Growing up, I lived a stone’s throw from a small cinema. It only showed a few movies at a time and they were most likely from the previous decade. I did not care. Passing the posters in their marquees, which were often missing most of their bulbs, was the highlight of my walk to and from school. I’ve often wondered how they were made and who made them, but the artist was never listed on the incredibly long credits at the bottom of the print. These artists have become my silent heroes and “movie poster designer” has gone to the top of my list of “careers to do when I grow up”.
Why is the creative process behind designing movie posters so captivating to me? According to Joshua Field, assistant art professor and foundations coordinator at Tennessee Tech University, “As a genre of design that aims to distill a two-hour multi-sensory experience into a single static two-dimensional image, the movie poster is a fascinating exercise in visual composition.
Little did I know that, far more often than not, posters in the late 80s and early 90s were made by men. In fact, most of the big names were all made by the same man, John Alvin, the famous artist behind the movie posters, including HEY., Extraterrestrial, Aladdinand one of my all time favorites, the lost boys. After hearing about Alvin, I became determined to discover women in the field, and in recent years it has become much easier to find the representation I was looking for as a creative preteen.
For a long time, the poster design process was closely watched by agencies specializing in the field, obscuring the artists behind the marketing visuals of major blockbusters. Thanks to social media and the internet, movie poster artists are no longer anonymous assets to the success of a movie or show.
Akiko Stehrenberger is a name every movie buff should know. Even if you don’t know her name, however, chances are you’ve seen her work and that’s part of the reason you watched that movie or show you binged recently. She has made a name for herself in the film and television industry through her exceptional design work, which has increased the marketability of iconic movies and shows like the recent Netflix hit. Beef (2023), Warner Bros. Pictures’ dune (2021) and HBO Max The last of us (2023).
“Fortunately, more and more film poster designers are getting recognition, and I think that just opens the door to finding more amazing work that has always been there; it was just never recognized,” Stehrenberger said in an interview with Hyperallergic.
Stehrenberger’s work is known for its combination of traditional illustration techniques and modern graphic design. She often incorporates hand-drawn elements, which give her posters a unique personal touch. The character and texture of these images, combined with their bold colors and typography, set the artist apart from other designers in the industry.
Stehrenberger began her career with editorial illustrations for entertainment magazines and quickly learned that the visual translations she developed for articles were similar to the process of creating film and television posters.
“When I started it was very different. It was big Photoshop heads on the explosions. And it seemed to fill the theater. an audience.His work explores a different approach to art and over time this style has become too captivating to ignore. funny games (2007), starring Naomi Watts, was the poster that put her on the map. The face painting of Watts reacting to something in the distance generated intrigue for the viewer, while avoiding the typical psychological horror film marketing visuals of gore, gore, and sadness. “I had no idea what would happen after that or that the poster would become monumental in my career. To this day, 20 years later, every time there is a crying face on a poster, someone ‘one will say, oh, they copy funny games, but I don’t own crying over a poster. According to Stehrenberger, after funny gamesthe agencies “felt like they could get out slowly, further and further from the sea of photoshop heads.”
A difficulty in the field is that if designers strive to make their posters unique, they must generate specific feelings in the viewer. “Balancing that tightrope of visual communication and attention-grabbing uniqueness, while maintaining a visceral feeling, makes movie posters an intriguing challenge,” says Joshua Field.
Stehrenberger said, “There is always good work being created and there are always forward-thinking, innovative designers doing groundbreaking work. Today, I think studios pay more attention to it and want more. It’s actually an amazing time to be a movie poster designer right now.
Stehrenberger’s work demonstrates the power of traditional illustration, textural elements, and fearless experimentation. At a time when digital is king, the artist returns to his roots – paper and pen, paint and classic techniques that remain eternal. She stays true to her intuition, which allows her to produce work that is thoughtful, intriguing and full of depth. Her ability to capture the essence of a film in a single frame is truly remarkable, making her one of the most sought after poster artists in the industry. But his career could have turned out differently.
“I interviewed for a position as a receptionist at a movie poster design agency in Los Angeles, but at that time I had an illustration in Spin magazine, so I brought it with me to the interview. It was a cheeky gesture but I was proud of myself. When the agency owner saw it, he immediately said there was no way I was going to answer the phone. He really took a huge chance on me because I was barely using a computer at that time!
Stehrenberger’s passion for exploring the uniqueness of movie poster art enabled growth beyond the concepts Hollywood clung to to market future blockbusters.
