The poster concept I executed is inspired by the 2012 Les Misérables film poster, various typography styles and a variety of other contemporary film/arts festival posters. The image I chose is of a nude fashion model in red lipstick, who’s hair has been blown into the air around her. A while back I had done a poster tutorial on Photoshop that showed how to slice a portrait in half with vertical type; I felt that the style would really dramatize the look/feel of my poster. I was able to recreate this style in Illustrator quite easily using colored shapes, blending modes, sans serif type and the Pathfinder tool.

 

I enlarged the size of the image until only the model’s face filled the dimensions. After centering the image, I divided the girl’s face with two vertical rectangles. The left rectangle is solid black as the text/content was going to be cut out of it whereas the right side is a deep red. The shadows and highlights of the model’s portrait were very dramatic, so I multiplied the red color for further contrast. I really felt that some kind of sans serif typography would not only add to the drama, but enhance the boldness of the entire piece. The font I used for this poster is a free font called “Bebas Neue.” I have used Bebas Neue numerous times in the past as it really has a bold/effective style, yet it exhibits a clean/minimal/contemporary look. Using this font allowed me to achieve the look and feel I was going for.