The Auteurs has a post on their picks for the top movie posters of the decade. Considering that the vast majority of modern movie posters fall short of the standards set in heyday of film, this must have been a difficult list to assemble and a boring task to complete. Nevertheless, they have managed to dig up a few gems. Good to see The Bank Job in there — always a favorite — but I was pleasantly surprised by Funny Games, hadn’t seen that one.
Smashing Magazine has posted a great collection of movie posters featuring some of the classics and some newer selections as well. I find the set a little mainstream, they’re all sort of the obvious choices and all related to major motion pictures. I would love to see someone put together a little more obscure selection including some examples that haven’t been through the major studio marketing ringer. I have to say though, I was blown away by the Planet of the Apes poster, I’d never seen that version before and it’s simply amazing. Link
Over at Tccandler there’s a post on "The 100 Greatest Movie Posters". It’s a nice collection and while most are not aesthetically quite my style, they are all successful in one way or another. I’ve included one of the few I would actually hang on my wall above, Saul Bass’ poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Link
Brandon Shaefer does some incredibly well executed takes on old movie posters. This was always my favorite type of project to work on, self-initiated, completely hypothetical poster art; allows so much freedom to experiment with client-type work without the pressure of an actual client breathing down your neck.
I saw this poster plastered all over a construction site by my house a while back and was really struck by how well executed it was for a modern movie poster. I had been meaning to post it but had totally forgotten until Joris commented on it in the 100 Greatest Movie Posters post. You really don’t see design of this caliber and style in the movie industry anymore. I am assuming this was an early version of the poster. I read somewhere that the big studios will commission an early, more subdued / subversive version of movie posters far in advance of the release and then they come with the tried and true (and boring as hell) final version replete with giant heads and random quasi-illustrative open space backdrops. It’s so formulaic, but I suppose they’ve done their homework and that’s what moves the masses. Sad. Thanks Joris for the reminder on this one!
Extra Credit: This seems to be a similar still to the one used for the poster, give you an idea of the sort of photo manipulation that went into the poster version, very nice. Also, here’s another, infinitely worse, version of the poster.
The Tycho band hits the road with their A/V performance, check the dates, we hope to see you, we’ll definitely have stock of the Dive vinyl, some classic posters back in stock, and a new Tycho shirt which i’m in love with.
01.12 Chicago, IL @ LINCOLN HALL * w/ Active Child
01.13 Pontiac, MI @ CROFOOT BALLROOM
01.14 Toronto, ON @ WRONG BAR
01.16 Montreal, QC @ IL MOTORE
01.18 Buffalo, NY @ MOHAWK PLACE
01.19 Pittsburgh, PA @ SHADOW LOUNGE
01.20 Charlottesville, VA @ THE SOUTHERN
01.21 Wilmington, NC @ THE SOAPBOX
01.23 Saint Augustine, FL @ THE ORIGINAL CAFE 11
01.24 Gainesville, FL @ DOUBLE DOWN LIVE
01.26 Orlando, FL @ THE SOCIAL
01.27 Tampa, FL @ CROWBAR
01.28 Miami, FL @ BARDOT MIAMI
01.30 Athens, GA @ GEORGIA THEATRE
01.31 Atlanta, GA @ MASQUERADE (HELL STAGE)
02.01 Carrboro, NC @ CATS CRADLE
02.02 Washington, DC @ ROCK AND ROLL HOTEL
02.03 Philadelphia, PA @ THE ROTUNDA
02.04 Brooklyn, NY @ MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG * w/ Oneothrix Point Never
Support slot: Beacon
We are excited to also announce the opening spot each night will feature Beacon, below is an exclusive preview of their cover of Portishead’sThe Rip.
Continuing with the wildly infrequent discussion of brands.
In an era where physicality in media is increasingly discussed, The Criterion Collection, a “publisher of premium editions of classic and contemporary films”, has established a strong customer loyalty through a combination of quality consistency and innovation (early adoption of Laserdisc, DVD and online streaming). Criterion has become one of the most recognized names in a field that isn’t commonly considered to carry prestige brands.
I retroactively discovered Criterion after purchasing one of my favorite films Rushmore, many years ago. The design of the original poster art always left me cold, as it attempt to market the film as a teen rebellion flick, sort of a suburban CHE. The sly illustration of the solitary protagonist WAS the movie to me, which made me put down the extra dollars for this film I knew I’d always own. It was only afterwards that I realized “The Criterion Collection” banner on the side was a mark of a unique brand of curated special editions.
The secret to their success seems multifaceted.
Curation: Criterion has been responsible both for releasing films that have been overlooked, under-distributed and even just unheralded amidst box office success, finding new life given the Criterion treatment. Can Chasing Amy and The Criterion versions often sit alongside the original or Blu-Ray versions, at a higher price, but given the quality of extras, these editions are deemed to be better thought out than their peers.
Scarcity: There is a time frame in which most Criterion releases exist, possibly due to short print runs for lesser known titles or presumably the duration of the license for the film they acquired. The limited nature of these DVDs creates a collector aftermarket eager not to miss out, much like the contemporary vinyl market.
And of course, Design: The quality and uniqueness of their packaging puts them in league with some of the best companies in media today. The design is never of one style, but always of a character that is distinctly theirs. It is a commonly held fact that the best brands are the ones that are able to be parodied. The presence of a ‘Fake Criterions” blog laughs at the prospect of weaker films getting this special treatment (Im a fan of the Air Bud one in particular, very Hoop Dreams).
It could be stated that a Criterion Collection library, sitting alongside a well appointed vinyl and book shelf, will not be something to sneeze at in the Netflix era.
Founded: 1984
Founders: Robert Stein, Aleen Stein, and Joe Medjuck (company info is rather circuitous)
Identity: Pentagram (Inspiration is here).
Bernard Barry is one of the principal visual designers at Facebook. A pretty sweet job I’d say. Imagine having a guarantee that your work would always reach millions of people. Barry handles the pressure nicely; his work is exceptional. If you just briefly glance at his site, you might not notice the absurd amount of detail that goes into each of his projects. The scale of each is often staggering. Barry also has cataloged his entire collection of books and movies. Absolutely worth checking out if you’re on the search for some new books.
Before Facebook, Barry worked at the Decoder Ring and I am imensly curious is he had a hand in creating my favorite logo of all time.