It’s been another strange and uncertain year for cinema, but thankfully there have been plenty of gorgeous posters for us to admire. Here are just a few of our favourites – tweet us @LWLies with your own stand-out posters from this year.

20. Pig

Simplicity is underrated in art direction – nothing proves this more than the teaser poster for Michael Sarnoski’s Pig, which features only the hairy porcine back of its titular character, and a tiny symbol in lieu of a title. Fitting for a film that’s liable to surprise you at every turn.

Created by Empire Design

19. Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi has had a busy year with his other film, Drive My Car, playing at Cannes and around the world to critical acclaim, but of his two 2021 projects, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy has the more elegant poster design. The subtle watercolour depicting a key scene is charming, and it’s particularly niced to see the film’s Japanese title included on this international poster.

Painting by Elizabeth Yoo

18. Year of the Everlasting Storm

An anthology film with contributions from Jafar Panihi, Anthony Chen, Malik Vitthal, Laura Poitras, Dominga Sotomayor, David Lowery and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, The Year of the Everlasting Storm is one of the (many) pandemic-adjecent films we’ve seen trickle in through 2021. Another minimal masterstroke, this striking poster takes that title to heart, with a nod to Weerasethakul’s Night Colonies in the small insect we can see hanging out on the lightening bolt.

17. The Harder They Fall

Jeymes Samuel’s revisionist western is bold, brash and highly entertaining; this Gravillis poster follows suit. With its A-Listers cast in shadow there’s a very old school Magnificent 7 vibe going on, but the blue and yellow accents give it that playful edge we’ve come to expect from Samuel.

Created by Gravillis

16. The French Dispatch

I’ve been doing this poster round-up for the past four years at LWLies, and I’ve started to notice that the quickest way to my heart is through a good illustrated poster. No one knows how to do that quite like Wes Anderson, and the effort for his latest, The French Dispatch, is particularly striking. Inspired by the illustrated covers of New Yorker magazine, it’s whimsical and intricate – we’d expect no less from Wes.

Created by Javi Aznarez

15. All Light Everywhere

Theo Anthony’s exploration of surveillance culture and the bias in recorded images is a damning look at how we’re being failed by the very measures purportedly meant to protect us, and this image of the human eye speaks to that fallibility.

14. Jackass Forever

Although their fourth movie was delayed from a September 2021 release until February 2022, the Jackass boys have at least gifted us with some posters and a trailer to tide us over before ‘Jackass Forever’ cannonballs into cinemas. This phallic effort, paying homage to the Looney Toons-esque cannon stunt we’ve come to know and love, is a highlight.

Created by BLT Communications

13. Spencer

While we weren’t the biggest fans of Spencer at LWLies, there’s no denying that Empire Design put together a pretty spectacular poster for it. Showing Kristen Stewart as Princess Di cowering in a spectacular white ballgown with the creeping darkness a visual representation of her isolation, it’s a striking, appropriately regal introduction to the doomed princess.

Created by Empire Design

12. The Matrix Resurrections

There’s no question that Lana Wachowski’s update to the Matrix franchise is one of the most anticipated films of the year, and this canny design shows that when you’ve got a property this iconic, there’s no need to overthink things. Striking and simple, it’s intriguing for anyone unfamiliar with the series, and a fun little throwback for fans.

Created by B O N D

11. Annette

Annette divided audiences this year, with some declaring it a triumph and others completely unmoved by Leos Carax’s operatic extravaganza. Either way, the poster is certainly beguiling, evoking the film’s sense of drama and the dark romance at its core. Though, if I’m honest, Adam Driver looks like Captain Haddock here.

Created by RYSK Studio

10. Flee

Quite possibly on the road to Oscar glory, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s animated documentary about a refugee who fled Afghanistan for Denmark as a child has resonated with audiences all around the world. This beautiful poster shows off many of the detailed characters within the film.

Illustrations by Mikkel Sommer and Kenneth Ladekjaer

9. Memoria

I won’t pretend that I can explain Apichatpong Wheersaul’s Memoria to you, but I was rather taken with this black and white poster, which seems to blend waking reality and the dream world. Fitting for a film about a woman seeking the root of a mysterious sound against the breath-taking beauty of Colombia.

8. Some Kind of Heaven

Another example of an excellent illustrated poster, this one sheet for Lance Oppenheim’s documentary about an upscale Floridian retirement community captures the personality of its subjects, but also looks a little like something a retiree might create in an arts and crafts session.

7. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn

When your film is literally about a sex tape, it’s a little tricky to dream up a poster design that won’t have scandalised parents protesting at the multiplex, so props to the clever folks who came up with this cheeky take on Radu Jude’s Berlinale winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn. Play button or woman’s nether regions? You decide!

6. Shiva Baby

Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby is one of the most memorable debuts of the year, and the poster certainly matches, giving star Rachael Sennott a bagel and cream cheese gown fit for a princess. Given the role the foodstuffs plays in a pivotal scene, it’s particularly appropriate.

Created by High Council

5. The Last Duel

Ridley Scott’s films aren’t usually known for their poster design, so this Legion effort for The Last Duel is quite refreshing. It’s simple but sophisticated, positioning Jodie Comer between the swords of Matt Damon and Adam Driver, who do battle after she accuses the latter of rape. Very Saul Bass.

