#字体设计# Appreciation of font design in movie posters

Posters, also known as posters or posters, are a kind of flat form of advertising. It has the characteristics of large screen, extensive content, rich artistic expression and strong visual impact. It is mostly used in movies, dramas, competitions, cultural performances and other activities. Movie posters are a branch of posters. As a promotional material for film art, they often condense the essence of a movie, have profound cultural connotations and artistic aesthetics, and are highly ornamental. A kind of flat art enjoyment. An excellent movie poster often has a high design standard, and the use of design elements such as graphics, text, and color complements each other, enhancing visual expression and at the same time possessing unique artistic charm. In the movie poster design, in addition to the performance of the picture and color, the font design with the movie name as the main body is also a very important part. It is an important carrier to convey movie information. After artistic design, it can make the text image contextualized and visualized, strengthen the language effect, and play a great role in improving the quality and visual expression of poster design. The font design of excellent movie posters has a good reference and reference significance for us to deal with fonts in brand design or page design. The following is a discussion on the font design in movie posters, and analyzes how excellent font design plays an important role in poster design.

Since it is about font design, we have to start with the history of characters. my country is a multi-ethnic country with many types of characters, among which Chinese characters are the most widely used and official characters of China. Chinese characters, also known as Chinese characters and Chinese characters, are a kind of writing widely used in the cultural circle of Chinese characters. The current Chinese character system is divided into traditional and simplified characters. The former is used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese circles in North America, and the latter is used in mainland China, Singapore and Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Chinese characters are one of the oldest characters in the world. The evolution of Chinese characters has gone through thousands of years, and has gone through stages such as oracle bone inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, seal script, official script, regular script, cursive script, running script, and Song style. The figure below shows the evolution history of Chinese characters.

The characters written on tortoise shells and animal bones during the Shang Dynasty are called "Oracle Bone Inscriptions". Oracle bone inscriptions are the earliest relatively mature characters we have discovered so far, and our Chinese characters today evolved from oracle bone inscriptions. The bronze inscriptions that appeared later refer to inscriptions cast or chiseled on bronze vessels. In ancient times, copper was called gold, so it was called Jin Wen. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the shape of bronze inscriptions tended to be linear, and the strokes were relatively neat and well-proportioned. This type of font was called Dazhuan. After the unification of the Qin Dynasty, Chinese characters were sorted and simplified, and a new writing standard was formulated and implemented throughout the country. This new font is called Xiaozhuan. Xiaozhuan standardizes the characters, but writing is still very inconvenient. Therefore, a simpler font called Lishu gradually became popular among the people. Lishu is a bridge connecting the ancient writing era to the modern writing era. Its characteristic is to change the uniform lines of small seal script with equal thickness into straight and angular strokes such as horizontal, vertical, dot, left, right, pick, hook, etc., so that it is much more convenient to write with a pen. In the late Han Dynasty, official script evolved into regular script. The writing of regular script changes the wave-like method of official script into a stereotyped hook, which makes the shape of the characters more square and straight, and the writing is easier. Parallel to regular script are cursive script and running script. Cursive script is characterized by joint strokes, simple structure, coherent momentum, and bold and unrestrained fonts. Running script is a font between regular script and cursive script. It is simpler than regular script and easier to recognize than cursive script, so it is widely used. In the Song Dynasty, with the invention of engraving and printing, the horizontal and vertical, square and square fonts, which were more suitable for engraving on printing plates, appeared-Song typeface. With the development of cultural undertakings, for hundreds of years, on the basis of Song style characters, many variants such as Chang Song, Bian Song, and Fang Song have been derived. After the introduction of modern Western printing, under the influence of Western fonts, a variety of new fonts such as black fonts and artistic fonts appeared.

After thousands of years of evolution of Chinese characters, although the fonts have become more and more concise and more convenient for writing and printing, these ancient fonts are still well inherited and carried forward in the form of contemporary calligraphy art, and are also widely used Among all kinds of design products, artworks, print media and environmental art, it shows our long historical heritage and profound cultural heritage.

Calligraphy is a form of graphic art with a strong sense of design and artistic expression. It is often used in poster design, especially in movie poster design. Some have historical and cultural backgrounds or have strong emotions. Appealing movies often choose calligraphy characters to express, which can not only enhance the visual performance of movie posters, but also add cultural connotation and exaggerate the temperament of movies.

Various calligraphy fonts will give us different temperament feelings because of the different historical periods in which they were produced. For example, seal script and official script will appear more primitive and more historical and cultural than regular script and running script. In terms of other style characteristics, different calligraphy fonts also have their own unique delicate personality. An excellent movie poster's grasp of this point must be accurate and consistent, and it plays a role in foiling the style and attributes of the movie.

