cmbgraphicdesign

POSTER #63 // DEAD WHISPER

Here's one of my official posters I worked on last year for 's amazing indie horror Dead Whisper! Had a blast working on this one, it's been great seeing the film's continued success. my bias aside, I consider myself a fan of this brilliant film, can't wait to watch it again!

Catch it on AppleTV here: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/dead-whisper/umc.cmc.67uuog5lnqvpoea7glltmzsa1

ALBUM COVER #1 // The Flat Earth by .

Taking a quick moment to share the Album & Vinyl Artwork I worked on some time back for Edinburgh based Experimental Pop band Doom Scroller. Loved getting to work on this project, and contributing a small part to their incredibly unique visual style. Support the guys and check out their music here: https://newteethleith.bandcamp.com/album/the-flat-earth

POSTER #62 // It Follows

Recently rewatched It Follows, an incredibly good film. Decided to work on a quick poster for it, as a bit more stylistic experimentation.

POSTER #61 // Fallout.

Fallout has been one of my favourite game series for a good few years at this point. I was incredibly hyped when the show was revealed, and even more so when I watched it.

Wanted to try a little something different with this one, and lean more into the 'traditional' image manipulation style. Not really my forte, but I had the most fun with this one than I have in a while.

POSTER #60 // Vampyr

This poster was designed for my last ever Uni project, my FMP (Final Major Project). For the project I am working on designing, or in this case redesigning, a set of films for a fake Criterion release.

POSTER #59 // Death Stranding // Pixel Memories Challenge.

Here is my entry for the latest , ! I chose Death Stranding, a game that I wholeheartedly believe is one of the best narratives in all media, not just games. Unfortunately, due to a corrupted file. I didn't quite get to finish it. Luckily, I had saved a WIP JPEG very close to the final piece, so I decided to roll with that as the only changes were fairly minor tweaks. I'm still really pleased with this piece, irregardless of whether it's technically finished or not.

The texturing for this piece was done with textures from my upcoming asset pack.

POSTER #58 // Shin Godzilla

While everyone was watching Godzilla Minus One, I was watching Shin Godzilla for the first time. What an amazing film. I went in with high expectations, and they were easily blown away. Quite possibly the coolest Godzilla yet?

MISC PROJECT #1 // Sundara Karma - Youth is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect // Challenge.

Here is my submission to 's latest art challenge, 'Face the Music'. I chose to redesign the cover for 's debut album 'Youth is Only Ever Fun in Retrospect', an amazing album that I have loved for years now. The idea behind the main piece for this was to literally (and metaphorically?) show the title, with a fun childhood moment being displayed slightly faded in an eye.

I had a blast making this! Format wise it's something I have barely ever done, but it's definitely one I enjoyed exploring.

POSTER #56-57 // The Parallax View.

The Parallax View is an amazing political thriller I watched for the first time recently. It was my first Alan J. Pakula film, and I'm very keen to watch some more of his work. I've already picked up a copy of Klute.

I wanted to lean into the eerie, mysterious atmosphere of the film with these posters. Considering the Political tones of the film, I used a red/white/ blue colour scheme as a nod to the US flag.

I'd highly recommend giving the film a watch, it was a wild ride of a film, one that is slightly more fun than it's peers in the Political Thriller sub-genre.

POSTER #55 // PULP FICTION

My first poster of 2024 is Pulp Fiction, the last film I watched in 2023. I wanted to keep this one a bit more simple, using a close up of one of the most iconic and impactful shots from the film to create a more intimate design. The composition and colouration were mostly inspired by vintage Japanese movie posters.

Thank you for a great 2023. Here's hoping that 2024 is just as good.

#2023 #2024

POSTER #54 // THE GREEN KNIGHT.

The Green Knight is a 2021 Medieval Fantasy, directed by David Lowery. It's an amazing, surrealistic adaptation of an 14th century chivalric romance. It is also my choice for best "unconventional" Christmas film. I created this poster in tandem with my new blog where I talk about some of the places I find resources, and showcase how I use them in my designs.

You can read the blog on my site: www.cmbgraphicdesign.com

POSTER #53 // THE WRONG MAN

For my second poster for this year's , I decided to tackle Hitchcock's The Wrong Man. The film was Hitchcock's first, and only, dive into a docu-drama format, with the film being quite faithfully based off the real life story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero. It's a great watch, typical of a Hitchcock film, and features some creative and incredibly impressive camera work for a film of it's age.

POSTER #52 // The Maltese Falcon.

My first post of the year! I recently watched The Maltese Falcon for the first time and loved it. This will be the first of (hopefully) 2/3 Noirvember posts this year.

