These posters didn’t make the
cut , but are still noteworthy for their design and/or typography.
Before we dive into The Leftovers, allow me to share a brief follow-up to
the latest episode of ScreenFonts . After it was published, I had an
interesting exchange on Twitter with
The Poster Boys . They confirmed my hunch that the web was the catalyst for the proliferation of expansive movie-poster campaigns. By devoting a small portion of a promotional budget to digital assets, it’s now possible to broadcast to a much larger audience than could formerly be reached via the side of a theater wall. Good or bad, this means more exposure for a film; that’s why there has been a surge in character posters and all kinds of alternate versions.
Another Evil himself created the colorful art for this SXSW one-sheet ; typography and layout were executed by the producer. For a chiseled feel similar to Albertus, take a look at Amira .
Dead Awake
Het Diner © 2009 Ambo|Anthos. Striking book cover designed by Roald Triebels with photography by Vilma Pimenoff for Herman Koch’s Het Diner Mostra Nuova , Arbotek , Pilar , Eagle , and Dunbar .
Het Diner © 2013 Kaap Holland Film. The original Dutch film adaptation reprises the boiled lobster and art deco typography from the iconic book cover and arrays the main cast at the top, a common technique used to play up a movie’s star power. Abandoning the symmetrical layout of the original design and adding lots of fidgety type elements lessens the poster’s impact.
I Nostre Ragazzi © 2014 Rodeo Drive & Rai Cinema. For the Italian film adaptation, this poster by internozero comunicazione abandons the lobster image and focuses on the parents instead. Breaking up their portraits into a mosaic structure hints at the moral complexity of the layered narrative, with the two children as insets. Proxima Nova would work well in this setup.
For the international version , Bounce Creative Group simplified the poster by using a still from the actual dinner. Asymmetrical all-caps/all-lowercase Helvetica just screams “I want to win an award at a film festival!” I would have preferred it if the title and credits aligned better at the right. The best digitization of Helvetica is still Neue Haas Grotesk .
The Dinner The Refinery ’s poster for the most recent adaptation favors the “horizontal band” aesthetic, usually reserved for romantic comedies, and brings back art deco typography with Neutraface.
King Arthur: Legend of The Sword alternative poster , which uses John Downer’s Brothers.
Legion of Brothers Gravillis, Inc. ’s design gives a newspaper-like quality to the image of US troops on a secret mission to overthrow the Taliban. Interstate lends the typography an all-American look.
Elián Gravillis, Inc. ’s poster . The titular Elián on a swing creates a division that highlights the similarities and differences between the American and Cuban flags.
The King’s Case Note CSI franchise ’s use of Greg Thompson’s Clicker in this alternate poster .
Everything Everything hand-drawn Gotham identifies this as an indie poster .
The Lovers P+A ’s theatrical one-sheet together.
Unforgettable Concept Arts does a fun interpretation of the idiom “seeing red” in this poster , with its impeccable “loose” setting of Futura—see how the characters are positioned in relation to the dividing lines. Do me a favor and check out New Hero ; you’ll thank me later. Dunbar and Nobel perform similarly in an all-caps setting.
Bond ’s two character banners play with the classic wedding vows…
…and further expand on the contrast between the original image and the red colorized version.
