A Clockwork Orange, an alternative work

[GoyaGo]

I was informed by another member to not display my work in their thread, so I decided to add one of my own. Here is an alternative look at a poster design for the film, A Clockwork Orange. I wanted to keep it simple, yet maintain powerful visuals. It was a project for a design class last year in which we were supposed to create an alternative poster for a film from the 1970's. Me being a devout Kubrickfan, had to do it.

[PrintDriver]

Did the brief tell you to keep in the style of the 70's or update it?

The gears really draw focus away from the rather smashed together and spindly text of the title.

The imagery you have doesn't really do the overtly-styled film justice. Did you study the other release posters to see how they relate to the film? It's been a long time since I've watched the movie. I can't relate what exactly your elements are meant to represent. They have to mean something to someone who has never seen the film.

A movie poster is supposed to shout the film's genre and it's title from across a movie house lobby. What does that little type at the top say from across the room? And doesn't that rather give away the show?

[PrintDriver]

Ah, the tagline is on the original. Never saw it through a whole semester of Film Class. :p

[vtwin_gary]

i don't understand why you used a different font for "A" in A Clockwork Orange
the weight is different & the top of it is different than the A in orange

the gears remind me of another thread i saw here recently

[PrintDriver]

ah, but these gears would turn. :D

Another thing I noticed is the bright color orange for a dark film. You know the term Orange in the movie has nothing to do with the color, right?

[GoyaGo]

Sorry, must have sent you a rough copy. This is the final product...

[GoyaGo]

And indeed I did know that. However I wanted to keep the poster simple, and I wanted it to really stand out. If you have seen the posters of the film from the past, many of them have played with an orange theme both the fruit and the color itself. I wanted to pay homage to the designs of the past through my design.

As for the content. The film plays with themes of sex, violence, drugs and corrupt politics. I believe having a mask similiar to that in which Alex wore in the film stands out for its shock value. Even if you have not seen the film you get ideas of sex and wrongdoings. The snake (his pet in the film) stands for much in western culture. Not much good comes from the symbol of the snake, mostly evil. However religion is also an idea of the snake.

Just thought I would like to explain it a bit more.

[urstwile]

Religion is an idea of the snake?

[tZ]

Semiotics: snake – predator and danger – stay away

I have yet to see the movie but based on your summary the approach seems logical.

[PrintDriver]

I guess 30-odd years of visualizing the original poster of Malcolm McDowell staring out at you from under his bowler and holding a knife kinda biases me toward the original artwork. A totally flattened, slightly abstracted line art image, to me, just doesn't do the film justice (I don't like the re-release poster design either :)). But that is why I asked if the design brief included the instruction to update for today where your artwork and sans serif font might be arguable.

It's very difficult to 'redesign' something that has become iconic to a whole generation. I might have viewed this project as an opportunity to attempt to sell this movie to today's audience, rather than rework it for it's own time frame. The purpose of movie poster art is to sell the film. I don't think your image would entice me to buy the DVD nor do I think it would appeal to this generation's gaming visual needs.

Serial's poster is a little more provoking as I have seen the movie and immediately identify the title by it's iconic font.

[GoyaGo]

I see where you are coming from Printer, and I am not yet a professional in the design world (senior year college design student) and this is my look at the film from my perspective. We had to design the poster out of "how would we as a design student sell this film." Our guidelines kept us limited to illustrator and student created images. We also had to create our own word design, hence the 2 cogs in the title. I thought the typeface worked well with the cogs, and it is also an impactful sans serif font. We could not use the original title (as in Serial's design). We had a total of a week to put this whole project together, so it was time limited, so maybe it could have been better with more time on my side.

[kliss]

You must have watched the movie to understand the poster.
I really like your idea behind it, Goya. And graphicaly it's pretty good also!

[PrintDriver]

Only a total of a week? A week?
Wish I had that luxury. LOL! Days and hours, man. Live it up while you can. ;)

I'm still not sure this poster 'sells it'. Who was your target audience? I'm only being argumentive at this point because I don't see how this 'sells' the film. Sure it is representational of certain somewhat key, if obscure, aspects of the film in an arty kind of way, but does it sell in a practical marketing kind of way? I'm curious what your sales strategy was?

[JamesW]

I'm still not sure this poster 'sells it'. Who was your target audience?

This comment has had me thinking all day... I have no choice but to add my comments.

I think your target audience is the mid twenties to even early forties urban crowd. Particularity perverts, goths and even the boystown crowd who are going to read into the phallic symbols. Not necessarily the film critics. I would think placing the flyer sporadically nearby popular neighborhood dive nightclubs would attract the crowd you might be looking for. The kind of areas where other flyers do not compete for space but catch the daily eye of the local passerbys.

Definitely has the potential to be a midnight venue...imo... I would be more inclined to go if that's what it was... maybe alongside a major film festival...

At first look... I just didn't particularly like your design and that's most likely because it made me think in ways I'm not usually lead to on a day to day basis. Now I realize the symbols used within it have lasting impact factor... very nice... modern shock vintage...

If you wanted it to stand out then I believe you have been successful... with my eyes at least... ( I don't even like the move that much )

hope this helps...

[PrintDriver]

That's why I asked what the sales strategy was. If this was to be used to promote the film as a sales tool in a video store, I think it would fail. As a draw for the younger crowd that isn't familiar with the movie, I think it would fail. As an after midnight movie special, posted guerrilla style in urban hang abouts, then maybe, as James says, it would draw.

I'm just curious what the actual brief wanted and the thought process behind it.