I have collected a list of 32 great movie posters that you might find useful for design inspiration. A good poster does not necessarily make a good movie, nor does a good movie make a good posters. We don’t necessarily like these movies but we do like their posters.

1. Sex Drive

The symbolism is clear and effective. The red colour of title and speedometer needle contrasts with the white background which makes it stand out.

2. The Midnight Meat Train

The Midnight Meat Train has great colour and tone. The blurring of the image allows the title to stand out and still manages to create an effective mood.

3. Wall-E

This Wall-E poster is a great example of the use of the rule of thirds method in which an image is broken into 9 section which supposedly creates tension, energy and interest. You can clearly see this technique being used. This is an important design technique and is worth learning more about.

4. 28 Weeks Later

The red background makes the eyes of the women stand out extremely well, focus is also drawn to them and ask the questions, why focus on her eyes? and what is she looking at?

5. Little Miss Sunshine

This simple poster effectively uses a vibrant color to attract attention. The typography is simple but stands out well.

6. Poseidon

The colors and tone of this image is very effective in drawing interest. Although the title is upside down it is still easy to read because of its simple and bold lettering.

7. State of the Union

The symmetry of this poster is what interested me; symmetry can be an effective design technique because in our minds we view symmetry as beautiful and balanced.

8. King Kong

This poster does not even need a title because it uses a character we are all familiar with. This poster also uses framing to cut out what we don’t need to see.

9. Band of Brothers

The two parts of this poster I like are the background image and the typography. The top is unique because it is much like a silhouette of the soldiers, the background color and harsh clouds helps display the tone of the image. The typography is interesting because it is spaced to fit equal distances between the edge of the poster and the text.

10. Saving Private Ryan

A similar poster to the band of brothers also uses the silhouette effect. The four faces blend effectively into the clouds. The typography uses all lower cases and separates the words “saving” and “private ryan” by bolding one and narrowing the other.

11. Scarface

The background is whats interesting in this poster, as the two colors fuse together through Al Pacino’s image making his expression, gun and closed fist stand out.

12. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

This poster is just wacky, it is an example of how experimentation can turn out great results.

13. Walk The Line

Vector Art stands out quite well as it increases the simplicity of the colors, making each layer stand out more.

14. American History X

Another simple black and white image chooses what it wants to display and stand out. When you use black on white the black images stand out because of the strong contrast.

15. Vacancy

This is personally one of my favorites, the tone is extremely strong from the multiple dark textures which also allow the creatively placed title to stand out. A tip here is to think of creative ways to display your content.

16. The Spirit

The textures and colors give this image a gritty dark feeling.

17. V For Vendetta

This retro inspired poster was not afraid to take elements from old wartime propaganda images.

18. The Invisible

This poster uses a creative way to display something which ordinarily would be… invisible. The rain also helps seperate the dark outline from what would be a dark night.

19. Underworld

The poster uses backlighting to make the character stand out. This is an effective technique, use a dark background but behind text or an image try putting a lighter color or glow behind it.

20. The Dark Knight

The blurred image in the background helps to make the title stand out.

21. The Matrix Reloaded

This is an incredibly simple poster but is a perfect example of simplicity and black on white. The posters character stands out incredibly clear against the complete white background.

22. Shaun Of The Dead

This poster is extremely creative. The typography is unique as it uses a zombies reaching arm to create the letter A. The doors are unique framing tools. I really like designs who use images such as doors or windows to frame objects. The faces of the zombies are all saturated while the main character is coloured and holding a vibrant yellow bouqeut, which heavily contrasts the depressing faces of the zombies. The slogan is also perfect as it explains exactly what is going on.

When your viewing this poster ask yourself, “would this image be the same without the color placed on the main character?” Simply adding the color turns the movie from a zombie movie into a romantic comedy.

23. Day Watch

This image is a great example of focal point. The funneling crows helps draw the focus down the image into the center, which is conveniently where the title is.

24. Casino Royale

The use of shadows and different focuses helps to make specific images of this poster stand out.

25. Batman Begins

The bright sun behind Batman helps draw your attention to the character, while the white title also stands out prominately against the black.

26. King Arthur

If you do not know the controversy behind this poster you should probably look it up. But that aside this poster is different, rather then using a simple background to allow the title to be easily seen, the poster uses a somewhat cluttered background which blends together allowing the title to be seen prominently.

27. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Yet another silhouette effect, this may be one of the best examples of how using contrasting colors can draw attention to wherever you would like.

28. Sideways

The rule of thirds and the use of hand drawn images is a refreshing change from the movie shots traditionally used. The one thing I do not like about this poster is how dark the title is.

29. Big Fish

The warm use of colors, large title text, silhouette and unique display of lettering summarizes many techniques that can be found in interesting designs.

30. Pirates of the Carribean

The use of a well known symbol in a creative way is a great way to stand out and drawn in attention.

31. Secret Window

This is a moody image, it uses framing effectively to inspire curiosity into what is outside the frame. It also uses the title of the movie effectively by creating a eerie mood and having the shadow of a window frame on the face of the character.

I hope that you find this list useful.

I would also like to hear where you get your inspiration from so if you have something in particular leave a comment!