The inside story: How great film posters create meaningful narratives
How do you turn a good film poster into a great one? A good poster design is fantastic at communicating information – it will tell you everything the filmmakers want you to know about the film such as the title, the stars, the genre and the tone. All of this will be conveyed using powerful design elements such as colour, typography and photography to make you want to watch. But a great film poster? I’d argue they do something more. Great film posters – like all great art – tell a story.Read More
How to create quality poster designs using sub-optimal photos
In an ideal world, for every job I would be supplied with a good selection of well lit, high quality assets for creating the best poster possible. However, many of us working in this area will be aware that this is by no means a given – even when working on a big-ticket job.
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Six inspiring colour palette approaches for your sci-fi film poster
If you’ve read some of my previous articles covering colour concepts and the relationship between genre and colour in film posters, then you’ll know how much importance I put on the role of colour in design.
How to make a living as a freelance graphic designer
‘How did you get into that then?’ is the question I’m most often asked when I tell people what I do for work.
The truth is there is no real set way into the design industry. I came to freelancing after several years working for various design agencies but I think that the lessons I learned through making this transition could apply to any freelance designer.
Thinking about taking that step, or just reflecting on your own journey? Read on…Read More
The 8 poster designers you need to follow on Instagram
Life as a freelance designer can sometimes feel a little isolated. Which is ironic because so much of what I do involves close collaboration with other creatives. However, there’s nothing quite like the work and encouragement of other designers to motivate you when you hit a slump.
Making moodboards work for you and your design process
Making and drawing inspiration from moodboards forms a vital part of my design process. As a visual thinker – working in a visual medium, I generally like to move my client communication into an image-based format as soon as possible.
Moodboards are a fantastic way to create a shared visual understanding between yourself and the client. They can draw from a variety of sources including film, art, illustration and street photography – reminding you both that ideas come from all kinds of sources.Read More
An overview of the pitch deck design process
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.
A wiser man than me (ok, it was Albert Einstein apparently) once said this about film pitches. Alright, it wasn’t about pitches exactly, but it seems to apply anyhow. You should be able to distil a pitch down to very few words, but also expand upon it when necessary – like one of those magic facecloths that expand when you put them into water (that quote is all mine).Read More
How storyboards can help you become a better filmmaker
As a graphic designer in the film industry, a lot of my work tends to focus on the most visible side of filmmaking – with pitch decks, posters and social media campaigns taking up much of my time.
I’ve previously talked about how graphic design can be used in the story world but it can also play a key role in envisioning the film even before ‘Action!’ is called for the first time. One way is through use of concept art (which I will discuss another time), but another is with storyboarding.Read More
Creating a positive working relationship with your designer
Your graphic designer can make or break your film project.
Yes, really. Without influencing the narrative or even the look of the actual film, their highly visible work in the form of promotional materials like posters, social media campaigns and pitch decks, can have a massive impact on funding, audiences and profits.Read More