poster design "Montreal Stories 1944", iterations here

[Lyrics]

I was a little slow to make this thread, therefore, the floodgates open on the first post. Sorry about that slow load! I will post the next few and final versions as I can.


About this project:
This is a poster for a movie filmed and produced in Montreal. It's called Montreal Stories 1944. The director is Vanya Rose. I've worked long distance over the course of this project. We've had dozens of pages of conversation which i would be willing to share for those especially interested in the thought process. What i think is clear here is we probed many directions. The design is to be simple quiet and elegant. It is sort of the opposite of a montage for instance. Items are to be concrete in out the geometry works. In other words the transitions from asset to asset aren't blured by massive waves of graphic '****' (for an example of this '****' see my world design congress ad which does not have tightly worked assets but hides it by overwhelming you http://vpv4.net/dump/wdc_ad.jpg).

In the future i'd like to marry the scale of montage with the tightness of minimalism.

Regards,
Lyrics

[Toon]

It's an interesting one, because I liked the busy elements of the world design congress piece.

I think this is my favorite, I love the type layout of the main title.

[Lyrics]

Thanks toon. Ya the project is difficult for me because it's for an extremely concept short film that bathes in simplicity. It's fundamental film making, without any special effects. Very conventional.

The last piece is indeed the current and final direction (but not version). The bloom-lighting (kind of) reflects a lot of the shots in the film, and in fact, when i looked at the film and the poster side by side (not literally but in my head, unfortunatly) they match up extremely closely aesthetically. The map in the background (that exact map) is used in the film in the very beginning during the credits.

Busy elements are really interesting but i don't like how busy can fool the eye. there's a great quote in the beginning of the book NO LOGO that is from walt disney or an early founder i think. Basically the quote is saying most art and beauty has dirt under it's crevasses, hiding, lacking integrity. It's a reality that i want to push out of my work to distinguish my personal brand/aesthetic. This piece is a step in that direction, but it's only a first step.

[Lyrics]

[El Peligroso]

The 1944 text is perfect, absolutely beautiful...

The colours really set it apart too, well done

[steveg]

i like this a lot.

my one suggestion on the last version is that the kerning between the 1 and the 9 is too far apart and the kerning between the two 4's is too tight.

[Lyrics]

Thanks for the comments guys. I've noticed that too steveg. I tired playing with the typeface and kerning. The results weren't successful nor unsuccessful, i have to keep playing with it. I'll probably leave the type face and adjust kerning though. Good observation, thanks.

[El Peligroso]

I like the way the 4's kinda look like they are overlapping, again this will come down to personal preference at the end of the day...

[rossable]

ah... yes... good good.
it looks like vellum, old leather, yellowed/browned paper, red wine, and cooking chocolate all at the same time.
very warm.
i would suggest perhaps lightning it up a bit but that would ruin it.

it's perfect!!