Designer: Stefan Guzy

Client: dffb (German Film and Television Academy Berlin)

Size: 841 x 1189 mm

Printing Process: Screenprint

Number of Inks: Two

Many of you might be saying, "another Zwolf poster???" Then you lay eyes on this beauty and you say; "ANOTHER ZWOLF POSTER!!!!" It is true that I have been transfixed by their recent output, but let's all be honest and admit that these are quite simply too good to be limited to one showing for the studio a year. (I have a confession, there is at least one more showcasing in this column very soon, and it is amazing.)

The mix of a single simple shape, and huge type slashed across it, shouldn't be such a showstopper, but in the hands of designer Stefan Guzy, it is all that he needs. Working on the poster to "promote an art house film, shot by film school student Rudolf Domke in Berlin," Guzy explains that he needed proper promotion as "the short film was gaining recognition and being screened at many festivals."

A heavy, contemplative drama, where the main character only reveals his face for a brief moment, and there is no dialogue, Guzy set about focused on a typographical solution to carry the visuals. "I hand-rendered some antique styled horror film lettering," he says, adding a hallucinogenic quality. Having it hover over, and break the border established by the frame, only adds to the effect. The real capper is in his final decision, one in which the poster takes on another life, had the choices differed. "I was drawn to using these weird contemporary colors," he admits, bringing the poster into another plane of existence, much like the sublime work of the studio itself.

You can always get John Foster's thoughts on posters in book form via New Masters of Poster Design, New Masters of Poster Design: Volume Two, 1,000 Indie Posters and many more.

NOTE: Poster of the Week runs every Wednesday. Check it out each week!