Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star Wars, And E.T. Get Gorgeous Top-Down Poster Art
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One of the things I love most about GFR is discovering new artists or filmmakers or writers who weren’t previously on my radar and then diving into their work headfirst. Today’s particular rabbit hole (and mixed metaphors) are brought to you by artist Andy Fairhurst, who has put a new spin on beloved science fiction properties simply by approach them from a different angle: from the top down.
That Guardians of the Galaxy picture up top is one of my favorite things he’s done, just because it emphasizes something that some animator or comics artist once said, but I can’t for the life of me remember who: that a recognizable silhouette is key in creating a new costumed character. There are thousands of superheroes and villains who’ve been dreamt up over the decades, but the most iconic, the most legendary, almost all of those are instantly recognizable just from their silhouette. Or their shadow, as the case may be.
He uses that same from-above technique for this posters celebrating the original Star Wars trilogy. I love the way he encodes elements of the films through pure visuals, with each poster referencing the film’s setting, its number (one land speeder, two snow speeders, three speeder bikes), and one character that played an important part in each story.
Or how about an aerial view of a certain giant lizard who conquered the box office a few months ago?
Or a similar approach to an early interaction between a young lad and his soon-to-be best friend…who just happens to be an extra-terrestrial.
Say, that reminds me of the babe. You know, the one with the power of voodoo?
Fairhurst uses a similar tactic of playing with perspective in his posters for the three Back to the Future movies. Here he’s anchoring his images with three key visual elements: Mary’s shoes, his skate/hoverboard, and Doc Brown’s DeLorean license plate.
Last but not least, this is one of Fairhurt’s more straightforward projects, but it depicts a meeting that is the stuff of fan fiction. It’s also currently my Facebook wallpaper. Just remember, Judge: no disintegrations.
