Star Trek (2009)

"Beam me up, Scotty."

Hi World,

  I am going to dive head first into this. First, let's talk a bit about the poster. The use of a monochromatic color palette is very successful. I am a big believer in simplicity and simplifying when possible. Sticking with a monochromatic color palette makes this image easier to look at and easier to take in. It is rare to find a successful movie poster that is cluttered and over complicated. The purpose of a movie poster is to attract viewers. If something is over complicated and hard to decipher, viewers quickly move onto the next option.

  Another successful aspect of this poster is the three distinct images that represent the hierarchy of the film. 

1. The three main characters who the film/series follows. 

2. The current danger. 

And 3. The interior battle that Kirk has to overcome (his rebellious nature). 

  The inclusion of Kirk on a motorcycle brings the poster full circle with the movie. In the beginning of the movie, we see Kirk struggling to find a purpose. Aggression, sarcasm, and arrogance are swarming the character, preventing him from living up to the Captain Kirk we have grown to know throughout the former series. Time travel has presented a new path for the Captain of the USS Enterprise. We are able to see the classic character grow into and evolve to become a powerful leader who will 'boldly go where no man has gone before.'

  Now, let's move onto the font choice. It is nice to see that a new font was developed for this film. It is not the same as any that have been used for the original series. The nature of Star Trek is its advanced, futuristic theme. The font is bold and almost alien, just like the movie. The use of a sharp, san serif font was a clever choice. A few fonts have been used to promote the former series, but this presents a more futuristic aspect that the others had been lacking. The sharp points in the letters, and the fact that they all have the same X height, is what gives us a futuristic, heigh tech feel to the overall font.

  The only issue that I have with the composition of the poster is the battle scene in the middle. The tones seem to get lost in translation. I am having a hard time figuring out what is happening. The clearest indicator that it could be a battle scene is the minor additions of warmer tones. If those had been left out, the entire sense of danger would have been missed. I have come across this poster many times, but I am just now realizing what this image is depicting. An image that is slightly more in focus may have offered some more clarity to the overall image.

  All in all, this is a successful design that captures the essence of the film. The use of a hierarchy is the structure of the poster what the most successful design element used. With only minor confusion in the battle scene, this is a wonderful representation of one of my personal favorites: Star Trek (2009).

Until Next Time,

P