By C. Jewel Garcia
There are plenty of good reasons to make a movie poster for your film. Movie posters are a traditional form of advertising. They are a good way of stirring interest in your film. They can even be made before your shooting starts. In fact, they could be made to help get production under way.
A good place to start is with composition and shape. According to Composition & The Elements of Visual Design the shape of the composition helps convey meaning.
We will start with lines. The type of lines implies different things. As stated in Composition & The Elements of Visual Design “Horizontal lines imply tranquility and rest, whereas vertical lines imply power and strength. Oblique lines imply movement, action and change. Curved lines or S shaped lines imply quiet, calm and sensual feelings.” In addition, “Lines that converge imply depth, scale and distance.”
Next there is shape. Different shapes give different feelings circles imply wholeness or tranquility. Triangles usually help point out power. Rectangles imply tranquility.
Finally, it is important to not overcrowd your image. As stated in Composition & The Elements of Visual Design, there is positive and negative space. They need to be balanced. If they are balanced than the image will not look overcrowded or too empty.
Color is key to composition. In the most basic situation, there is bright and dark tones. This lightness and darkness helps to make up an image. Our feelings towards and image can be determined by where the light source is coming from and how dark or light the source is.
Colorful colors come in many varieties. There are cool colors which are the blues and greens and purples and there are worm colors which are the reds and yellows and oranges. Worm colors stick out more than cool colors.
Next there is saturation. Saturation is how much of a color is present without being watered down by a white, black, or gray. More saturated colors stand out more. Less saturated colors usually fade into the background.
Texture in the words of Composition & The Elements of Visual Design is, “the surface quality or ‘feel’ of an object - smooth, rough, soft, etc. Textures may be actual (felt with touch - tactile) or implied (suggested by the way an artist has created the work of art -visual). Texture is often emphasized in oblique lighting as it strikes the objects from one side.” Texture is important because it evokes different feelings. Soft textures evoke feelings of kindness while ruff textures evoke a feeling of ruggedness.
Typography is needed in any good film poster. An understanding of typography will help the poster maker choose the perfect typefaces.
There are six general bodies of typography. According to Non-Designer's Design Book They are Oldstyle, Modern, Slab Serif, Sans Serif, Script, and Decorative.
Oldstyle is defined by having serifs, or little extra parts of letters. It is also defined as having diagonal stresses that is diagonal thinner parts. In addition, serifs on lower case letters have a slant and there is a gradual transition between thicker parts of the letter and thinner parts.
Modern is defined by having serifs. It is also defined as having vertical stresses. In addition, serifs on lower case letters are flat and thin and there is abrupt transition between thicker parts of the letter and thinner parts.
Slab Serif is defined by having serifs. It is also defined as having vertical stresses. In addition, serifs on lower case letters are flat and thick and there is hardly any transition between thicker parts of the letter and thinner parts because the thickness is relatively uniform.
Sans Serif is defined by having absolutely no serifs. It is also defined as having vertical stresses. In addition, there is no transition between thicker parts of the letter and thinner parts because the thickness is uniform.
Script is defined as appearing to be handwritten. Script can be broken into many subcategories. Nevertheless, the best example of script is cursive.
Finally, there are decretive fonts, which are fun and distinctive typefaces that do not quite look like handwriting usually. There are many different types of decretive typefaces, and they can also be broken into several different categories.
Now that you have been told the differences between these different typeface families it will be easier to pick the correct one for your poster.
Designing logos is more complicated than it initially appears to be. There are different types of logos. But for films most logos are wordmarks or monograms. According to Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities wordmarks are logos that are words in a unique typeface and monograms are initials of the brand name in a unique typeface.
The best place to start thinking about logos is on a sketchbook. Sketch anything and everything that comes to mind. Pick out a few sketches that looks good and refine them. Then make many versions of them. Some in color and some in black and white. Then take your best three or so ideas to be made in color, in black, and in white. Choose from them which mark is the best. Because films use mostly wordmarks and monograms it may be helpful to look at professional typography and remember the differences discussed in the section above.
When all these elements have been chosen it is important to bring together a film poster that actually captures the essence of the film. Do not just go for a pretty design. Try to capture what the film is actually about or at least the overall feeling of the film.
Airey, D. (2014). Logo design love: A guide to creating iconic brand identities, 2nd edition. Peachpit Press. https://www.amazon.com/Logo-Design-Love-Creating-Identities/dp/0321985206
Berdan, R. (2004). Composition & the elements of visual design. Photography Composition Articles. http://photoinf.com/General/Robert_Berdan/Composition_and_the_Elements_of_Visual_Design.htm
Williams, R. (2014). Non-designer's design book, the 4th edition. Peachpit Press. https://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-4th/dp/0133966151