Created by Legion Creative

4. Hit the Road

Hitting cinemas next summer, Panah Panahi’s Hit the Road should definitely be on your ‘Must See’ list, and this dreamy illustrated poster is just one reason why. Reminiscent of The Little Prince, it gives precious little of what you can expect from this offbeat road trip movie – and that’s how we like it.

3. Titane

In striking neons which mimic the vivid colour palette of the film, this portrait of Agathe Rousselle makes a compelling argument for seeing Titane as loud and large as possible. It also gives precious little of the film’s plot away – a must in good poster design!

Created by Pascal Witaszek

2. Parallel Mothers

Pedro Almovadar’s films are absolutely meticulous in their production design, so we’d expect nothing less from his posters either. This bold provocative (not that a woman’s nipple should be so, but Instagram had to apologise after they banned the poster) statement also hints at the trauma at the heart of his maternal melodrama, and the striking red means it stands out from the crowd. Wonderful stuff from our favourite Spanish auteur.

Created by Javier Jaén

1. Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar

If you didn’t catch Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar earlier in the year, please remedy that at your earliest convenience. A joyful ode to female friendship and banana boats, it’s one of the year’s underrated gems, and this surreal, colourful poster sells the vibe wholesale.

Created by Leroy and Rose

A digital archive chronicling the almost six-decade-long career of Hans Hillmann, one of Germany’s most influential postwar graphic artists, launched this month. Incorporating his life’s work – 164 film posters – the archive includes works created for Jean-Luc Godard, Alfred Hitchcock and Ingmar Bergman, alongside drafts and illustrations.

Better still, the archive is accompanied by the beautifully designed ‘Moving Pictures – The Complete Film Posters of Hans Hillmann’, edited and published by Jens Müller, who heads up the major archival project alongside Katharina Sussek.

Speaking to LWLies, Jens explains how he came to work with Hillman and the importance of uniting the designer’s archive now. He recalls discovering the archive of Atlas Film in a local film museum, which he says “led to the FilmKunstGrafik project, which paid tribute to the brief era of sophisticated film graphics in West Germany from the 1950s to the ’70s, with Hillmann as its central figure. This was followed in 2009 by the monograph ‘Hans Hillmann: The Visual Works’. Through these projects, a personal friendship and ongoing exchange about his graphic work developed.”

Jens adds: “As with many well-known graphic designers, public perception is limited to only a handful of iconic works. When we talked to Hillmann’s widow about how we could commemorate his work on the occasion of his 95th birthday, we came up with the idea of an online archive that would make as many of his works as possible accessible.”

The archive surely succeeds in this mission, charting Hillmann’s remarkable achievements and shedding light on his prolific career, which began when, having graduated from art school, he started working for the distribution company, Neue Filmkunst, who afforded him considerable creative freedom. Hillmann initially depended on typeface which he cut and drew himself, since few poster typefaces were available in print shops after World War Two. But in the 1950s, once he was able to afford a darkroom, he fused photographic elements into his striking designs.

Although he collaborated with such trailblazing filmmakers as Akira Kurosawa and John Cassavetes, Hillmann had relatively little contact with them, preferring to produce his designs independently upon meticulously studying the films themselves. By contrast, he worked closely with German directors such as Volker Schlöndorff and Edgar Reitz, exchanging concepts in advance of film production. Nevertheless, acclaimed international filmmakers greatly admired Hillmann’s artistry, with Jean-Luc Godard even decorating an apartment in Two or Three Things I Know About Her with Hillmann’s posters.

So what are Jens and Katharina’s favourite designs? Jens has a few, including the poster for Masaki Kobayashi’s Ningen no jôken, admiring Hillman’s success “in applying cinematic elements such as zooming and cutting in a graphically very simply solved poster.” For Katharina, it’s not one of the designer’s iconic works for Hitchcock or Bergman but “Hillmann’s timeless 1964 design for the Kieler Woche annual sailing contest.”

Discover more about the archive at hanshillmann.de

Even if you’ve never watched a Star Wars film, chances are you’ll be familiar with the above image – but you won’t have seen this exact one before. That’s because it’s part of a massive archive of movie poster art called the Feref Collection, a veritable treasure trove dating from the company’s inception in 1968, which until now has never been available to the public.

The vast collection consists of thousands of pieces – from concept art to finished artwork – spanning more than half a century. Many of the designs are alternative and unused versions of classic posters you know and love, such as The Empire Strikes Back and Aliens (which was originally subtitled ‘The Return’) – but there’s also hundreds of more obscure titles, making this a fascinating look back at cinema’s forgotten history.

When our friends at Feref, one of the world’s leading film marketing agencies, reached out to us about the project we knew we had to share it with our readers. They’ve launched a crowdfunding campaign to turn the archive into a deluxe coffee table book, bringing this unique visual record to life.

“The purpose of the Kickstarter is to create a hardback book that celebrates this incredible archive and the process, craft and immense creativity of the artists involved,” says Creative Director Tim Reeves. “Feref were instrumental in the campaigns for the original Star Wars trilogy; these early illustrations for The Empire Strikes Back were created by Eddie Paul (one of the E’s in Feref) from production stills.”

