Aided by a sharp eye for detail and a perfect distillation of the “less is more approach” to poster design, illustrator and graphic designer Matt Needle champions an artistic sensibility seldom seen nowadays. He specialises in editorial illustration, key art and movie posters, where he wisely seeks to favour any design that best conveys a given film’s theme or narrative through effective visual representation, while remaining attuned to the mood of the times. Whether it’s for each and every one of the 25 Bond films, or Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, he always finds the kernel of an idea or a concept that engages and entices us to watch the film. Here Matt talks to Beneficial Shock! about why the process is more thrilling than the finished work, useful skills he picked up at design school and the Fellini film he wishes he could have done the official poster for.
Could you define the philosophy or approach of your work, Matt?
Everything I work on has the same fundamental approach and end goal. I seek to create something that presents a familiar subject matter in a different light. Whether that’s a gig poster, alternative film artwork, book cover or some other graphic/image making endeavour. Take for example an alternative film poster, of which I work on as self initiated projects in between client work, I love to experiment and create something that’s an expression / personal visual response to the familiar material, hopefully an approach that is intriguing and aesthetically different from what’s out there already.
Which piece of work or project have you learned the most from and why?
I think I learn different things from each project that I work on. But I would definitely cite my Bond Poster Project as something I still adore and reference a lot. This was something I worked on in 2020 when the UK went into Covid lockdowns and a lot of my client work got paused. I had always been a huge Bond fan and had always wanted to work on a series of posters based on the movies but never had the time. I used this downtime to experiment and create a series of posters that reinvigorated my creative juices and kept me mentally in check during a very uncertain time. It was during this time I realised that a creative outlet wasn’t just a job, it was actually something that I needed to keep me focused and sane, as well as freshening up and honing a visual style at the same time.
In your film poster work, you use minimum of elements to obtain the greater expressiveness in the design, but never underestimating the personality of the film. Could you tell us more about your process and how you synthesize your ideas?
I always try to imbue each film poster with a sense of character and style that echoes the creative choices made by the filmmaker, mixed with my own retro but with a modernist twist design approach. My process involves a lot of trial and error, sketching little concepts and boiling down ideas and elements from the film. Then I sort of hone in on that and build thematic/story points around that. Something as simple as colour choice, font or shape could factor into this part of the process. Usually the poster idea will come together fairly quickly and then I kind of refine and reflect on it for a day or two before finalising.
'I always try to imbue each film poster with a sense of character and style that echoes the creative choices made by the filmmaker, mixed with my own retro but with a modernist twist design approach.'
Apart from watching the film, do you do other kind of research?
Yes, I tend to do a deep dive when working on a film poster project. Most of the time, if I have access to the film, I’ll watch that, along with reading scripts/outlines and if there are any essays/write-ups as well. I also put together an image/mood board before jumping into sketching concepts.
Hans Hillmann said that he liked to talk more about the course of his work than about the finished product because “in my opinion this offers more interest than the finished work, probably because nothing is decided yet. Sometimes you express something that comes out of the blue.” Do you agree?
I completely agree with that statement, and it’s something I tend to live by as a guide in a way. The creative journey is the fun part, the part of the process that offers you different directions, potential outcomes. It’s like one of those choose your own story books from childhood, each route leads a different exciting journey and conclusion. I feel like I can explore and expand on my ideas and concepts within this space, and that to me is more thrilling than reaching the finishing line.
'A great poster idea can be let down by a bad typographic execution. I would usually work on the imagery/concept first then the typographic parts will usually flow on organically from there.'
Do you always do everything on a poster design: graphics, typography and art direction? I would like to insist a little on the typography element because it is such a big part of film poster design but many often think that typography is the easy part of the design. Is that so? And have you ever designed an image to accommodate a particular type that you had in mind?
Yep, every poster I create I work on every element. They all need to fit together like puzzle pieces to produce the best final piece possible. A great poster idea can be let down by a bad typographic execution. I would usually work on the imagery/concept first then the typographic parts will usually flow on organically from there. I don’t think I’ve ever set out with a specific font choice in mind when creating a poster, unless I’ve been given specific title treatments/fonts to work with.
When did you become interested in cinema and how did you get into film poster design? And were there any early influences in your work?
I’ve been interested in cinema from a very young age. One of my favourite past times was going to the cinema as a kid (which is something I still love to do, when I get the time, and have recently been enjoying getting my son into the cinema experience.) As a kid, I was also heavily inspired by film posters and VHS box art (as well as book and record covers), and I would frequently redraw my own versions. This led to me sort of discovering graphic design and illustration when I was in high school and really pursuing it as a hobby, then career, whilst studying it at University. I’ve told the story before about how I first came to making alternative movie posters in the summer break from my first year of Uni (around 2006) and had been given a Hitchcock DVD Boxset which I decided to watch and create minimalist posters for some of my favourite Hitchcock movies as a creative outlet in the summer break.
