If you’re a fan of indie rock posters, then you’ve no doubt seen the simple elegant work of Jason Munn, creator of The Small Stakes. I would love to see what kind of print campaign this guy could come up with for a low-budg indie movie.
By the way, if you’re anywhere near Oakland, California tonight from 5-9 pm, he’s having a sale!
It has been brought to my attention that Philip Gips designed the posters that I had previously credited solely to Steve Frankfurt. The pair worked closely together on a number of their projects in which Frankfurt was the lead art director, including Rosemary’s Baby and All That Jazz — and even formed their own New York ad agency, Frankfurt Gips Balkind.
Anyway, let’s give it up for co-creator Mr. Gips and some of his best work…
I’ve always enjoyed the old-fashioned hand-drawn posters and I’m pretty sure this low-fi style from the 70’s and early 80’s will soon be making a comeback on the indie film scene. (BTW, an artist named J. Isom was credited with the artwork for Honkytonk Man, but I cannot confirm if this same artist also did Breezy.)
Graphic novels have surged in popularity in the last decade — and not just comic books about superheroes. Arguably, the most inventive artwork of our time is now being done by indie cartoonists/graphic novelists. And they’ve also branched out into movie posters.
Here’s a few of my favorites from Chris Ware (author of Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid On Earth), Adrian Tomine, Dan Clowes (Wilson), and the creepy/touching/funny doc featuring one of the genre’s forefathers, Robert Crumb.
Sad day for the poster world. Fantastic fantasy art illustrator, Frank Frazetta, died today at the age of 82.
Let’s hope he made up with his son, Frank Frazetta Jr., who reportedly tried breaking into dad’s museum last year with a backhoe.
Guess I’m a little late on this since Cinco de Mayo 2010 is nearly half over — but there’s a whole wonderful world of Mexican movie posters out there! So if you have any interest, go pick up Cine Mexicano: Poster Art from the Golden Age 1936-1956 by Mexican Film Archivist, Rogelio Agrasánchez Jr., or just head on down to SantoStreet.com, which carries an excellent selection of vintage south of the border one sheets.
And now for your viewing pleasure, here are the comedic stylings of legendary Mexican artist, Ernesto Garcia Cabral…
I got a hold of Mr. Obrero over the weekend to explain the Dorero-Obrero mishap and he sent me an early version of what his Never Say Never Again poster looked like “before the lawyers took everything out”.
What I also didn’t know is that he did the artwork for the original Masters of the Universe toys and lunchboxes.
So if you’re into all things Obrero, check out Rudy’s own masterful website here — as well as this interview with him from 2009.
Last month, I wrote about an “unknown” artist named R. Dorero who did the Never Say Never Again one-sheet. Well, the reason this Dorero character was such a mystery is because he doesn’t exist!
The real artist who did this James Bond classic happens to be a very accomplished illustrator named Rudy Obrero who has done a whole slew of other movie posters, including The Postman Always Rings Twice, Oh God You Devil, A Fish Called Wanda as well as work on more recent pics such as The Cat In The Hat and Russell Crowe’s Master and Commander.
But I wasn’t the only one fooled — it appears that LearnAboutMoviePosters and EMoviePoster also made the same mistake. My best guess is that someone misread Obrero’s signature on the original Never Say Never Again poster and the search engines ran with it, thus the confusion. Anyway, the truth is that Rudy Obrero is the real creator behind 007’s NSNA and is still doing great work. So sorry, Rudy. I will never again mistake a Dorero for an Obrero!
The self-taught graphic design guru, Paul Rand (1914-1996), was most famous for his corporate logos and identities for such companies as ABC, IBM, and UPS — and was even hired by Apple king, Steve Jobs, to develop the branding for his NeXT computers. Like Saul Bass, his clean, simple lines pretty much defines the 50’s and 60’s Mid-Century Modernist look. However, unlike Bass, he chose to stick to the more steady commercial work of designing trademarks and completed only one movie poster for No Way Out, starring Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier.
It’s a shame, too. There’s no doubt Rand could’ve whipped out some classic one-sheets! If you want to learn more about the man and his philosophy, check out this video tribute.
Movie Poster Museum 