Check out more images from the archive below and find out more at kickstarter.com

Although circumstances prevented many of us from visiting movie theatres and perusing the posters on display this year, plenty of clever illustrators and designers have still been beavering away to produce some outstanding artwork. Here are 20 posters that caught our eye – and be sure to tweet us your favourites @LWLies.

20. Spree

Mimicking the slick display of an Instagram Live broadcast, the poster for Eugene Kotlyarenko’s black comedy about a streamer driven to extreme measures in his never-ending quest for views is a clever, colourful offering that puts Joe Keery front and centre. Poster quotes can usually look a little shoehorned in too, but positioning them as comments is a smart move that means they aren’t too distracting. Good stuff!

19. The Nest

Design by P+A

A classy poster for a classy movie – but there’s something just a little off about the scene presented on the advert for Sean Durkin’s sophomore feature. It could be the cracked mirror, the contrast in expressions between stars Jude Law and Carrie Coon, or even the kerning on the typeface (Alexon RR Light Regular, font fans); but whatever the reason, this subtle design sets the stage for the uneasy tension at the heart of this family drama.

18. Dick Johnson is Dead

Design by Brandon Schaefer

Sometimes a poster just does exactly what it says on the tin, and we’re grateful for it. The bold yellow background and capital lettering give viewers a fairly good idea of what they’ve getting into with Kristen Johnson’s excellent documentary, but it’s the skull-and-crossbones motif using a photo of a very surprised-looking Dick Johnson which really sells the wit at the heart of the film.

17. First Cow

Design by BLT Communications, LLC

Evie, who plays the titular role in Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, is the rightful star of A24’s marketing campaign. A surprisingly contemporary sans serif font in a golden yellow sets out the film’s stall; it’s fun and striking, but also strangely apt for this offbeat (but ultimately delightful) story of misfits and mooing in America’s infancy.

16. The Painter and the Thief

Design by The Boland Design Company

Benjamin Ree’s documentary about an artist who forms a friendship with a man who stole her work has the premise of a Hollywood movie, but you know what they say: the truth is often stranger than fiction. Barbora Kysilkova has gone on to paint Karl Bertil-Nordland’s portrait, which is what we see in this imaginative poster, with the man himself staring at his own image.

15. Mank

Design by Neil Kellerhouse, Key Art by Anna Park

Understandably here at Little White Lies, we’re very fond of an illustrated poster, and this effort by Anna Park for David Fincher’s Mank is no exception. Inspired by a scene late in the film, it shows Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz at a dinner thrown by William Randolph Hearst, and evokes the spirit of this iconic shot from Citizen Kane.

14. Da 5 Bloods

Design by GRAVILLIS

For a streaming service, Netflix’s poster game is pretty damn good, and this simple but effective teaser for Spike Lee’s Vietnam drama Da 5 Bloods is no exception. Five tears represent the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division the film focuses on: Paul, Otis, Eddie, Melvin and Norman, while the overall style mimics the classic propaganda posters of the period. We loved the GRAVILLIS design for BlackKklansman, and it’s clearly a partnership that’s working well.

13. I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Design by Akiko Stehrenberger

Akiko Stehrenberger is one of the best poster artists working today, and this oddball illustration for Charlie Kaufman’s psychodrama I’m Thinking of Ending Things is another gold star effort, showing Jessie Buckley’s character obscured by snowfall. Of course it gives absolutely nothing of the film away, and there’s even something a little odd about the use of italics and capitals in the styling of the title and credits – but that’s nothing compared to how strange things get within the film itself. We also love Midnight Marauder’s design for the film, on a complimentary theme.

12. The Green Knight

Design by B O N D

David Lowery’s forthcoming historic fantasy set within the legendary court of King Arthur was a victim of the pandemic, so we’re not clear when it will premiere yet, but this one-sheet has been living rent-free in our minds since it first debuted in the spring. Regal red, bold gothic text, an overall tarot card vibe – it’s a winner.

11. Candyman

Design by GRAVILLIS

We can’t wait to see Nia DaCosta’s sequel to Bernard Rose’s classic 1992 slasher, but for now we’ll have to make do with its suitably creepy poster, showing the Candyman’s iconic hook dropping in honey, with a tiny bee sitting atop it. Such is the power of the Candyman mythos, you don’t need to know anything else. We’re sure the film will get a whole host of marketing materials for its summer 2021 release, and we can’t wait to see what the team come up with.

10. Shirley

Design by Andrew Bannister

Curzon are strong players when it comes to the poster game, and their quad for Shirley’s UK release is no exception. Reminiscent of the excellent art for Park Chan-wook’s Stoker, Andrew Bannister’s design has a sort of illustrated decoupage vibe (like the floral wallpapers popular throughout the 1950s) which ties into the film’s use of nature symbolism quite nicely. The green and cream colour palette is also very much seen in the film, so this sets the tone in a way a lot of posters often don’t seem to manage. Plus, it passes the great poster test: we’d absolutely have this framed on our wall.

