Breakfast at Tiffany's

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a popular movie made in 1961. Its air date was preceded by a few wonderful movie posters. The two I found are particularly wonderful. Both of these exhibit the proper way to use a border. In my last post I mentioned that one of the posters had terrible usage of a border. Well here are two examples of a situation where the artist used a border and it enhances and ads to the overall image and message.

In both posters the border is breached by some part of the image. A border tends to work best when the inner image breaks the barrier just a little and comes into the viewer’s space. In the first image Audrey Hepburn’s hair and arm breach the barrier along with the small image of the man and woman kissing. The perfect amount of image is hanging over the border, just enough to bring it to the foreground. By breaking up the border the picture is more noticeable.

Another bold move the designer made was by using primary colors for the color scheme.  Normally this is bold, childish and distracts from the overall design. But in this poster it works very well. The simplicity of the image works well with the colors. They are used in small amounts and in the coloring is not the true hue. The colors are the tints of the hue. That softens their impact and lets them seem less “primary.”  Another good use of the colors is how they place Audrey Hepburn near the red and yellow boarder in her black dress. It makes her stand out and because of her black dress black dress your eye is drawn to the words and her name. Since the red and dark pink are in the same color family the pink makes the title also well noticed. The other image on the photo which is drawn in grays sits near the blue border. That keeps it muted a little. Making it noticeable but not having it stand out more that Audrey Hepburn’s image.

In the second poster the same color scheme and color similarities and emphasis trick are employed. The bolder close up image of Audrey Hepburn is stunning. Her hair brings out her name and the lines created by her line of sight and the line of her cigarette draw the viewers eye to the side and up to the title and name at the top. The way the eyes go toward the edge and down the cigarette to the boarder. Where the lines of the border and the cigarette interest it creates a strong line. The way in which your eyes travel up to the small image, and then to the words is dynamic. Implied line is one of the most dynamic elements you can use in a design. It draws your eye all around and emphasizes certain things. It is what makes images interesting and intriguing and makes you want to look at them.

Both posters are fantastic. The implied line and the smoothness of the poster and the use of white space is wonderful. There is so much white space in this picture and every inch of it works well. It does not distract and completely enhances the words, figure of Audrey Hepburn and the smaller image of her and the man. The contrast in size of the image is also dynamic. It emphasizes Audrey Hepburn, as it should.

This poster works stands out because it employs a few design elements that would normally be things to avoid in design. They use them and use them well. They employ them in a very effective eye catching way.