This project was designed using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.

My objective in this project is to design a visually attractive film poster to promote the short film: Swingin’ from the Rafters. This poster had to be designed to fit with the theme of the film drag and drag culture and how colours play an important role in this design. Therefore I embarked on this project knowing that I needed to make the poster bright, vibrant and eye-catching to draw people in to gain interest. I achieved this by utilising minimal content in terms of graphics for the poster, utilising appropriate colours and visuals, as well as complementing textual elements in the design.

A drag queen, Hazel Nut, is rudely awoken by two kids and finds herself saved by an elderly man, named Arthur, who invites her into his house. She wanders around the living room and looks at photos of his late wife, a burlesque dancer called Alice, to whom Hazel shares a striking resemblance. Arthur brings her the tea and scones and he asks her about her night, causing Hazel to realise that Arthur believes she is his late wife. As they dance and spend the day together Hazel is reminded of her own time with her recently deceased partner and decides to reveal that she is not who Arthur thinks she is. Arthur is distressed about the news that Hazel is a stranger, and is angry. Hazel confesses that she can empathise with him. Arthur thanks her for letting him pretend for a little while and asks if she’ll let him do it a while longer, to which Hazel agrees and they begin to slow dance in the living room.

The background was inspired by the white fence in reference to the beginning shot of the short film. This inspired me to add an effect layer on InDesign (with adjusted opacity) over the fence to give the effect of an old-aged fence. Another layer of colour was added on top with a gradient effect. The two gradient colours chosen were magenta pink and violet purple; as they fit the storyline well in terms of their bright nature of drag and all that it entails.

In terms of graphics, Hazel’s and Arthur’s are displayed through the actions of reaching hands. This was created through Photoshop, where I recoloured the image, then remove the original background and separated the hands, where I was then able to export it. I then placed it onto InDesign with numerous adjustments the fit the poster.

As for the textual elements, the main title was made through Photoshop with a three-dimensional effect to give it contrast. While the chosen credit text was a condensed font, in adjusting its sizes I was able to mimic the text of a conventional film poster.