9. An American Pickle

Design by Plakiat

Released mid-pandemic to generally positive reviews, Brandon Trost’s directorial debut sees Seth Rogen play an Eastern European Jewish immigrant who is accidentally preserved in a vat of pickles in 1919, and wakes up in 2020. Maks Bereski (known as Plakiat) is identifiable as an artist by his sold, minimalist designs, and this one is no exception. The pickle-brine colouring and use of Hebrew language set it apart from your standard Seth Rogen comedy posters; in fact, it looks more like the cover for a devastating Russian dramatic novel than a film, and that’s no bad thing.

8. Saint Maud

Design by Empire Design

One of the breakout hits of the year, Rose Glass’s Saint Maud is full of arresting images, so it makes sense the artwork for the film would follow suit. There are quite a few excellent posters out there, but Empire’s flame design is our favourite, positioning Morfydd Clarke’s devout nurse among an inferno.

7. Colour Out of Space

Design by Tom Hodge 

Adapting Lovecraft is a difficult challenge, but Richard Stanley rose to it in 2020 with his take on the extra terrestrial body horror Colour Out of Space. This purple nightmare only touches at some of the film’s grotesque imagery, but most important of all is that includes the llamas which play a minor but pivotal role in the plot.

6. Promising Young Woman

Design by Art Machine

Nodding to the pulp romances you can pick up on the shelves of any good charity shop or airport bookstore and the bold marketing for Paul Verhoevan’s Showgirls is this sultry design from Art Machine. Taking cues from make-up artist Vlada Haggerty it doesn’t give much away, which is apt considering how much the film relies on wrong-footing viewers.

5. Bacarau

Design by Alphaville

One of the most wild (and prescient) films of the year,  if you haven’t seen Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ Bacarau yet, remedy that immediately.  Alphaville’s colourful illustrated poster nods to the classic design for Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright, and manages to make Udo Kier look menacing even in a dainty watercolour style.

4. Time

Design by MOCEAN

Garret Bradley’s heart wrenching film takes one story from the American prison system to shine a spotlight on how systematic racism and injustice are alive and well today. The grainy cell phane image of Fox Rich and her husband Rob kissing is one of the film’s most enduring, reminding us that at the heart of everything is a couple who love each other despite their hugely unfair circumstances. Bold and impactful, it’s a poster that puts its subjects front and centre, as it undoubtedly should.

3. Nomadland

Designed in-house

Delayed from an October release, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland is one of the best films of the year, and this poster (which maybe owes something to Ray & Liz) speaks to its understated beauty. No hyperbolic quotes from critics, no special effects – just Frances McDormand in her nightie with a cup of coffee, while her pants dry on the washing line. You know your film is something special when this is the image that sells it.

2. Parasite

Design by La Boca

Those clever folks at Neon and Curzon really pulled out all the stops on the Parasite marketing campaign, but this bright, Escher-esque design is our favourite, primarily because of its cheeky Easter egg in the form of an Oscar lurking under the coffee table. It was prophetic though; the film did indeed win a slew of Academy Awards, and rightful ranking as one of the best releases of the year.

1. Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets

Design by the Ross Brothers

Blending fiction and reality to create a rousing portrait of a New Orleans dive bar’s dying hours, the Ross Bros’ Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is one of the most intriguing, comforting films to have come out of 2020, and it’s impossible to not marvel at this fully-illustrated poster either, featuring all the regulars and randoms who pop up to say farewell to the Roaring 20’s cocktail lounge. It captures a sense of the film’s chaotic vibe, but also its warmth, and is a little reminiscent of another poster for a film about a bar. Excellent work that makes us just want to hang out with our buddies and sing along to the jukebox all night long.

As we adjust to life under lockdown, it’s of critical importance that we continue to look out for one another. With that in mind, we’ve been trying to do our bit to encourage everyone to practice safe social distancing.

You may have seen our recent video, Wes Anderson’s Guide to Social Distancing. Well, to help spread the message still further, we’ve put a social distancing spin on a dozen iconic movie posters past and present – from Breathless and Butch Cassidy to Titanic and Trainspotting.

Check out the full gallery below…

If you’ve caught a glimpse of a promotional movie poster in the last 15 years, chances are you were taking in the work of Akiko Stehrenberger, the Los Angeles-based artist you didn’t know you knew.

Stehrenberger has worked on projects for some of cinema’s most important and influential filmmakers, translating their unique visions from screen to poster. The list of names includes a long roster of trailblazers, among them Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Jonathan Glazer, Harmony Korine, the Coen brothers, Sofia Coppola, David Lynch and Michael Haneke.

At Hat & Beard Press, we’ve long been fans of Stehrenberger’s work, and are thrilled to be publishing a new book which will put readers at the centre of her process, from concept to execution. Stehrenberger’s story will be told in a way that mirrors her process, utilising analogue and modern techniques – including film, film photography and illustration – all in an effort to a better understand what makes her such a vital visual artist.

Below is a short extract of an interview with Stehrenberger as featured in the book, along with a selection of the artist’s favourite posters.

The first time I looked at your work on your site, I thought you’d already created your own mini-Criterion Collection of official movie posters in your own right. Are you used to churning and burning in this medium or are you still overly analytical about everything?

