The Underground Movie Poster Scene Booming on Social Media
Tired of the celebrity-centric posters that dominate the industry, artists are reimagining the medium
By
Robocop by Van Orton Design, to be featured in Alternative Movie Posters II: More Film Art From the Underground. (Photo: Van Orton Design)
Gorgeous, eye-popping movie posters are still out there—they just aren’t being made in Hollywood anymore.
A vast, growing network of artists designing some of the most innovative movie posters in decades—completely independent from Hollywood studios.
Author Matthew Chojnacki documented the artwork of the movement in his 2013 book Alternative Movie Posters: Film Art from the Underground, and a sequel book—Alternative Movie Posters II: More Film Art From the Underground—is published in November.
According to Mr. Chojnacki, who works in finance by day and is an author in his spare time (his first book, Put the Needle on the Record, was about vinyl album art from the 1980s), the popularity of artist-designed posters grew organically through social media.
“It’s a great way [for artists] to get their art noticed,” he told the Observer.