economic hardships of the time (“History of Movie Posters “).
1940s
As the 1940s rolled around, there were some major developments that changed advertising for movies, which is unsurprising considering the state of the world at the time. With World War II going on, many different film studios aimed, particularly in America, to create a feeling of patriotism among its viewers to encourage enlistment and more support in the home front. This led to an excessive amount of war movies. While the film industry didn’t lose as much business as others, budgets were still cut and fewer movies were made due to the advent of television. As for design, illustrations of characters came to the forefront as the most noticeable feature while the usual full-scene depictions from earlier posters disappeared (“History of Movie Posters “).
1950s
As soldiers returned from the battlefield, it only made sense that they wouldn’t want to be reminded of their time in the war. Because of this, sci-fi, fantasy, and comedy became the most popular genres in the theaters. To try and bring back viewers they lost due to TV, film studios had to become even
more innovative, introducing inventions like wider screens and the creation of 3D, the latter of which was a veritable failure in this era. Posters took to a more conceptual concept around this time as well, trying to convey content and themes of the movie without characters and with a further emphasis on typography (“History of Movie Posters “).
1960s
The ‘60s were a busy time on many fronts, especially within the United States, and film is no exception. Here we see the rise of the teen idol and the beach movie genre became more and more popular alongside the action genre, with the original James Bond movies leading this rise. Surprisingly, especially in comparison to modern-day values, censorship guidelines were still lacking and so adult-oriented films were frequently produced in the open as well. Illustration in posters was still used, but we see a further emphasis on type and a more conscious push to make the designs fit the content of the movie better (“History of Movie Posters “).
1970s
Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: it was in the ‘70s that Star Wars and Star Trek
11
took the movie world by storm. Along with other movies like the Godfather, Rocky, and Alien, we begin to see the classics we all know and love (except me, because I could never get into Star Wars, my bad). Photography began to be introduced at this time but illustration was still majorly preferred. Those that did use photography featured a layout where the photo took up the frame while typography became an afterthought. Trends also began to move really quickly from here on out (Fun fact: people began to collect posters around this time as well!) (“History of Movie Posters “).
1980s
Nothing can stop the march of time and nothing can stop technology from developing. New special effects came onto the scene and therefore changed how designers approached poster design, specifically what images they chose to display. Not only this, but new posters with alternative layouts had to be made as the video rental market grew and needed an in-store display for their movie selections. It’s in the ‘80s that we see a layout that starts to resemble what we see today: large photographic backgrounds and more balance between that image and type (“History of Movie Posters “).