I’m definitely overly analytical when it comes to my work, but because the deadlines are so crazy and I’m put on to the next project so quickly, I have to commit and trust that what I’m doing is right for it. I’m one of those people that needs deadlines, otherwise I could work on something for years and years. In that respect, those quick deadlines actually work to my benefit. There are a handful that I look back on and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?’ but for the most part the quick pace has forced me to really trust my instincts and not try to noodle something to death.

Is it easier to work with the studios or the shops that specialise in this stuff? Your process seems like it might be different depending on who you were working for?

I like interchanging between the two. What I love about working for a movie poster shop is that it goes so fast and I’ve established great work processes with my creative directors. I’m just there to make comps. I can be less responsible because my work is only a small portion of comps presented to the studio by the shop. The studio also doesn’t know it’s mine so there’s less pressure.

Whereas the studios, say, are judging you as a singular designer and illustrator?

Yes. When I’m working straight with the studio, it’s a much different pace. They are coming to me directly, knowing my work. Being only one person, I offer a very limited and focused exploration. One might think there is no downside to this, but there is much more responsibility in working in this manner. These projects last many months, whereas with a shop there’s a good chance I work on a project and never have to see it again unless my work makes it to the next rounds.

When I’m hired by a shop, my work is being presented with so much other work, so I can be a bit more playful because I know other designers might be more responsible. Regardless of either of these ways of working, I don’t ever do spec work or offer my ideas for free. My ideas come from at least a full day of research and is half the job of an art director. I either get paid a day rate from the shops, or a project fee from the studios. My time is always accounted for, so I’m less bothered if my posters don’t make it to the finish line.

Is there a particular poster you are sick of talking about or the media obsessing over?

I’ve talked about Funny Games a million times, but at the same time that poster gave me my career and started giving me a name in my industry. Out of respect for it, I can talk about it a million more times. People still to this day don’t realise it’s an illustration.

That poster came out and people were like, ‘Who is this person?’

Yes, and it came out right when I became a freelancer and left my full-time position at that first movie poster shop. I still feel like I have the same aesthetics. I still love the simplicity behind it. I’ll always be very proud of it. I know that people are just finding out about me now because of it, and I’m in an industry that gives credit to nobody, so I’m lucky that people even know my name.

Yeah, because your name isn’t even on the poster itself which I’ve always found odd, seeing as how the end crawl of credits of a film seem to single out everyone, including the set dog.

It never is. The movie poster designer is very last on the totem pole. Please don’t undermine the set dog.

It’s so weird because that’s the number one thing that gives a film visibility.

Exactly, but now with social media, movie poster designers and illustrators are definitely starting to make the name for themselves that they couldn’t before.

Let’s talk about how you came up with @doyrivative as a handle to promote your work online.

“Doyrivative” doesn’t really roll off the tongue easily, but it’s something I came up with because I wanted to start introducing my silly art derivative of pop culture. The expression ‘doy’ is just a nicer version of ‘duh’ , and I was really excited when my best friend Jamal Gunn Becker and I were able to write “doy” in such a way that it became a moniker of a silly face to use for my handle. Before I had an Instagram, I often made birthday gifts for my friends that followed the roots of what Doyrivative is.

With Instagram, Doyrivative became a personal project where I make one new piece a week and force myself to post it. Still, to this day, I get anxiety anytime I’m going to post something … but I’m trying to train myself to be less self-conscious about it. Most of those pieces were me just fucking off and not having to worry about a focus group in the Midwest judging it. It’s freedom to release brain farts. It’s not the most eloquent way of saying it, but you get the idea.

I think your sense of humor is the thing that really comes out. It’s reflected in the work. Do you think that’s why you’re good at this medium, as a work-in-progress laboratory?

I would hope so. I feel like whenever I have a chance to infuse some kind of tongue-in-cheek in my pieces, I try to do that. I have to remember what I’m interested in, too. I love design, I love beautiful art, but I also love when something cracks me up and doesn’t take itself too seriously. I grew up reading Mad Magazine. I always loved not only the amazing skill level of the illustrations, but the satire surrounding current events. I think in today’s climate, it couldn’t hurt to lighten the mood a little bit.

You mentioned that a lot of the work you do on these posters, these days, starts and ends on the computer, but when you started it was really all done by hand. How was that transition?

I learned on the job and was thrown in the fire. The deadlines were insane from the start and now they’re consistently getting shorter and shorter. It’s constantly forcing me to learn new techniques to do on the computer so I can keep up with these inhumane deadlines.

How do you avoid being stressed? What do you do to de-compress when you’re on these crazy deadlines?

I watch total trash and smoke weed. It’s the only way to turn off my brain. If I were to come home and watch a beautiful art movie, I’m going to be thinking, “Fuck, what would I do for the poster? How do I emulate that scene?” It’s just back to work again. It would never end. I need to be able to turn it off.

‘Akikomatic: The Art of Akiko Stehrenberger’ is available to order here.

Bong Joon-ho’s multiple award-winning latest, Parasite, is a biting black comedy about the haves and have-nots, centred around two very different South Korean families.

To mark the film’s UK theatrical release on 7 February, distributor Curzon Artificial Eye teamed up with the graphic design and illustration extraordinaires over at La Boca, who have rendered the tiered social strata of Bong’s domestic setting in spectacular fashion.

