Investigate the perception of Chinese body image and its relationship with romantic movie posters
I following pictures introduce the creation process and samples of my style guide for Chinese romantic movie posters. It shows my approach to a series of poster designs, the diversity of appearance and body image, and the use of AI and PS design software.
Design statement
Initially, I spent some time searching and reading related academic articles on Chinese romantic film culture. I also collected the changes in movie posters in the past and the present. After that, I started sketching ideas and collecting images for inspiration. Using this information to guide my own movie poster design, I also combined existing inspiration and my own ideas to draw a complete sketch on A4 paper. Focus on adjusting female body image and appearance, including skin tone, face shape, facial features, figure, freckles, birthmarks, scars and age.
The sketch was inspired by posters and videos from the film. I see a lot of modern romantic movies that glorify characters, beauty, filters and lack authenticity and diversity of aesthetic.
Poster design process
Sketch
Project: design new romantic cinema posters that show people with different skin colour (very dark to very light), body shape (big and small), height (short/tall), face shape (different nose, eye, mouth, shape). Other things that are different (e.g. birthmark).
Concept design
Adobe illustrator ，photoshop poster design process
I started to add text and ideas to the original poster, and considered the possibility of different appearances and body images. I started to explore each poster. The first step was to imagine and consider which software I could use in poster design. The second is to find out what can be changed, not fake, and relatively natural. Then try to cut out and retouch the image.
Movie poster size
99×69cm in exhibition halls and museums
78cm × 100cm outdoor poster wall
50cm × 70cm, 57cm × 84cm near the streets and stations
Initial mock up plan
Such typesetting is visually less obvious than the original picture and the changed poster, and lacks a sense of design.
Proposed implementation
Poster exhibition
Compare it to the first original poster, the second I drew some freckles on the woman's face.
The first row drew birthmarks on the woman's face based on the original poster.
The second row mainly changes the woman's body image, which is slightly fatter than the original image.
The second row mainly changes the woman's body image, which is slightly fatter than the original image.
The first row of posters showed a young woman aging, adding facial wrinkles and changing the color of her hair. The second row of posters is different in that they change the shape of the woman's face.
This is also the first row that changes the age of women. The second row of posters changed the woman's skin color, changing the woman's white skin to wheat skin.
Final Outcomes
GIF videos
A total of 61 different Chinese romantic movie posters
