ICM - Leeds Design Agency

Trainspotting

Whenever I think of the film one of the first things that I remember is the poster, five key actors all in black and white with captions in orange. I still can’t belive that a film about heroin addiction became one of the best marketed films of the 20th century.

When Stylorouge took on the task of designing a poster there must of been a great deal of excitement, as the film already had a certain ‘buzz’ about it. But I suspect there was a great deal of nervousness about how they would tackle the subject matter.

Using the films title as an obvious starting point train timetables and signage were looked at, also pharmaceutical packaging seemed to match the subject and the information was boxed on the poster to reflect this. Photography was a very important aspect, grimy and dirty had been done before and Stylorouge were keen to stay away from ‘band like group shots’. Apparently the final pictures were taken the day after the wrap party, filming had only just finished that morning so the cast were exhausted, rundown and emotional.

The finished poster was recognized by D&AD (Design & Art Direction) and the campaign went on to win various categories at the Screen International awards, and rightly so. It is iconic and prints will adorn walls for many years to come. I think one of the main factors is not to play on the shocking subject matter but to take elements of the environment that it takes place in and subtly incorporate this into the design.

Bangkok Dangerous

Unfortunately it’s very hard to find much redeeming about this poster. I can only assume that his hand, was at one point holding a gun, but this was probably deemed not suitable for a poster. Also his other hand is reaching down his sleeve pocket for…. my guess he’s got an itch. Unfortunately his eye line is also out of sink with what the body suggests he’s facing.

It seems like a real shame that a movie which must cost in excess of 50 million could not have some good photography of the leading man taken for use on the poster. Looking at this it seems that three pieces have been put together to create something that resembles nothing.

As on the Trainspotting poster a black and white element has been used but the use of colour at the bottom spoils the effect, as I’m sure at no point in the film is he floating in lava as the poster suggests. I also think where this poster fails and the Trainspotting poster suceeds is the elements seem to be on there for the sake of it, granted I’m sure there is gunfire in the film but do I really need this spelling out to me with floating bullet holes in glass?