“You Can’t Really Tell the Whole Story with an Image”: Interview with Graphic Designer Vasilis Marmatakis

Vasilis Marmatakis official poster design for ”Poor Things”, 2023, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Vasilis Marmatakis’s poster designs for the films of Yorgos Lanthimos have become instrumental to the power of anticipation the auteur’s movies hold and an integral part of their visual identity. The Athens-based graphic designer believes you can’t tell the whole story of a film with an image, but his images are always a metaphorical representation of the film and, at the same time, emphasise the power of storytelling and impart a sense of wonder at the world you are about to enter, a world that often leans into the surreal. The designer’s latest collaboration with the filmmaker (fifteen years on since their first, Dogtooth) is Poor Things, starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youseff, and that has Emma play Bella Baxter, a scientist’s creation whose life changes when she steps into the world, her character arc evolving in a wildly frantic path from infant to fully grown woman and future scientist herself.

The three poster designs created by Marmatakis for the film run the gamut between minimalism (a close-up of Emma’s face with smudged eye shadow and lipstick – my favourite of them all – that is in fact transformed into something more ambivalent and profoundly crafted at a closer look – the make-up are in fact brushstrokes that represent the the male figures Bella’s life) and the Victorian-clad portrait of Emma Stone that depicts her character as a woman growing out of herself, very much attuned to the disruptive logic of Bella Baxter, while the overall image also reveals a sensibility to texture and composition. His poster art is like that. You marvel at it and admire the graphic invention and witty visual ideas and imagine the world within the film. And when the film is over you are drawn to the poster once more, curious to figure out new meanings and question your imagination.

I have recently finally had the chance to chat briefly with Vasilis about his poster art (we had previously talked about why movies still need cinemas here and why the public’s fascination with the big screen will never fade, and his very visual cinema-going recollections deeply resonated with me), about Poor Things, his working relationship with Yorgos Lanthimos, the difficulty to attach a definition to the term “artistic poster”, and the only movie poster he actually has framed in his home.

Official poster design by Vasilis Marmatakis for ”Poor Things”, 2023, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

What makes a good movie poster?

The one that makes you think you are going to see an absolutely amazing film.

Were there any particular artists that influenced your work early on and what was your early experience of being a graphic designer before getting into film poster art?

My entry to design was through music graphics, music videos and record sleeves. Then, a bit later, through the covers of the video tapes for rent at video clubs.

“I don’t really get any design or conceptual direction from Yorgos.”

How did your love of cinema begin?

I can not quite remember exactly, but we used to go to the cinema with my parents from a very early age. Then I used to watch LOADS of films on VHS.

Poster design by Vasilis Marmatakis for ”The Lobster”, 2015, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

You have had a fruitful artwork collaboration with Yorgos Lanthimos and, among cinephiles and film lovers, your posters have become as anticipated as the director’s films. How did you start collaborating with the director?

We met briefly with Yorgos Lanthimos when I was working in advertising and collaborated later through Efthimis Filippou for the Dogtooth poster and titles. I was co-running a studio at the time called MNP, and we were all very good friends with Efthimis who had co-written the script with Yorgos.

“I tried to explore through various visuals and typography
the notions of adulthood, freedom, oppression, sexuality,
rebirth, femininity, masculinity and power.”

What is usually the process of your working on a film together?

I don’t really get any design or conceptual direction from Yorgos. I collect all the information available, I read the script, visit the set – if possible – and acquire all the photography that was shot during filming.

Tell me a little about your posters for Poor Things and which were the ideas you explored for them.

You can’t really tell the whole story and meanings of a film with one image. And Poor Things has a lot of layers to work with. I tried to explore through various visuals and typography the notions of adulthood, freedom, oppression, sexuality, rebirth, femininity, masculinity and power.

Poster design by Vasilis Marmatakis for ”Nimic”, 2019, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

In the last decade or even more, the film poster has thrived, fueled by an increased craving for creative design. And when I think of your unique film posters, they truly are a window to the world waiting for us to discover, and at the same time, they seem to add a whole extra dimension to the picture. Does an artistic poster sell a film?

This is quite a difficult question:

What makes a poster artistic and what doesn’t? And what is the definition of “artistic”?

I guess after we define this (which is quite hard) then we could also ask: “does a non-artistic poster sell a film…?”

“I think corporate companies tend to underestimate
the intelligence of the masses and this results
into bad decisions including bad design too.”

I will try to refrain that. What I mean by artistic, and maybe it’s not the best word to use, is in fact something that is not mainstream, something that is imaginative and creative enough to think outside the box, that’s unexpected, original, even risk-taking, and that, most times, does not rely on a film still or a photoshopped head-shot.

I think corporate companies tend to underestimate the intelligence of the masses and this results into bad decisions including bad design too.

Poster design by Vasilis Marmatakis for “The Favourite”, 2018, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Do you remember the first film poster that made you want to go to the cinema and watch a newly released movie?

As a kid, I remember looking at and getting lost in a poster ad for E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (designed by the GREAT John Alvin). But I think it was the tag that intrigued me and confused me more than the actual image: “He is 3,000,000 light years from home”. I guess I was trying to understand and somehow visualise what a light year is. Let alone 3,000,000…

“As a kid, I remember looking at and getting lost in
a poster ad for E.T. The Extra Terrestrial.”

There are usually no tag lines on your posters. You let the image speak for itself, leaving out any tag lines or quotes. Is this something you hardly consider or does it actually depend on the project?

This really depends on the project. Sometimes I do get a tag line from the screenwriter, sometimes I add one and then later it is taken out. I like tag lines, although they can be very risky: sometimes they can work well, but can be very tacky too.

The tagline on E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is definitely one that worked well. And your all-time favourite film posters would be…

I will name one as my all-time favourite and it’s actually the only movie poster that is framed in my house. Pickpocket by Hans Hillmann.

Poster design by Vasilis Marmatakis for ”Alps”, 2011, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos