How are modern movie posters tempting us to watch in an age of streaming? Let's find out.
Once, movie posters were everywhere, trying to tempt us into the cinema as that was the only place we could see new releases. Now, we have Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, and a bunch of other streaming networks that we can barely keep track of.
So how are studios luring us in to watch the latest releases in the digital age? Has streaming changed the way they visually market new movies? Let’s take a look.
Where it all began—movie posters in the Golden Age
Movie posters have been around almost as long as cinema has! The first posters popped up in the late 19th century, mostly to announce films coming into theatres.
The movie poster is thought to have originated in the 1870s when Paris artist and lithographer, Jules Cheret, introduced a printing technique that produced images with intense color and rich texture.
In the early days, posters were primarily for the theatres that were showing the movie, and they had to be returned when the movie finished its run!
In the Golden Age of Hollywood, posters became more of an art form and a way to express creativity. They were usually very theatrical and showed the Hollywood stars as glamorous and larger-than-life.
The 1940s were heavily influenced by the Second World War and were trying to distract people with romance, adventure, and a dash of patriotism. Hand-painted illustrations were all the fashion.
In the ‘50s we saw a ton of sci-fi and horror movies driven by Cold War anxiety. These posters reflected everyone’s dark fascination with the unknown and fear of destroying the world. The artwork was vibrant and sensational to try to attract people in. Monster films in particular had posters that were deliberately over the top, with a lot of bold typography.
There was a shift to minimalism and modernism in the 1960s, and both movies and their posters were becoming a bit more experimental, in part because of counterculture movements. We saw a focus on rebellion and social change.
Find some retro movie poster templates to inspire you on Envato:
How movie posters have changed in the digital age
In the ‘90s and ‘00s, designers were starting to get into digital design tools, so they could create images that were more layered and ‘polished’. Franchises started to dominate, with trilogies like Jurassic Park and The Matrix, so there had to be quite a lot of consistency across posters.
Multiple platforms, multiple formats
If digital technology changed movie poster design, then the shift to streaming platforms has flipped it on its head entirely—designers now need to think about how their posters will be consumed across a number of different platforms! Iconic imagery that worked in the past—like bold colors, dramatic typography, and symbolism—now needs to be distilled into something that grabs attention in seconds and still packs a visual punch when scaled up or down.
Designers are now putting a lot of thought into digital thumbnails that are often viewed on small screens. This means a different approach because they need to be eye-catching at a fraction of the size of traditional movie posters.
Streaming platforms curate their content to make it easier to discover. That might be through trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, or even original social media content. A movie poster is now a small piece of a much larger promotional campaign.
The rise of A/B testing
A/B testing in the sense of movie posters and imagery means showing different posters to groups of people to see which designs hit home most with audiences. Quite often, this results in a lot of different variations of the same movie poster that can be released across different platforms, or even on the same platform but changing depending on whose account it is and what they’ve previously interacted with.
Designers embrace diversity
As we’ve seen in our timeline, movie posters were always influenced by trends and shifts, and that’s no different today with streaming movie posters.
One big shift has been how diverse and representative posters now are. They’re not just looking at visual appeal—they’re trying to appeal to a wider audience. On a similar note, with streaming services giving us access to international movies, we’re also seeing a fusion of styles. Posters that might have stuck to Western norms in the past are now incorporating global design aesthetics, so everything feels more varied.
Audiences have their say
When it comes to movie poster design, audiences are more important than ever because now they can share and interact with the artwork in so many ways. For most of Hollywood’s history, moviegoers were passive viewers of the movie posters, but now the audience has a voice in the conversation and can shift how a new movie is received. Just look at the recent debate over Wicked!
Tips for designing streaming-era movie posters and thumbs
- Keep it simple: Your poster will often be seen as a small thumbnail, so it needs to look clean and be easy to decipher at a glance.
- Think about color and contrast: High contrast and bold colors can help your poster pop on a busy platform.
- Have multiple versions: Either for A/B testing or for personalization, have various versions of your poster that appeal to different demographics.
- Think about socials: How your poster looks on Instagram or X is important! If it looks good then people will share it, and if people are inspired to create fan art because of it, all the better.
- Think globally: Audiences are potentially so much wider than they used to be, so think about design elements that might have global appeal.
In movie poster design, some things never change
Movie posters have always been a reflection of the times and the cultural, social, and technological shifts through each era. In the streaming age, that shift has happened again because we have to think about more than a billboard towering over cinemas… posters live in the digital space now, and they’re competing for attention in a seemingly endless scroll of content.
The key role of the movie poster hasn’t changed, though—it still needs to pull us into the story, to make us watch the movie—and for creatives, there are more tools available than ever before to be able to nail that. So take inspiration from the rich history of movie poster design while using new digital techniques to design something that inspires and stands out—whether it’s on the side of a building or in the palm of your hand!
If you want to create a stunning movie poster, try using the range of creative assets from Envato, the one-stop solution for all your creative needs. With millions of photos, fonts, graphic templates, Photoshop actions, and more, you can supercharge your creativity! And learn more about movie poster design with our article on what makes horror movie posters work and our roundup of the best movie poster templates.
