From Saul Bass to Drew Struzan: Who Are the Best Movie Poster Designers of All Time?

Movie posters are a huge part of marketing when it comes to the film industry because they're a great way to raise awareness. However, it takes a lot to design a good poster that stands the test of time; it has to be unique and eye-catching. With a good movie poster, designers have the ability to build on the anticipation surrounding a film. So, in no particular order, here are some of the best movie poster designers ever.

1. Saul Bass

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer known for his title sequences and movie posters. Amazingly, his career spanned 60 years and he is best recognized for making the posters for Stanley Kubrick and Alfred Hitchcock films.

Vertigo

This is perhaps so recognizable because the white spirals also feature in the title sequence for the movie. Bass created an identity for this film. The poster creates a disorientated feel and shows the audience that this story could be quite complex.

The Shining

Bass is able to capture the horror elements with this design by the use of a grainy, black-and-white image embedded in the letters. It draws people in because it doesn't give much away and people want to know more.

He often created simplistic designs with a minimalist approach to colours. As you can see with the posters above, he used one or two colours to include the most important message about the film. His posters are easy to remember because they are so simple and yet so memorable.

2. Bill Gold

Bill Gold has worked designing movie posters for eight decades. His first poster was Casablanca in 1942 and his final poster was in 2003 for Mystic River. His style is "less is more," as he doesn't like the cluttered look. He has formed strong bonds with directors like Clint Eastwood. Gold worked on all of Eastwood's films ever since they started their collaboration in 1971 up until Mystic River.

A Clockwork Orange is a film that everyone recognizes. Gold featured the main character front and centre, attracting the audience to the film. The triangle can be seen as an "A" rather than a triangle because there is no letter below in the title. you can also see another "A" in orange that is a triangle. The poster also features a half-naked woman, representing the film's infamous rape scene.

The Exorcist

With The Exorcist, a photograph from the film has been used as the basis of the poster and it makes it look eerie and daunting. It fits in with the genre of the film. The poster is very dark which represents what will happen in the film.

In order to create a good poster, it has to excite the audience, and that's what Gold set out to do with his artwork. These are two very different posters but they both deliver.

3. Richard Amsel

Amsel's style is quite unique. He was able to create posters that exuded a sense of period nostalgia and even though they were hand-drawn, they look exactly like the actors. His posters often include a lot of the film's characters. They have more detail and action in them than, say, a Bill Gold movie poster.

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

With this poster, you get a sense that it is going to take place in the desert because of the colours used; it's got a hot feel to it. With all the cars at the bottom of the poster, it shows that there could be lots of action and there is going to be lots of conflicts.

Murder On The Orient Express

With the Agatha Christie poster, Amsel created a knife down the middle, which is hugely significant to the film. However, it's not just a knife — there is also a train in the handle of the knife, which is really cool as it is also significant to the movie. Amsel always managed to capture everything about the film in his posters, and that's why they are so special.

4. John Alvin

John Alvin collaborated with Mel Brooks after first designing the poster for his film, Blazing Saddles. His work spans from over three decades where he created an impressive amount of movie posters.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial

Straight away, you know this film is sci-fi because it is outer space. We also know that an alien life form is going to come to Earth and we're going to see his journey. The poster gives off a magical feel because of the stars and the spark that surrounds the fingers when they touch.

Jurassic Park

Dinosaurs will feature in this film because there is one above the movie title. It's a film that could get quite dark and intense because the colours used are very dark and mysterious. Alvin has created some of the most memorable movie posters to date.

5. James Verdesoto

He started the in-house creative services department at Miramax Films and became a creative director. He is known for designing some of the most iconic posters such as Pulp Fiction and The Piano.

Pulp Fiction

The Pulp Fiction poster is somewhat hugely popular with a lot of people featuring the poster on their bedroom walls. The name of the film is bold and stands out. The image of Uma Thurman could be considered as seductive which draws peoples interest into the movie. She is wearing all black which makes her slimming but also connotes death. There is also a gun which suggests violence. The poster is old with the scratches down it to make it look vintage.

The Piano

This is a poster which draws people in because it captures an intimate moment between the two main characters. The colours are very subtle which suggests it's quite a beautiful and serious film.

6. Drew Struzan

His posters have an old feel to them. Even the new films that he designs for have a nostalgic and old feel to them.

The Shawshank Redemption

This has a very serious feel to it because the characters have straight faces. The lightning that lights up one of the characters suggests hope, which is essentially what the film is about.

Super 8

You can tell that this film is set in an older era because of the clothing and the colours used. There is a lens at the top of the poster which suggests that cameras will feature in the film and it's also called Super 8 which gives that away too. The fire and in the background reveals that there is going to be a lot of danger in the film.

Struzan's posters often feature the main characters and are quite colourful with a dark background. The colours are always quite subtle instead of vibrant and bright which portrays the films really well because these two films are not vibrant and bright.

All designers design different types of posters. They tend to keep to the same themes within their posters but they always have to work to a brief of what the directors want. Some posters are extravagant and some are subtle but they always aid their films into gaining popularity. Poster designers deserve a lot more credit for their work.