The Copywriter
“In Hollywood, No One Can Hear the Copywriter Scream.”
A sometimes thankless job in a niche industry, the film advertising copywriter is employed to hone a film’s creative direction into a phrase or sentence, known … Read More...
Illustrators Speak Out
Movie poster illustrators interview
MovieMaker Magazine has an interview with three famous movie poster illustrators lamenting the state of movie poster design in relation to art. Artists Drew Struzan, John Berkey, and John Solie offer … Read More...
Killer Shark
The Jaws of Seiniger
With the recent announcement of another Jaws Special Edition DVD release of the Steven Spielberg classic film, Guido Henkel of DVD Review notes the Jaws DVD cover design “features the crappy … Read More...
Super Type
Type designer Ed Benguiat
Master typographer Ed Benguiat is one of the most important font and logo designers in the modern era of design and publishing. He has created the lettering used in logotypes for … Read More...
Little Big Men
Phalic symbols in movie posters
We’ve covered hidden (and perhaps unintentional) sexual imagery in movie posters before, but film studios often make phallic imagery front and center as part of a marketing hook. The most … Read More...
Reefer Madness!
Movie Posters as Propaganda Posters
Cable network Showtime is set to premiere the movie musical Reefer Madness this month. The cable movie is a film version of the hit LA and off Broadway musical Reefer … Read More...
Special Shoots
Photography used in Movie Posters
Movie posters are often designed using photography shot especially for the film’s one-sheet campaign and other film advertising key art. These photo shoot set-ups are known as special shoots. … Read More...
Film Posters of the 50s: The Essential Movies of the Decade
Movie Posters of the Fifties book
In the 1950s the motion picture industry did battle with it’s newest and biggest rival: television. This meant trying everything from gimmicks (“in 3D!”), genre films (such as horror … Read More...
The Designer
Legendary Graphic Designer Saul Bass
We have covered various movie poster illustrators in the past, but the modern movie poster is a graphic designer’s medium. And when discussing movie poster design, the subject begins … Read More...
Polish Movie Posters
Polish versions of American movie posters
Foreign posters represent some of the most interesting, and in some cases, strange examples of film advertising artwork. Perhaps the best example of this combination would be Polish movie … Read More...
Welcome to Wonka Industries
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie poster
Here is a look at the final Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie poster for Tim Burton’s upcoming film. Johnny Depp stars as mysterious and eccentric candy maker … Read More...
Stop the Presses!
Movie Poster art in newspaper ads
If you want to see where a good chunk of a film’s print marketing budget goes, open up a major newspaper like the Calendar section the Los Angeles Times… Read More...
The Peak of Poster Art
Movie Poster Illustrator Bob Peak
There is a very short list of famous movie poster illustrators: So far we’ve mentioned Drew Struzan, John Alvin, and Richard Amsel. Adding to this very short list of commercial … Read More...
April Fools
Hidden images and in-jokes in movie posters
In honor of April Fool’s Day, lets review a few hidden images and in-jokes found in movie posters. Artists have long hidden images, words, and other symbols in … Read More...
