Revue Cinema is Toronto's oldest actively running movie theatre. It's member-run by a community of movie lovers who support the upkeep of the cinema and enjoy amazing film programming by passionate programmers who introduce their screenings before the show. It's everything good about the movies!

I'm a graphic designer who primarily works in the entertainment sector. The creative direction and design of movie posters are what I typically work on. It's a task that involves combining a director's vision with what sells, what an audience will respond to, and what a distribution company will approve. It sits on the border of art and design, inspired work, but shaped by a lengthy list of requirements.

I was beginning to branch out and explore and define my art style when Revue contacted me in March of this year. What was to be a poster for a 4/20 screening of The Big Lebowski turned into creating 28 posters in 9 months! It sounds like a lot, but I was given complete creative freedom and no revision notes. As long as I included the screening info and Revue logo, I was good to go. It was an opportunity at the perfect time for me to experiment and define my style, knowing that there would be no creative limits, and the films were the perfect prompt to let my mind run free.

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#1 "The Shining" Movie Screening Poster (Inspired By An Early Saul Bass Sketch)

I learned a lot about my artistic process, my strengths and weaknesses, and my preferences. I experimented with different techniques, a range of digital and traditional mediums, color, and typography that encouraged me to work outside of my comfort zone (being "professional"), and explore new visual paths that were distinctly "me". These new developments in my artwork also bled over to my professional work, benefitting me there through new processes and more willingness to push creative boundaries and try new techniques.

#2 "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade" Movie Screening Poster

#3 "The Big Lebowski" Movie Screening Poster

I discovered new movies that I had never seen before, some that I'd never heard of, and some that I was meaning to see. I was experiencing the programming of the theatre firsthand, and being exposed to classic and cult films that I would not know of or possibly even choose to see helped open my mind creatively as well, finding inspiration in new ideas and imagery from a range of diverse films. The ideas began to come quicker and get executed faster as I refined my style and had no worries about revisions... 9 months later, 28 posters.

#4 "Two For The Road" Movie Screening Poster

#5 "Child's Play" Movie Screening Poster

"The Night of the Hunter", one of my favorite movies, is the last poster I made for Revue Cinema this year. I'm not done yet, though! I already have two more posters planned for screenings early next year. In the meantime, you can check out all the screening posters I made this year!