Calligraphy Prototype: Great Seal

This is an informal conceptual poster for Zhang Yimou's movie "Hero". The main body of the poster is the word "sword" in seal script. This character is what Wuming asked for from Can Jian. When Wuming took ten steps to King Qin but failed to stab Qin, King Qin turned his back and looked at the huge "sword" behind him. When writing the word ", I suddenly understood what Can Jianzai also understood. The word "sword" in seal script in the poster is round and round, with smooth charm and profound artistic conception, which also conveys the spirit of the movie.

Calligraphy prototype: Xiaozhuan

The Battle of Chibi was a famous battle in the history of the Three Kingdoms in which the less won the more, and the wise military strategy in it was extolled by later generations. In this "Red Cliff" poster, the original shape of the seal script is also used, which is easy to recognize without losing the classical charm. The fierceness and lethality of war are the wisdom, strategy, sentiment, etc. of the characters under the war, and the seal script just grasps this appeal very well, making people savor it for a long time.

Calligraphy Prototype: Lishu

The poster of "Certificate of Names" uses the title of the original official script, in the form of an engraved seal, which is more solemn and simple, calm and introverted, and this dignified temperament is in line with the contradictions and entanglements of the relationship between the characters shown in the development of the movie plot. Integrity, love, power, ambition, and brotherhood, these values ​​​​appear at the same time, conflict with each other, and one ebbs and flows together to form such a tragic historical drama. At the same time, it also brings the audience into deep-seated value thinking . The solemn and dignified temperament unique to official script renders these just right.

Calligraphy Prototype: Regular Script

The title of "Lust, Caution" directed by Ang Lee is based on regular script, and at the same time incorporates traces of rubbing. Coupled with the application of plum red color, it is full of sensuality without losing the literary temperament. The arrangement of ancient characters from right to left, coupled with the combination of English and small seals, looks more refined and international.

Calligraphy character prototype: cursive script

The poster of "The Grandmaster" directed by Wong Kar-wai has created a very stylish atmosphere, and he is indeed a master of artistic conception. In the middle of the rainy night, Ye Wen fought against the group of enemies alone, and after controlling the enemy, he assumed a battle posture, controlled the movement with stillness, relaxed and relaxed, seemed to advance and retreat, calm and sharp. The Chinese cursive script behind it is used as the background, unrestrained and agile, the brushwork is scattered, majestic, and unique. It matches the overall vast and vigorous atmosphere of the poster, and it really becomes more interesting the more you look at it.

Calligraphy prototype: running script

The title of the movie poster of "Mei Lanfang" is written in cursive script. The brushstrokes are mellow and smooth, elegant, elegant and beautiful. It can be said that it is very suitable to express the story of Mr. Mei Lanfang with the background of the quintessence of Chinese Peking Opera. The second is to reflect Mr. Mei Lanfang's Peking Opera art and his integrity, and the elegant and generous running script temperament is just right.

Font Prototype: Song Ti

The font used in this poster of "The Thief of Time" is Arial. Song typeface is a kind of printing font after the appearance of engraving printing. It is more standardized and formal than the previous calligraphy fonts, but it also has its unique charm. The title words in the poster have been artistically designed to give it some of its own characteristics. Firstly, mottled effect was made, like the traces of rubbing, and then the rice grid was used to decorate the background, and the color changes were filled in. The vertical text was used to support the backbone of the poster in the typesetting. After this series of changes that fit the style of the movie, It makes the text also contagious, and it combines very well with the temperament of the movie.

Font Prototype: Shu Song Ti

Song style has many variations, thick and thin, long and flat. The poster in the picture above is a thinner Song style, which is often used in book printing and can be called Shu Song style. The horizontal and vertical thickness difference is not too big, and it also has a special taste. In such a romantic film, the male and female protagonists look at each other in the screen, and the screen is warm. The traditional Chinese characters in upper Song typeface are used as the main label, and after the typesetting processing with other characters, it looks fresh and literary.

Handwriting

The handwriting of the original handwriting always gives people a friendly feeling. "Those Years" recalls the youthful years of the campus. It is naturally very suitable to use handwriting as the title word. A group of classmates sit in rows on the high platform and spend their youth together. , No matter what, those years are worth remembering. Handwriting, every stroke cannot be copied, and every stroke touches the scene.

Design font

"Zhiming and Chunjiao" is the work of Hong Kong geek director Peng Haoxiang. This is a relaxed and innocent love movie. Peng Haoxiang, with his usual humor and funny features, reveals the romantic and pure emotions of the characters in those seemingly random and irrelevant adult topics and hot and cold humor. "Zhiming and Chunjiao" is such a movie, and the movie poster is also graffitied lightly, using some cartoon naughty fonts and bright colors, and printed the unique characteristics of this movie in this relaxed atmosphere. Stylistic imprint.