Parasite is littered with memorable moments, and this alternate artwork cleverly alludes to some of them. As well as a nod to the original international poster, there’s plenty of Easter eggs for fans to sink their teeth into, from a peach to Ki-woo’s “metaphorical” suseok. The eagle-eyed among you may also spot a hidden message in morse code.

Renowned independent design studio La Boca have been behind some of our favourite pieces of alternate film art of recent years, including the 90th anniversary poster for Metropolis and recent work for Honey Boy and In Fabric.

Parasite is released in cinemas 7 February. Book tickets now at parasitemovie.co.uk

As the year crawls to an end, we’re looking back at the finest posters from the past 12 months. From the illustrated to the comedic, these are our favourite bits of movie marketing. Think we’ve missed one? Let us known by tweeting us @LWLies.

20. Child’s Play

Although the reboot of Don Mancini’s killer franchise wasn’t exactly a hit, this series of posters – riffing on the Toy Story 4 teasers – were creative and amusing. It’s a shame the film itself couldn’t deliver on either the shocks or the laughs.

19. The Nightingale

Designed by P+A

Jennifer Kent’s unflinching portrait of colonial violence in 19th century Australia certainly made its mark on viewers, and its striking poster hints at the darkness contained within its story. It’s hard to look away from Aisling Franciosi’s portrait, just as it’s hard to look away from the violence within Kent’s incendiary sophomore feature.

18. Shooting the Mafia

Designed by Brandon Schaefer

Sometimes a visual joke can look a little tacky, but in the poster for Kim Loginotto’s documentary about photographer Letizia Battaglia, it works because of the otherwise sparse surroundings. The little touch of red for the title – in a font that nods to Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather – ties it all together.

17. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Designed by Akiko Stehrenberger

Two of Akiko’s designs made our top 20 this year, with good reason. This poster for Joe Talbot’s drama exploring gentrification and race in San Francisco sees lead actor (and the inspiration for the story) Jimmie Fails standing on the street by the house he’s desperate to reclaim. It really feels like a whole lot of love went into this one.

16. Alita: Battle Angel

Designed by BLT Communications LLC

After years of trying, James Cameron finally brought Yukito Kishiro’s manga Gunnm to the big screen this year, care of director Robert Rodriguez. Alita: Battle Angel has its fair share of ardent fans, and this poster is definitely one of the better blockbuster offerings this year – the swipe of blood on Rose Salazar’s cheek hints at one of the film’s most brutal (and brilliant) scenes.

15. Marriage Story

Designed by BLT Communications LLC

The set of twin posters for Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story reflect the separation between Nicole and Charlie as they live their separate lives in Los Angeles and New York. Peach and baby blue show her warmth and his coolness – sure it’s an obvious visual metaphor, but when you’re trying to illustrate the ways a couple have drifted apart, it makes total sense.

14. Greta

Designed by B O N D

Neil Jordan’s pulpy thriller sees Isabelle Huppert on top form as a deliciously deranged woman preying on kind-hearted, naive young ladies in New York City – namely Chloë Grace Moretz. This clever, graphic poster serves as a warning, while also foreshadowing a key scene in which Moretz discovers Greta’s deception.

13. High Life

Designed by P+A

The lushness of this poster for Claire Denis’ space epic teamed with that damning tagline is poetry. High Life is a film in which hope coexists with abject despair; not an easy thing to get across in a poster, but this pretty much nails it without giving away anything of the plot.

12. A Hidden Life

There’s something quite sparse about the poster for Terrence Malick’s wartime drama, about conscientious objector Franz Jägerstätter’s imprisonment during World War Two. In obscuring his face the poster reflects the film’s sentiments about the nature of resistance, as reflected in the George Eliot quote which gives the film its name: “The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”

11. Us

Designed by LA

The whole marketing campaign for Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out was pretty inspired, from that trailer which made good use of Luniz’s ‘I Got 5 On It’ to the promotional scissors dispatched to media personalities around the world. This poster depicts Lupita Nyong’o’s Tethered – with her distinctive red jumpsuit and single leather glove – and creates an immediate sense of foreboding. The cursive font seems almost romantic, which is…quite something, given the tone of the film.

10. If Beale Street Could Talk

Designed by InSync Plus

As with the poster for Moonlight, Barry Jenkins’ latest film uses strong colour gradients to great effect. Orange and blue could mean so much in the world of Tish and Fonny; the trajectory of their love story, the different worlds they come from, their feelings when together and apart. But most of all, the poster hints at the fact If Beale Street Could Talk is a love story without at all seeming saccharine.

9. Spirited Away

Designed by Zao Dao

Last year we showcased the Chinese poster for My Neighbour Totoro – this year Spirited Away got similarly beautiful treatment, courtesy of artist Zao Dao, in time for the film’s release in China. Chihiro and Haku soar high above the clouds in this illustrated version of one of the film’s most breath-taking scenes.

8. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Designed by Akiko Stehrenberger

This painted design for the American release of Portrait of a Lady on Fire contains a nifty hidden visual of two women about to kiss – one of those ‘once you see it, you can’t unsee it’ gambits. The high contrast of flame colours against black mimics the film’s titular scene, while the handwritten font feels period-appropriate as well as romantic.

7. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood

Designed by BLT Communications LLC

Although the first set of posters for Quentin Tarantino’s 10th film were something of a misfire, this one – in the style of the hand-drawn posters of the ’60s – is a gem. The best part? Why, the tiny Tarantino behind the camera just next to a dancing Margot Robbie, of course.

6. In Fabric

Designed by Julian House at Intro

Julian House also designed the rather groovy posters for The Duke of Burgundy and Berberian Sound Studio, and this effort is his finest work yet. Drawing inspiration from the shopping catalogue seen in the film as well as hinting at the demonic forces at work in Dentley and Soper’s department store.

5. Dark Waters

Designed by Eclipse

The poster for Todd Haynes’ excellent legal drama looks a little like the cover for an old-school spy paperback, which is fitting given how much of the film Mark Ruffalo spends looking over his shoulder for the wrath of DuPont.

4. The Farewell

Designed by InSync Plus

Simplicity is underrated when it comes to film posters, as this one-sheet for Lulu Wang’s The Farewell demonstrates. The family portrait shows Nai Nai front and centre happily smiling while the rest of her family – the ones who know about her cancer diagnosis – look on sadly. Although the film does, in theory, sound awfully sad, it also has a lot of humour to it; demonstrated by the playful ‘Based on an Actual Lie’ tagline.

3. Uncut Gems

Designed by BLT Communications LLC

Changing gear completely from the bright greens and purples of the Good Time marketing campaign, there’s only been one poster released for the Safdie Brothers’ forth feature. It’s striking for sure, with Adam Sandler’s Howard Ratner front and centre, but – like the best posters – gives absolutely nothing away about the film itself. No quotes, no tagline. Just Safdie, Sandler, December. That’s all you need to know.

2. Parasite

The visual clues in the poster for Bong Joon-ho’s social satire are a scream once you’ve seen the film and can connect the dots, but even beyond that, it’s a bold design statement that deserves framing. Of particular note is the title font, with its spikey tips, and the use of white/black bars to differentiate between the Park and Ki-taek families.

1. The Souvenir

Designed by P+A

As well as being our favourite film of 2019, The Souvenir also ranks top of our poster list. A simple, poignant tagline, serif font with perfect kerning, use of reflection to demonstrate the distortion of reality – it’s a design dream that fits in perfectly with the film’s aesthetic. We’re big fans of this alternative poster and Sam Ashby’s design for the UK release. Great work all round, folks.

Parasite may be a human-scaled story, but it’s still steeped in the elemental. The new international poster emphasises the clash between earth, represented by the special stone given to Ki-woo, intended to bring wealth, and water, evoking the flood that submerges the family’s home in sewage and forces them into a encampment for the displaced poor.

Ki-woo loves to remark on the symbolism he perceives in the world around him, so he’d surely be taken with the metaphor implied by the striking artwork. A new tagline ‘Uncontainable Desire’, hints at his game; the spirit of striving and industriousness is what drives ordinary citizens to work for a better life, but that same concept can be perverted by bourgeois greed, leaving even the wealthiest unstimulated and unsatisfied until they get more, more, more.

The initial poster laid out the terms of conflict in Bong Joon-ho’s latest film with a simple visual schematic, placing a white bar over the eyes of the upper class and black bar over those of the lower. The artist has taken a more creatively roundabout approach, channeling those opposing forces into the imagery of his illustration, which harkens back to Korean minhwa folk art with its hand-hewn aesthetic and themes of the natural world.

It’s a beaut, the sort of movie poster that doubles as an expression of fandom and a lovely addition to a living room’s statement wall free of context.

Parasite is released in the UK on 7 February, 2020.

Artwork, alternative artwork, quads, one-sheets – movie posters are everywhere you look. And they’re big business too, designed to entice audiences into the cinema or renew that streaming service subscription. This year has been no exception, and we’ve scoured the internet to bring you 20 of our favourites. Think we’ve missed one? Let us known by tweeting us @LWLies.

20. The Meg

Alternative artwork

The film itself might have been a disappointment, but this Jaws-inspired illustrated poster for Jason Statham’s summer shark romp is pretty great – and hints at one of the film’s few highlights in a scene where a small dog faces off against the titular beast from the deep.

19. Skate Kitchen

Global release poster, designed by Caelin White

We liked Crystal Moselle’s dreamy skate drama a lot, and this one-sheet showcasing the cast against the New York city skyline using a, uh, banana as their ramp captures some of the youthful, chaotic energy which is so present in the film.

18. Happy as Lazzaro (Lazzaro Felice)

Italian release poster, designed by  Mara Cerri

It’s always nice to get an illustrated poster, and this colourful design for Alice Rohrwacher’s third film is no exception. Lazzaro himself is so pure he’s often mistaken for simple-minded, and this poster is deceptively simple – look closer, and the details are quite intricate (just look at the attention to detail given to Lazzaro’s hair!)

 

17. Game Night

Global release poster, designed by Percival + Associates

Game Night was an unexpected delight back at the beginning of the year, and this poster evokes a Hitchcockian tone while also teasing the film’s nifty opening titles.

