And now we get to our final project.
First,
you'll choose three titles from this list.
The poster that you will design will be 22 inches by 36 inches or 55 centimeters by 92 centimeters.
There are no color restrictions.
Feel free to explore.
Look at alternatives beyond the expected.
Feel free to use fluorescent colors,
change the color of paper,
use metallics.
Remember, you're applying color, not running a nuclear power plant.
Attached, you can find a template in the right format with the correct text.
You can use the template as is and focus on the solution in the black area,
or ignore the template entirely and make your own solution,
but use the text here.
Watch some of the films suggested for the title that you choose on
the attached document.
Research the theme of the festival.
For example, what is French New Wave cinema?
How
does Pedro Almodovar use color?
Take the time and enjoy this research.
Make a list of words and ideas,
then start sketching.
Again, my sketches are awful,
so don't worry if you aren't a master illustrator.
Select your favorite sketches and work on refining their composition.
To simplify the process,
use black and white at this stage,
allowing you to focus on the idea,
the overall layout, and the structure without being distracted by a specific color.
After watching the films and creating a library of images to reference, create
a different color palette for each festival poster.
Now, apply the color palette to your poster studies.
In the end, each poster should have its own tone and message,
using color as a communication device.
Place your poster in an environment,
digitally or physically, to have a better sense of the color in the real world.
After you've completed the design process and made any final adjustments,
save your work in different formats to ensure it can be used for various purposes following the process we covered earlier.
Archive the files properly to have a backup when you need to access them in the future.
Save
the files on an external hard drive and cloud storage platform.
Hard drives have a limited lifespan.
Next, post your design on your portfolio website.
Add
it to social media.
Feel
free to tag me and Domestika.
Finally,
enjoy the compliments that come your way.
Bask in your glory.
Now,
here are my solutions.
I can show you what I did,
but please do your own thing.
You're far better at that than I am.
I
chose these three festival titles.
Cinema in the 1970s, The
French New Wave, and
the films of Almodovar.
I
went through the same process as we discussed earlier,
such as sketching and exploring ideas.
For
cinema in the 1970s,
I made a color palette based on the content of the films.
Cinema
in the 1970s had a realistic and urban feel.
Colors were natural and more muted than bright.
Filmmakers rejected the glossy,
big-budget productions of the past in favor of a more realistic,
gritty style that reflected the social and political issues of the time.
On this study, I used a color palette based on the content of the films.
I liked the combination of the zero and a reel of film.
The typography is minimal and Swiss,
which is similar to the dominant style of that time.
I added color to the type to differentiate the information.
But
in the end, this looks a little like a book cover to me.
Next, I went all out with a ton of visual tropes from the 1970s.
Rounded corners, multiple frame colors,
extreme headline typography,
and a groovy poster.
Is it groovy?
Yes.
Is it my favorite?
No.
It
seems a little expected.
This
version followed the religion of Helvetica that was dominant in the 1970s.
Now,
if it were authentic,
the type would be black and serious.
But I couldn't resist using the palette to give the poster a little bit more life and energy,
borrowing the color from the image of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.
Now,
using the theater cards that might have been in a lobby tells a story of documentation,
not a staged photo shoot.
These are the cards with their flaws and imperfections obvious.
The colors are natural and raw.
My
job, as the designer, was, like Robert Altman, the director, to
seemingly step back and document that narrative with no tricks.
I
inherited a large library of books from both my mother and father.
My mother had a magnificent collection of sensational 1970s blockbuster fiction books like Hollywood Wives.
I had to try one approach that incorporated the layout concept,
color use, and spectacular headline typeface,
Fat Face Cyrillic.
And
finally, by utilizing just two colors from my palette,
I conveyed the intended mood and tone without overwhelming the viewer with an abundance of colors.
The final version followed the focus on realism and gritty authenticity.
It maintained a dynamic point of interest,
Jack Nicholson's face, and had enough contrast to stand out.
By
keeping the design simple and minimal,
the focus was able to remain on the overall mood and atmosphere rather than being distracted by a complex or busy composition.
In this case, the idea of less is more was true.
French new wave films are famous for their black and white cinematography,
but there are certainly nuances to that palette.
The use of gray tones can convey a sense of melancholy or ambiguity,
while color can be used to signify specific ideas or emotions.
On
this version, I used an image of Jean Seberg from her performance in Jean-Luc Godard's film Breathless.
Treating the image as a film strip adds to the sense of existential distance from the subject,
like French new wave cinema.
It's not Jean Seberg.
It's only a poster using a film of Jean Seberg.
This
is an image from Play-O from 5 to 7.
The film handles several themes,
such as existentialism, including discussions of mortality and despair,
and raises questions about how women are perceived,
especially in French society.
The color red, specific to many French new wave films,
covers the entire poster.
The image is sideways.
Both of these talk to the themes of being outside of the mainstream society and life covered with an emotional overlay.
On this poster, I use shades of black and white as a subtle communication that every viewer experiences the content differently.
The image is from the film La Jetée,
and it includes the English subtitle Empty.
99
% of the entire film is constructed by black and white still photos.
The film takes place out of time and is disconnected from reality.
The empty jetty at an airport is a liminal space with no people.
Adding more color might convey something more cheerful.
It's not.
And
one other version of the La Jetée image.
It says empty,
so I left it empty,
except for the mysterious blue overlay.
And
finally, to use one of the palette's colors in a dramatic way, I
overprinted it on an image from La Jetée,
including the English subtitles.
I
used the image to align with the three blocks of typography,
linking the two elements together.
The
ochre color isn't brown or yellow.
It's slightly off, forcing the viewer to consider
the poster a little bit longer.
A
big swatch of this color also stands out in a busy street environment.
Taking
the same minimal approach,
I used a black and white image with a tint from the color palette,
combined with brutal and blunt typography,
and only the hint of color in the smaller type.
On
a busy street, the high contrast of black and white stands out.
For
the Almodovar Festival, I designed a technicolor palette based on the color symbolism of his films.
I
applied the palette to typography to reflect the bold cinematic language and movement.
I considered the emotional impact of the colors I chose and whether they conveyed the mood or message I wanted to communicate.
For instance, the warm colors, like red and orange,
created a sense of excitement and energy.
Next,
I used a contrast
halftone dot image from All About My Mother and washed it with extreme color.
And
I wanted to play with Almodovar's connection to classic Hollywood language and the use of Spanish tropes,
such as Gothic-style letterforms that are overused on book covers like Don Quixote.
I
placed the poster in an environment which presented other options that I hadn't considered,
such as using a suite of colors for the poster.
In
the end, I chose the version with a dynamic image that asked questions.
Why does this woman have a knife?
Stereotypical
typography, as seen on the Spanish-themed books,
and an intense color that mirrors Almodovar's palette.
Three
different palettes created unique visual identities for each film festival.
That's the magic of color used boldly.
And please remember to play above all else.
Your choices should be based on content and the project requirements.
But keep the faith,
have fun, and love being a designer who gets to do this as a job.