Design font

The "Infernal Affairs" series can be regarded as the pinnacle of Hong Kong police and gangster films. The two young men were respectively assigned to be undercover agents in the police station and the underworld, giving them dual identities. On the one hand, they wanted to hide their true identities and gain the trust of their accomplices, and on the other hand, they wanted to send messages to their respective bosses. In the endless hell, they all wanted to escape as soon as possible, so a fierce wrestling started. The three characters of Infernal Affairs in the poster use a stroked font with a hollow in the middle. The graphics are similar to a maze and are compact, conveying the confusion and distress of the Infernal World, which is difficult to extricate yourself from, and at the same time full of tension and conflicts. A feeling of restlessness. How such a font language fits such a movie.

Design font

"Painted Skin", known as China's first oriental new magic masterpiece, I am not interested in movies, but I admire the font design in its posters. This is a work designed by a famous design company in the morning. The word "Painted Skin" uses traditional characters, the font feels sharp and strong, and the design is full of sense. With the texture treatment, it has both a magical artistic conception and a gothic thriller taste, which conveys the temperament of the movie well.

Design font

Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly", from the perspective of the poster font, created the "bullet" that is associated with the literal elements of the movie name. This is a relatively common font design technique, and the key depends on how to associate it properly. In "Let the Bullets Fly", the bullet passes through the font on the left, just using the strokes of the characters to connect, so that the cut font will not look awkward, but has a pleasing sense of design and speed. The sharp brush strokes on the upper part are deformed, adding to the sharpness of the film.

The above is an analysis of some font design cases in Chinese movie posters. Chinese Chinese characters with pictograms and ideograms, with the combination of form and form, make people "read the meaning of the text", and read the "word" to understand the "meaning". It has a unique clear visual charm and communication effect. Compared with English letters, it does More advantages, but through their unique perspectives, foreign designers have explored the form and meaning of English letters and created many outstanding movie poster font designs.

Director Spielberg's "Artificial Intelligence" poster, the main body is only the graphics of A.i. letters, but it has made a very outstanding design. The letter A is hollowed out with the outline of the child on the right, as if it has been moved to form the two letters A.i. This child is the protagonist in the film. He is a highly intelligent robot with emotion and thinking, but he is a robot after all and was abandoned by his mother for various reasons. There is only his lonely figure in the pure black background, which is thought-provoking. In the future of highly technological civilization, how should human beings deal with the relationship with robots, and how should we face ethics, morality, and emotions. The graphic representation of the letters A.i. carries the essence of the film.

The classic film "The Godfather" tells the story of gangsters. The "Godfather" is the head of a mafia family and often does some illegal things, but at the same time he is also the protector of many weak and small civilians, and he is deeply loved by people. The main body of the poster is TheGodfather in English, the font is thick and compact, quite powerful, and on the top of the father English is a hand playing with puppet strings. In Chinese, it can be understood as "playing between applause" and "one-handed sky". The moral of the species, the status and power of the godfather is just like this, unshakable. The poster uses this kind of concrete graphics to imply the movie, which is more profound and connotative.

A poster from the "007" series. The combination of the title word 007 and the shape of the pistol is very ingenious. In fact, this combination design has been used for many years in the "007" series and has become a symbolic label of this series. Although this type of font design method combined with specific images is well used There are many, but as long as they are well combined, they are still very vital.

The poster of "Big Fish" tells the story of a bombastic father who always loves to tell people about his bizarre things. Although it tells the story of a father and his son, but because of these bizarre stories of the father, the temperament of this film has a certain fairy-tale color. The branches and fonts also have a sense of fun in fairy tales, and the color matching gives the poster a warm feeling as a whole, which is also the emotion that this movie wants to convey.

"The Departed" is a film adapted by director Martin Scorsese based on the script of the Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affairs". It also tells the story of two undercover agents suffering from physical and mental suffering. The movie poster combines the font of the title word with the image picture well, and uses the gap between the fonts to destroy the integrity of the picture, but it presents a very good effect, giving people a feeling of confusion, tension and instability, which fits well Movie feel.

The above are some of the movie poster design works I presented to you. Regarding the analysis of the fonts in the poster, it is more necessary to start from the movie itself to know what kind of story the movie tells and what it wants to express. Once you understand these first, you will naturally have an accurate grasp and understanding of the pictures and text. Therefore, regarding the use of fonts, I think the most important thing is to cultivate a good sense of fonts, be sensitive enough to various glyphs, and understand the characteristics and styles of various glyphs. I think this should be prioritized over the design method. Regarding the specific method of font design, in fact, it is nothing more than accumulating, learning, thinking, and practicing. If you want a faster and more utilitarian way, that is to learn from and imitate, use its essence for my own use, draw inferences from one instance, and draw inferences by analogy. As the saying goes, imitation is the beginning of creation.

Typography is a big discipline in design. Text is not only an important carrier for conveying information, but also an important part of design elements. It is necessary for us to design the text, increase the beauty of the design, give it a unique personality and make it easier to spread. In brand design or web design, we will encounter this design topic, which requires our continuous exploration and learning. This article only cuts in from the perspective of movie posters, and makes some superficial analysis of its text design, aiming to communicate and discuss more with you.