16. Unsane

Global release poster designed by LA

It looks a little like a playing card, but the duality of this clever Unsane poster suggests that Sawyer Valentine (Claire Foy)’s story has more than one side to it, but also reflects the way her mind begins to fracture throughout the film. The blurred details and red accents (nice dotwork!) are neat too.

15. The Old Man & the Gun

US release poster

While the simplicity of this poster for Robert Redford’s swansong is striking on its own, it becomes even more brilliant when you discover it’s actually a reference to the US one-sheet for his 1972 film Jeremiah Johnson.

14. Hereditary

Teaser poster, designed by Gravillis Inc

The devil really is in the details in Ari Aster’s searing horror debut, and there’s something unnerving about this artwork, which plays on Annie (Toni Collette)’s profession as an artist who creates miniature masterpieces. See also: the poster with the creepiest family portrait of 2018.

13. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

US release poster, designed by BLT Communications

You can usually rely on the Coen Brothers for a cracking poster design. This one’s actually the second and perhaps lesser-known commission for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. We like the initial design too, but the leather grain which makes this version resemble a book reflects the film’s structure, and the stitching detail on the frame is to die for.

12. Madeline’s Madeline

Sundance poster, designed by Dana Davis

This collage design reflects the grassroots art movement at the heart of Josephine Decker’s latest, with newcomer Helena Howard positioned front and centre between Miranda July and Molly Parker. The snake detail is a nice touch too, but makes a lot more sense when you’ve seen the film.

11. American Animals

Alternative artwork, designed by Percival + Associates

It makes a lot of sense that American Animals had some great artwork, given that one of the characters is an artist, and the plot revolves around stealing a great work of art. This one, which sees a silhouetted flamingo bearing down on the wouldbe art thieves, is striking in its simplicity.

10. My Neighbour Totoro

Anniversary poster, designed by Huang Hai

There have been some cracking rerelease posters this year – we also like the retro-style one for John Carpenter’s The Fog. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of My Neighbour Totoro, Studio Ghibli commissioned a new poster, designed by legendary Chinese artist Huang Hai. The results are purrfect.

9. The House That Jack Built

Global release poster, designed by The Einstein Couple

Lars von Trier has form when it comes to provocative poster design. In fact, The Einstein Couple also conjured up the posters for Nymphomaniac, as well as the bizarre character one-sheets for his latest. Even so, it’s this hellish tableau which stands out, suitably suggestive of what the film actually entails.

8. Her Smell

US festival poster

There’s no UK release date confirmed for Alex Ross Perry’s punk drama yet, but this colourful gig poster from its US festival run is pretty great all the same. The block lettering and grainy detail stay true to the film’s 90s aesthetic, and the ‘SS’ logo refers to Becky (Elisabeth Moss)’s band, Something She.

7. The Favourite

Teaser poster, designed by Vasilis Marmatakis

Vasilis Marmatakis has designed all the artwork for Yorgos Lanthimos’ films since Dogtooth. Last year we spoke highly of his The Killing of a Sacred Deer effort, and we’re just as fond of his unnerving collage effort this year. Also, that title treatment is just dreamy.

 

 

6. The Sisters Brothers

US teaser poster, designed by B O N D

The latest from Jacques Audiard won’t ride into UK cinemas until spring 2019, but we’re big fans of the US artwork, from Gijs Kujiper’s wanted poster design to this stylish and simple offering, which seems to imply that death follows Charlie and Eli Sisters everywhere they go…

5. You Were Never Really Here

Global release poster, designed by Empire Design

Positioning Joaquin Phoenix’s troubled hitman Joe as a ghost-like figure at the centre of his own story feels appropriate given the title of Lynne Ramsay’s film, but the overlay of two images also feels like a modern take on a pulp fiction cover.

4. Roma

Teaser poster, designed by Percival + Associates

All of the posters for Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma are pretty stunning, but this one – with its canny use of negative space and contrast between the black and white and golden title – is the best. The image of two young children lying down as a plane glides by overhead is a seemingly trivial snapshot of childhood, but in Cuarón’s hands, it’s is elevated into something beautiful.

3. First Reformed

Global release poster, designed by Percival + Associates

‘Elegant’ and ‘simple’ aren’t usually the words that spring to mind when you see a poster for a late-stage Schrader film (see: Dog Eat Dog, Dying of the Light). But hey, Schrader’s full of surprises, as First Reformed proved. The contrast between the black space and the flames bisecting Ethan Hawke’s pensive visage make this one of the most striking posters we’ve seen this year.

2. BlacKkKlansman

US teaser poster, designed by Kenny Gravillis (Gravillis Inc)

The final artwork for Spike Lee’s explosive film was great too, but nothing beats this arresting image of John David Washington masked by a Ku Klux Klan hood, which first introduced BlacKkKlansman‘s marketing campaign. Reflecting the film’s knotty politics in a single image,

1. Shoplifters

Chinese release poster, designed by Huang Hai

We’ve already featured one Huang poster on this list, but he’s had a pretty remarkable year. In his design for Hirokazu Koreeda’s Shoplifters, he reimagines one of the film’s greatest scenes as a traditional Japanese tapestry, and the result is this stunning piece which we’d be happy to hang above the mantelpiece.