POSTER #51 // ALAN WAKE II

On impulse, I recently bought the first Alan Wake. I really liked it. The story was great, if a tad confusing, and the gameplay was unique, but a little janky at times. I immediately picked up Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and then Alan Wake 2 as soon as I could. I was going into Alan Wake 2 with a lot of expectations and excitement, but I was genuinely blown away with the game's incredible quality. By halfway through the game, I knew that it was GOTY for me, and now that I've finished it, I even consider it an all time favourite. It's safe to say that the game absolutely smashed my expectations.

POSTER #50 // Parasite.

With this poster being a milestone of sorts, 50 posters since I started this account, I wanted to make it a special one. Parasite is one of my favourite films of all time, and one of the first films that truly showed me how good film can.

The idea for this poster was heavily inspired by Magritte's "The Son of Man" painting. The painting plays on the idea of hidden identities, and that all which see, might not be true. The painting makes for a perfect inspiration for a Parasite poster, with the film being all about hidings one's true identity. The Apple in the painting being replaced in the poster by the peach that plays a vital role in the Kim families' plan.

For more information on the poster, and my general thoughts about reaching 50 posters, you can read my interview with here: https://tinyurl.com/mpzjedxh


#기생충

POSTER #49 // Under the Skin.

Under the Skin is an incredibly strange, but unique Sci-Fi film directed by Jonathan Glazer. I was very confused when I was watching the first half of the film, but I slowly started to understand the film, and by the end, I was more than impressed with the film, it's message, and the way it goes about telling that message. It's definitely not a film for everyone, but it's one I really liked.

POSTER #47-48 // Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a mid 80s, semi-biographical film that loosely follows a period in the life of real life serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole. Henry is an incredibly divisive film, but one that I personally enjoyed. The film touches on some incredibly sensitive topics, and I do think at times it crosses the line, but it is easily made up for by stellar performances from a debuting Michael Rooker, and his co-stars Tom Towles and Tracy Arnold. One of the most interesting facts I came across when researching the film for this poster is that, while it is technically unrated, it was one of the catalyst films for the creation of the MPA NC-17 rating. It is a film that I recommend to any horror enjoyer to watch, but that recommendation definitely comes with a warning.

POSTER #46 // Gone Girl

Slight Spoiler Warning: Gone Girl is a more fun watch than it probably should be. It is immensely satisfying to watch the plan unfold almost perfectly. I'm not sure I would call it one of Fincher's best, but it is definitely top 3 Fincher for me.

The idea for this poster was a more simple one; A wedding photo of Nick and Amy, in a smashed frame with a slight blood stain in some areas. The idea was more centred around the image of Nick and Amy, which I "salvaged" from a previous idea. I isolated the two characters and added a "faded" effect to Amy, this is meant to refer to how she is "gone", but also how she felt like a shell of her former self during the events leading up to the film.

POSTER #45 // Murder by Decree

Murder by Decree is just one of MANY Sherlock Holmes meets Jack the Ripper stories across all media, the only one I have experienced thus far. The film takes a new approach to the Ripper case, one that takes a legitimate "suspect" (though one that was only theorised decades after the case) and presents it in a way not seen before, setting it apart from the other Sherlock/Ripper stories, and just Ripper stories in general. It definitely has it's flaws, but it's also an incredibly fun watch, Christopher Plummer especially does an excellent job as Sherlock.

Watched via: Studio Canal Vintage Classics Blu-ray

POSTER #44 // 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.

I watched 2001 for the first time a few weeks ago, and I was completely blown away by the technical masterpiece on display, both visually and thematically. The film has a vastly underappreciated horror aspect, not only with the incredibly eerie HAL 9000, but also with the almost Lovecraft-esque ever looming sense of doom that's a staple in the cosmic horror genre.

#2001

POSTER #43 // RAN.

I wanted to try something a little different with this one, something a bit more "atmospheric", trying to match the surreal, painterly aesthetic of the film. The colour scheme for this poster was inspired by the iconic ending scene of the film.

Ran was my first Kurosawa film, and while I was a tiny bit disappointed, I still absolutely loved it. It was arguably the most visually stunning film I have ever seen. I am very keen to watch more Kurosawa as soon as I can.


#乱

Here is my third Alt Poster for "The Batman" (2022) 🦇🦇.

This piece was made mostly as practice/ experimentation of custom halftone patterns. Bruce/ The Batman being made up of the Riddler Question Mark symbol, and the background being made up of Batsymbols. I had a blast making this, especially the title design. IMO, it's the best title I've made, my favourite at least.

Here's my Alt Poster for David Lowery's 2021 "The Green Knight".

The major inspiration for this design came from the medieval style book cover designs with the thick borders and green and yellow/gold colour scheme.

Hello! My name is Callum, a UK-based Graphic Designer who specialises in Poster/ Key Art design within the film industry.

You can view my work, and contact me, via my website:

CMBGRAPHICDESIGN Liverpool based Graphic Designer specialising in Poster and Key Art Design.