Colour Theory in Poster Designs

Colour Theory in Poster Designs

 This poster is an advertisement for the 2017 remake of the classic Stephen King movie "IT". The film follows the story of a group of teens tackling a monster that terrorises their town every 27 years, until they eventually save the children of their town and beat the killer clown into surrender.

The colour scheme used in this photo very cleverly conveys that the movie is a horror/thriller. First of all, the dark and eerie background which fades from a black shade to different grey gradients. The effects of using black and grey together in this context creates the feeling of mystery and deceit, like something terrifying is hidden in the dark. The colour black strikes fear naturally in people, as most children will experience some fear of the dark during their lifetime. It's linked to the fear of the unknown, which is a natural human instinct.

Adding to this, the effect of using the colour red subliminally signifies that there will be blood and murder in the film, as it is also a colour that signifies anger; signifying in this poster that it must be a threatening character (villain) holding the only red object besides the movie title itself.

Interestingly, the colour yellow is the only other bright colour used in this poster besides red. This colour signifies youth, as the colour yellow can be associated with spring and therefore new beginnings. Plus, it is also meant to represent pure happiness, like how a child would feel, making it clear to the viewer that the character wearing the yellow raincoat is young and innocent. This creates a feeling of suspense and urgency, as it immediately becomes apparent that this character is threatened by the other more sinister character holding the red balloon.

Lastly, the colour scheme used here is analogous, as the only two colours used in the poster are
next to each other on the colour wheel.

This next poster is by Jaguar, one of the top car
companies in the world. The car itself is a luxurious, sultry shade of deep red. Almost a scarlet shade, even. This colour could be representative of the fact that the car is so amazing and so beautiful that the person who buys it will absolutely adore it, as the colour red does represent love and strong emotion. It's almost as if the colour red has been enhanced to be a deeper shade in order to create a deeper emotion inside the person viewing the poster, giving them a need to buy the car due to the lavish colour and the effects it has on our brain subliminally. The fact that the surroundings of the car are all varied shades of black and grey further enhance the red colour, and represent elegance; making the car seem even more desirable. The colour scheme used here is monochromatic, as we only see one colour from the colour wheel in this image.



This poster was created to advertise the cult classic movie Donnie Darko. Released in 2001 by director Richard Kelly, this psychological thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal follows the story of young boy Donnie as he is plagued by visions of a time travelling rabbit named Frank. Throughout the story, Frank aides Donnie in a mission to restore reality and destroy an unstable tangent universe created by a falling jet engine.
The lighter blue tones in the poster represent a melancholy and depressing mood, which reflect von the whole mood and tone of the movie itself. Donnie is depressed and confused throughout most of the movie, which is portrayed through the colours used in this poster. The blue tones really set a mood for the movie, and give the viewer a little taste of what they're in for when they go to view the movie. Adding to this, the blue colour is also an instructional colour, used to direct people into doing things. When used in a movie poster, it's a colour that screams "you must come see this movie!".
The colour scheme used in this poster is monochromatic, as blue is the only colour present from the colour wheel.

This poster is being used to advertise the beauty company, Soap and Glory. They specialise in skincare, hair care and cosmetic products.
It appears that the company is going for a vintage theme in their products, from the models they use to the wording of their slogans to the colours they use. This could possibly explain their overuse of their trademark colour pink, as they may be catering to the old-fashioned, stereotypical view that pink is predominantly a feminine colour that appeals to women. However, they also may have chosen the colour pink as it is a very chic, fashion-forward colour. Pink has made a huge comeback in the beauty and fashion industry in recent years, which could make it more appealing to people who are fans of fashion and like to keep up with the latest trend.
Grey is also a very modern colour nowadays. It is a staple for most interior designer, as it can really make a room complete, and tends to match any colour it is paired with. Sticking with the trend of being in-the-now and fashion forward, the company may have chosen to pair the pink colour with grey not only to match their vintage theme but to appeal to a much wider audience.

 The colour scheme used in this poster is monochromatic, as once again pink is the only colour present which is considered to be a part of the colour wheel.