From the Silent Era of film all the way up until the 1980s, hand-drawn film posters were commonplace. Crafted in painstaking detail and incredibly atmospheric, many of the posters created at this time are still regarded as iconic. Read More

Around this time I like to look back on the year that’s just passed, and pull out some of my favourite posters. As always, this is hard because narrowing it down to just ten doesn’t seem fair – but it does fit neatly into a single article so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 

So without further ado…Read More

We all love stories because they take us on a journey. And films are no different. Whatever the genre, a good film grips us with twists and turns – playing with our expectations – so that we stay engaged until the final moments. And great film posters? Well, they take us on a journey as well. And some of the cleverest posters can even replicate those twists and turns too. How? One way is by using hidden images. Read More

Alternative Movie Posters or AMPs are big news in 2024. Whilst they’ve probably existed – in one form or another – as long as films themselves, their popularity has skyrocketed over the last ten or fifteen years. And it doesn’t show any sign of stopping.Read More

Double exposure is a powerful tool in visual storytelling. Using layers of shape and imagery, it can produce striking posters that can catch a viewer’s eye and encourage them to look twice. It can be bold or subtle and the atmosphere it creates is often highly emotive. It can also be an effective way of linking narrative elements – characters or places – whetting an audience’s appetite for the film to come. Read More

From a storytelling point of view, designers can face a lot of challenges when creating a film poster. Within just a single image, we need to spark intrigue without giving too much away and we also need something eye-catching that ideally gives the viewer something more to see upon closer inspection. And all the time staying true to the tone and specifics of the story.Read More

In our culture, we have a long history of duality in storytelling. From thematic duality like an epic fight between good and evil or the journey from innocence to experience right through to duality within one personality such as in The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde – the concept of opposing forces has long been a key catalyst for creating drama. Read More

I’m a big fan of typography and how skilfully it can be used in film posters as a supporting element or even the main visual feature. As recent research such as that conducted by design agency Monotype in collaboration with applied neuroscience company Neurons shows – “different font styles can evoke varied emotional responses”.  Their report also shed light on the different influences that size, colour and spacing can have on how type is seen and more importantly, felt.Read More

A while back, I wrote an article featuring some of my favourite poster designers on Instagram. Of course, there’s a lot more than 8! So, just in case you happen to be looking for some new, amazing artists to follow (of course you are!) – here’s an updated list. And if you’re not sure if you’re following the incredible designers from my first article, check it out here!Read More

Depth of field has been an important part of film poster design for a very long time. An important storytelling device, shorter or longer depths of field can effectively and powerfully convey elements of the story world as well as narrative, genre and tone.  Read More