The important remark is that movie posters are not created solely for artistic and

aesthetic purposes. Their goal is to become a smart mediator between an audience and

production company that would grab attention, incite curiosity and, eventually, sell the

movie.

Grab attention

Grabbing attention does not mean that the poster should be provocative until it is the

ambience of the movie. On the contrary, it has to focus on visual elements that work for

the specific target audience. For example, fans of comics will be captivated if they see a

superhero on the poster. Drama lovers will look for something emotional and personal,

while those who admire horror genre have to be thrilled by a movie shot.

Make people curious

Posters should also incite curiosity and give a very brief overview of a genre of the

movie. There’s also an option of revealing a sneak peek that will leave an audience with

curiosity to find out what’s next.

Sell the picture

Although the choice of visual elements is extremely important, you shouldn’t forget that

a poster is a vital sales tool. Based on it, the audience will decide to watch a movie or

not. Accordingly, the message (textual or visual) should also be catchy and relevant.

With all these things in mind, let’s have a look at 5 great movie posters that have stood

the test of time.

Jaws

This is the example of a movie poster that incites curiosity from the first glance. These

exaggerated shark jaws look so realistic and impressive that you can’t help but think of
what’s going to happen next. Moreover, you unwittingly put yourself in the shoes of a

woman at the top of the poster.

And talk about the scale! You know immediately that this is going to be about a giant

killer shark of unimaginable sizes to really scare anyone of deep waters for the rest of

their lives.

Red letters for danger, “J” for a fish hook, and muddy blue for restless ocean waters.  All

objects on the poster perfectly work together. They evoke immediate emotions and

appeal to those who are interested in thrillers.

Jurassic Park

Less is more. This statement works for movie posters, too.

The designer who created this poster definitely had two paths: either to use a saturated

movie shot to reveal the plot or to graphically design it. In the case with “Jurassic Park”,

the first option could have scared a wider audience away, while the second one

appeared to be an ideal one. It gives a hint about what the movie is about, making the

poster look pop and stylish.

The lesson you can learn from this movie poster is that a designer should also be a

psychologist who can predict people’s behaviour. Having taken a wise approach of not

scaring everyone off from the first glance, the poster of “Jurassic Park” became iconic

and the movie is considered to be the world’s classics.

It’s also interesting to note that the Jurassic Park movies took the unconventional route

to create a kind of logo design for the poster, as a way to tie the franchise together. One

can say, they’ve branded their posters in a very clever way.

Pulp Fiction
Although the “Pulp Fiction” poster does not tell a viewer anything about the plot, it is an

amazing example of how to create an ambient poster applying common design rules.

The first thing your attention is drawn to is, of course, the name of the movie. It is

designed as a book title, observing the rules of visual hierarchy and contrast. They both

indicate the most important elements on the poster and highlight the typeface people

usually see in this kind of literature.

Note that all the details on a poster create a particular nostalgic atmosphere. 10 cent

sticker, mixed typefaces, dark colors, and a provocative illustration — a photo of Uma

Thurman with a gun and a cigarette — these things also make the poster look as cheap

as pulp fiction usually is.

This is another interesting approach – to pitch a cover as a book cover. This

immediately tells you it will be a long story that involves many people, and judging by

the gun in focus in the foreground, most likely dramatic and fatal.