creative dump

BOB PEAK: THE MODERN MOVIE POSTER & BEYOND

Dumped in the Art and Design and People pile on June 10, 2009.

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Bob Peak (1927-1992) was an American commercial illustrator best known for innovative design in the development of the modern movie poster. He completely transformed the approach to movie advertising—sans-MacBook Pro. United Artist hired Peak in 1961 to help promote “West Side Story.” His innovative solution-painting characters and scenes into a single montage-became the first of over 100 such posters, among them “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot,” “Rollerball,” “Star Trek,” “Superman” and “Apocalypse Now.” His artwork has been used on the cover of Time magazine, TV Guide, and Sports Illustrated—not to mention numerous ads and postage stamps.

His imaginative, futuristic, colorful and whimsical style is still at work, influencing some of the most talented and creative designers of our day. You can see signs of Peak in the retro-modern works of designers like James White, Scott Hansen, and Joshua Davis. Peak was truly ahead of the game in his time and continues to be an icon and model of influence for ours.

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