When It Comes to Relationships, We’re All Beginners.

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011, posted in Inspirations with No Comments

A Focus Features Film. Sypnosis: From writer/director Mike Mills comes Beginners, a comedy/drama about how deeply funny and transformative life can be, even at its most serious moments.

Beginners imaginatively explores the hilarity, confusion, and surprises of love through the evolving consciousness of Oliver (Golden Globe Award nominee Ewan McGregor). Oliver meets the irreverent and unpredictable Anna (Mélanie Laurent of Inglourious Basterds) only months after his father Hal Fields (Academy Award nominee Christopher Plummer) has passed away. This new love floods Oliver with memories of his father, who, following the death of his wife of 45 years, came out of the closet at age 75 to live a full, energized, and wonderfully tumultuous gay life – which included a younger boyfriend, Andy (Goran Visnjic of ER). The upheavals of Hal’s new honesty, by turns funny and moving, brought father and son closer than they’d ever been able to be. Now Oliver endeavors to love Anna with all the bravery, humor, and hope that his father taught him.

To pay homage to this beautiful poignant movie, I created several Quote-Poster Designs inspired from the movie quote: “When it comes to relationships, we’re all beginners.” I chose to work with this quote because it is close to my heart and very human. Each poster design has its own whimsical feel and unique inspiration behind it and I will attempt to explain each one of them. All colors inspired from the movie branding. The Pink-Red Heart drives the visual representation of both of these posters. Inspiration was taken from a greeting card that I once saw and Alice in Wonderland. Innocent, curious and playful, the “peek-a-boo” effect suggests that as humans we are generally scared to show our hearts/feelings to other people—hence the trusting issue. Font used: Gill Sans. Doesn’t (below) this looks like a book cover design? Font used: Franklin Gothic Book and Medium. Yes, I’m crazy about grids and Romantic Comedy inspired poster designs… Font used: Gotham. These two visuals are half-hearts peeking out at each other—suggesting that they are only whole if they become one. Don’t they also remind you of spots on a Jack Russell terrier? Font used: Helvetica Neue. I would like to credit Mike Mills for being an (indirect) inspiration to me. He’s a contemporary creative thinker that is human and real, and his ingenuity shows in all his work. Thanks for being such an inspiration and staying true to yourself Mike!