movie is about (although I guess it would not be crazy to assume it has something to do with airplanes), but as soon as I saw the movie poster online, I wanted to see the film.
Intrigue—it’s all about the double take. Have you ever walked by the line-up of movie posters in a theater and suddenly stopped to look back at one that caught the corner of your eye? If your answer is yes, you have been a victim of successful advertising, and a viewer of a successful movie poster. A perfect example of this would be the “American Beauty” movie poster. It’s one of the simplest concepts: a bare stomach and a rose. Even the tagline is simple: “Look closer” in tiny white writing near the top of the poster. How much more intriguing can a movie poster get? If you aren’t at least curious about seeing this movie after seeing the poster, there is something wrong with the firing signals in your brain.
One trap that many movie poster designs fall prey to is lack of conciseness. Designers are forever attempting to fill every single gap with an actor’s name or a “floating face,” an explosion and a huge muscle car (or six muscle cars, for that matter). An example of an overloaded movie poster is that of “Urban Legend.” This poster consists of six heads floating around an eye, divided by broken glass and text from newspaper clippings. Come on. Who in the 21st century has time to stop and take in every single feature and component of that poster? Nobody. The amount of graphics does not equal the amount of persuasiveness. The goal is to convey to the viewer a sense of the movie’s purpose, not every aspect of the plot.
But even if your poster has memorable imaging, intrigue, and conciseness, you are still missing the most obvious detail: information. The original movie posters did get something right. Don’t forget to get the important details across: the title, release date, the actors (although who is starring in the movie is not necessarily needed). Placement is just as important as content. Scribbling all the information in some random space like a hyper kindergartener with a crayon will just deter the audience. Make sure it is ordered and logically laid out.
The most important aspect of designing a movie poster, however, is this: rules are always meant to be broken. Be bold. Do something different. After all, innovation is what the film industry is all about.
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