The poster was actually the first design that helped to set up the visual aesthetic and feel of SIFF. The programming team gave the design team a few images about the look and feel of how they envision SIFF to become. One of those images that I gravitated toward was the Suspiria (2019) poster design by La Boca Design Studio. It’s an iconic poster that consists of geometrical shapes and uses a colour palette of red, white and black.
The use of symbolism was a major factor in the poster design for SIFF and something that I’m personally interested in when creating my own projects. I began researching the origins of séances online and pulled inspiration from books that I own about symbols and archetypal images. These helped me to sketch up a few images and compositions of how I envisioned the poster to look in my mind. Rather than including all the information about SIFF on the poster, I wanted it to feel more like a poster for a film so I refrained from using information that was very text-heavy. Instead, I decided to add a QR code to direct viewers to the SIFF website which has all the information about our film festival. I personally like the idea that someone would hang up the poster on the walls of their bedroom and hoped that the design was good enough to do so.
By using a similar colour palette and geometrical shapes, I wanted to give a modern feel to the poster by adding gradients and textures. References relating to our horror/occult theme include: séance activity in the centre, evil entity lurking in the shadows in the background, the triangle and the circle reminiscent of the Illuminati symbol and of the occult which was also inspired by Hilma Af Klint’s ‘Paintings for the Temple’ which she painted by channelling spirits (very fitting), and an arched window with a blood moon which can be represented as an evil omen. Overall, I wanted to give our SIFF poster a somewhat ominous feel.
The feedback from my peers as well as from liaisons communicating with our sponsors and publications were well received, with some noting how the strong visuals doesn’t feel like a university student-run film festival. Several film festival goers during our event commented on the poster as well as the displayed graphics and how it encapsulates the theme of SIFF perfectly. I was quite happy with the outcome of the SIFF poster as this was the first time I’ve created a poster for such an event and I hope to work on more in the future.
