I was pretty happy with myself for finding those Ibraheem Youssef minimalist Quentin Tarantino poster all by myself (see post here), but I quickly learned that you just can't compete with these movie news guys. Just a few days later, my friend Jordan Duke (This Is the Duke) informed me that Peter Sciretta from /Film had not only beaten me to the punch, but kicked my sorry butt.
At the risk of being redundant, I'm sharing these posters from Massachusetts-based graphic artist Brandon Schaefer (which can be seen at his site and purchased as prints from inPRNT.com) because they are simply the best minimalist poster art I have seen so far. I would buy the Rear Window and Back to the Future prints in a heartbeat and all of them have either a great concept or great design, if not both. I've posted some of my favorites below.
Minimal Rear Window poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Ghostbusters poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Life Aquatic poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Murder by Death poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal 8 1/2 poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Inner Space poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Back to the Future poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Empire Strikes Back poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Sleeper poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal The Wizard poster by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Child's Play poster by Brandon SchaeferThe biggest difference between Schaefer's work and others I have seen (Youssef's, for instance) is that his designs actually serve a purpose. First of all, most of the posters are for a free film screening series (I'm guessing is held in Massahusates) that looks to be the coolest screening series ever. Then, there are Scaefer's BluRay sleeves. Makes me want to throw out all of my old DVD cases right now for something a little sleeker. My only worry is that these stylish sleeves may promote illegal downloads, but I know you think that is lame.
Minimal Jaws BluRay sleeve by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Groundhog Day BluRay sleeve by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure BluRay sleeve by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Science of Sleep BluRay sleeve by Brandon Schaefer
Minimal Office Space BluRay sleeve by Brandon SchaeferOther favorites not-pictured are minimal posters for Annie Hall, Manhattan, Planet of the Apes, and Network. Also, I have to take issue with the poster for The Wizard for being so California-centric when one portion of the film clearly takes place in Utah. You may think that is a minor complaint, but it's not. Those LA people think they are the center of the universe and it drives me crazy. Still, nice poster from a movie I haven't seen for a VERY long time. It was just one of those movies that was instantly dated, but would probably be fascinating to see now. In fact, these posters have made me want to see all of these movies again, which is exactly what a poster is supposed to do, and why I think these particular posters are such a success.
Congratulations to Brandon Schaefer for making, in my opinion, the absolute coolest alternative posters around. If anyone is looking for a birthday gift for me (wink), you can visit Brandon Schaefer's site Seek&Speak here (remember, Rear Window). Follow him on Twitter here. These posters came to me via @slashfilm and @thisistheduke. Thanks guys! You are geekier than I will ever be.
