Art and Advertising: Two Sides of the One Sheet
The movie poster is dead! Long live the movie poster! Such are the proclamations that have cycled through the decades as movie poster design has ebbed from art form to dumbed downed marketing piece. Sometimes it rises to the former with a significant push from designers like Saul Bass and Neil Kellerhouse, but most of the time it recedes into the latter, wrenched down by the generic photomontages of studio film posters. However, in the last decade there’s been an interesting new wave taking place that brings these two disparate sides of the one sheet together. It’s being harnessed by collectible art boutique Mondo and embodied by artists (and panelists) Sam Smith, Justin Erickson and Akiko Stehrenberger; who are all striving to make movie marketing as engaging as the movie it’s representing. So how did this new wave take place and will it last? Can studios learn to embrace art in advertising? And can artists balance the advertising in their art?
Presenters
Roger served as the Art and Online Director for the CineVegas Film Festival from 2005 – 2009. Once the Festival went on hiatus he continued to pursue his two loves—the cinema and the web—by becoming a consultant for MUBI (previously known as theauteurs.com), the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Sundance Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and ActionFest. He has resided in Las Vegas, NV since 1991, but does not have a gambling problem nor has had his hands broken by a hot headed casino boss for counting cards. Although not for a lack of trying. You can see his web and design work at retinch.com and he curates an online gallery of film posters at reelizer.com.
As creative director and co-founder, Justin is responsible for all aspects of concept and design at Phantom City Creative. Justin graduated from Sheridan College’s Interpretive Illustration program in 2004. Working first as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer, Justin gained valuable experience in the industry which landed him a job at Rue Morgue Magazine in 2007. It was at Rue Morgue that Justin’s love and interest in entertainment design flourished inspiring him to co-found Phantom City Creative in 2010. In addition to Phantom City, Justin works as a freelance illustration/graphic designer, puts together art shows and has been featured in numerous publication across the globe.
Justin Ishmael is the Creative Director of Mondo, a brand known for their much hunted series of screenprinted movie posters designed by world renowned artists such as Drew Struzan, Shepard Fairey and Chris Ware. Most recently Justin has worked with artists and film studios to create posters for the films Jurassic Park, Captain America, Thor, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Hellboy, and Kill Bill. http://www.mondoarchive.com/
Sam Smith is a graphic artist and musician from Nashville, TN. When he's not out on tour playing drums with Ben Folds, local artist Tristen, or his ultimate 90's tribute My So-Called Band, Sam works as a graphic designer and illustrator.
Growing up drawing and cartooning, Sam recently set out to create self-initiated movie posters and screenprints for Nashville's historic Belcourt Theatre. When his poster design for the Japanese cult horror phenomenon HOUSE caught the eye of Janus Films, a relationship began that led to a steady stream of gigs designing covers for the Criterion Collection and theatrical posters for Janus Films' restorations of KURONEKO and Fassbinder's WORLD ON A WIRE.
In the past two years Sam has continued to produce screenprints for the Belcourt for classics like THE BIG LEBOWSKI and MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA and festivals celebrating Film Noirs, Charlie Chaplin and the Kurosawa Centennial, while simultaneously working with studios like IFCFilms and Kino Lorber on theatrical poster campaigns for Olivier Assayas' CARLOS and the 25th Anniversary of Claude Lanzmann's SHOAH among others.
Sam graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2004 with a B.F.A. in Cinema Studies.
Akiko Stehrenberger began her career in New York doing spot illustrations for publications such as SPIN, The Source, New York Press, Filter, XXL, and more. Upon moving back to Los Angeles in 2004, she became an art director/designer for movie posters while maintaining steady freelance illustration for magazines, character and toy design, cd album artwork, and portraiture.
• In 2009, her movie poster illustration & design for "Funny Games", received a Key Art Award nomination for best horror poster, was featured at the Annual Type Convention, and took both number one spots on The Auteurs Movie Posters of the Decade list, and the Australian Stale Popcorn Top 50 Posters of the Decade.
• In 2010, she was grouped into Cole Haan's "Inspired Life" fashion story showcasing artists in NY and LA.
• In 2011, her illustrated poster, "Life During Wartime", won a bronze Key Art Award/CLIO award.
• Her illustrated wall mural for the show "Louie : Season 2" on FX, was animated in a spot promo for television.
• She was deemed "Poster Girl" by Interview Magazine.
• She was grouped into "Ones to Watch in 2011" by Creative Review, which also published a 20 page zine dedicated to her illustrated movie posters for their January 2011 Monograph series.
• Her posters were featured in August 2011's Print magazine for the article "Moving Pictures".
• Her participation in Spain's Avalon Blu-Ray DVD Artists Series, was personally approved and celebrated by directors Michael Haneke and David Lynch.
Monday, March 12
