LA HAINE — Fan-made Chirashi
(Japanese Mini-Posters)
Chirashi are japanese-exclusive promotional posters for movies. What differentiates chirashi from conventional promo material are both their limited release (often only displayed during the screening of a movie) and exclusive artwork developed specifically for the Japanese market.
I decided to try my hand at creating a couple chirashi for one of my favorite movies:
La Haine.
My two final creations. I could not decide on a favorite, so they're both up here!
Looking at its western posters, a clear opportunity presented itself to play with a touch of color for its Japanese title, while everything else could remain in its shades of black, gray and white to create a visually interesting contrast that also loosely connects to the themes of the movie.
Unfortunately, I came to realize such a thing already existed.
The original chirashi for La Haine - not my work.
It was surprising to see how my original concept for the poster had existed so accurately years before I was even born. Nevertheless, I persevered with my vision regardless of how the similarities might be perceived.
Having found the original poster was of great help to make my own work more believable, as all the information that would need to be present (including Japanese text, a language which I do not speak) was right there, and could be referenced at any time.
I iterated tens of variations before settling on the final two designs. A lot of extra time was then spent tweaking minor layout details, looking to improve on some of the awkwardness of the original poster without straying too far into an excessively-polished design.
Now the real fun can begin! Weathering is one of my favorite things to do while designing. I'm always looking to improve my skills and strive for believability over spectacle (in most cases). Again, having the original poster for reference was integral for this part of the process.
Detail shot of my weathering work. Effects at macro-level can look exaggerated, but it is in function of creating visual cohesion from a distance.
An often overlooked aspect of weathering is distressing on the font itself. The additional layer of grit on the text helps it better settle with its surroundings, further allowing it to blend together.
Below is a direct comparison with all effect layers applied minus the weathering
on the text.
Thank you for checking out my project!
