We’ve had conversations before about the internet running screenprint-style minimalist movie posters deep, deep into the ground, but save for some special event posters here and there, Hollywood has largely left the style alone. It’s been for the better as companies like Mondo, Alien Corset, and others have supported the screenprinting film poster movement and we’ve seen a flourishing ecosystem of varied artists doing remarkable work.
So when I see this Olly Moss-light spanish poster for Tarantino’s Django Unchained, I can’t help but shrug. Shit’s kinda whack. I’m not sure who the artist is (hell, it could be Olly himself!), but I just don’t think this is A-game for a definite A-movie.
Click to UNCHAIN
Visual art criticism is a sticky thing, so I’ll not harp on why I don’t like it, but suffice to say it feels a super Deviant Art to me (in fact, a deviant art attempt at Django poster from months ago is more evocative than this one, from where I sit). The best minimalists know how to imbue their work with a subtle detail and grace that creates a sophisticated whole from the sum of its minimal parts. I don’t see that here. I see, “the nerds like two-color blocky shit! Get somebody on that!”
For those that would contend that this preferable to a floating head any day of the week, I’d typically agree. That said, look at some of the lovely work created to promote Tarantino’s last film through the traditional system.
Let’s get more of that. I want studio art to step up its game, not crash someone else’s party. We should still expect good work from the highly professional use of photographic, post-processing, and graphics techniques of the past. I don’t need Mondo shit filling up the light-boxes, ya know? I’m not saying it should never be employed or riffed on by studios, but when that happens it needs to be with a sense of style its own, no?
Dunno, most people will probably dig it and I’m just being a twat, but them’s the opinions you came for!
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Source | Sony España