Initial creative influences were really people such as Saul Bass, Bill Gold, Andy Warhol, Hans Hillman, Richard Hamilton, Japanese and Polish Film Poster designs, Dada Art Movements, Pop Art amongst others.
A Hitchcock VHS box set was also what took my budding interest in cinema to a whole different level when I was in university. I would like to remain on the subject of Hitchcock. His films belong to cinema. Does that apply to illustration? What can Illustration do that only illustration could do?
I believe that Illustration is a pretty open medium. Fundamentally, it is story telling and visual problem solving, but it covers and intersects a wide variety of other subjects and areas. My work specifically crosses between design and illustration and I believe that I can apply these skills to a wide variety of projects, whether it be a film poster (illustration and design marrying together to both tell a story and sell that story to you) or an editorial illustration (a visual addition to depict the accompanying story).
Does a film itself usually dictate your choice of a new personal project or do you sometimes start with a director in mind, as in the case of Hitchcock?
Each personal project I work on has to be a labour of love, as I have to make the decision to carve out time, and, in some cases, eschew committing to other projects. Nowadays, the majority of my self initiated works are dictated by tradition more than anything (Oscars Project every Jan/Feb) or (Noirvember every November.) Occasionally, if I have a small window of time between other projects and I see a movie that really inspires me, I jump at the chance to make something (almost as if it’s a creative fix).
What is the most valuable lesson that you learned at the school of graphic design, and what is the most important thing that you learned as you’ve evolved as an artist?
The most useful skills I picked up at school would probably be critical thinking and analysis. Skills and techniques can be picked up and honed over time, but learning how to adopt and utilise a critical and analytical eye to each project is something that has served me well.
Over time, skills such as art directing and project management, as well as how to present to clients, as well as trying to ascertain exactly what the client is looking for. Also being able to sell yourself and your concepts to the client/public is a skill that I wish they focused on teaching in schools.
'The most useful skills I picked up at school would probably be critical thinking and analysis. Skills and techniques can be picked up and honed over time, but learning how to adopt and utilise a critical and analytical eye to each project is something that has served me well.'
What is your favorite film poster and what film do you wish you could have done the poster for?
Tough one, I love quite a few. I would say Saul Bass: Vertigo, Bill Gold: A Clockwork Orange, Hans Hillman: 1966 poster for The Fire Within, Jakub Erol: ET are a few of my favourites.
I have loads that I wish I could have done the poster for, but I’ll probably do my own version of them at some point. A poster I would have loved to have done? Probably something like early Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction) or Fellini 8 1/2. I have dabbled with ideas for all of these in the past and plan on working on a Pulp Fiction poster to release with the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the film this year.
The great film critic Roger Ebert described film as an 'empathy machine' suggesting it is a way for us to connect fully with lives and experiences of others that we will never ourselves live. With this in mind, what film have you watched that has had the greatest impact on you emotionally and tell us why if you can?
I recently watched the brilliant Ikiru (1952) for the first time whilst doing a Kurosawa rewatch for a project I’m working of for the BFI and it had profound effect on me and my life. (In a similar way that films like A Ghost Story, (David Lowery, 2017) Coco (Adrian Molina, Lee Unkrich, 2018) and It’s A Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) have also made me quite reflective on life, death and the choices I’ve made and how I’d be remembered upon my eventual passing).
I remember Coco affecting me more than any Disney/Pixar film (apart from Lion King and Bambi when I was a kid, which both messed me up) due to me viewing it a short while after losing my own grandmother. I was emotionally tied to it in a way I don’t usually feel with many movies, which was something that I again felt with Ikiru.
What film do you recommend most to others and why (if it’s not one of the above)?
Usually I would probably answer either Sunset Blvd (1950) by Billy Wilder or In the Mood for Love (2000) by Wong Kar Wai. These are two of my go-to movies that I pretty much rewatch on a yearly basis. Both so stylistic in different ways as well as heartbreaking and engaging at the same time, and generally all time classics.
However...At time of writing, I’ve just been to see Coralie Fargeat’s incredible new movie The Substance, which absolutely blew me away. The best performance of Demi Moore's career and pretty easily in my top 3 films of the year. It was a masterpiece in fearless filmmaking and a film I’ll probably be thinking about for years to come. Not sure when this is going to be published, but if you haven’t seen The Substance on the big screen, GO NOW!!!!
Which would be the other two films of the year?
The two other films I absolutely loved this year are Dune Part Two and Poor Things.
Interview by Ada Pîrvu / www.classiq.me