The Black Swan - Unity

Poster design by La Boca

This is one of the film posters for the movie The Black Swan which was released December 2010.  The movie received excellent reviews, so I was looking at some websites and came across this film poster.  I was immediately attracted to the use of color in the piece, the portrayal of the ballerina within the swan, the title font (art deco style), and the overall grace of the poster.  The function is to advertise the movie and create revenue through sale of the posters.  The audience for this piece is movie-goers over the age of 17 (rated R).  To further narrow the audience, the film is a “psycho-sexual thriller.”

I believe that this represents all six Gestalt methods of creating unity in design.

Grouping is displayed in this work through the use of color, shape, location, and orientation.  Alternating black and red are used for the arms, hands, and head of the ballerina to represent the wings of the swan.  The use of white to outline the dancer’s face and swan’s eye also create unity through color.  The curves of arms, hands, and head are repeated to create unity by grouping the shapes together.  Location of the swan’s wings, neck, and head balance the heavy, black, all upper-case font of the title block.  Orientation plays a large part in creating unity in this work.  The angle of the wings and neck of the swan are angled such that the dancer seems to open up but the head of the swan is angled downward in opposition.  The vertical orientation of the artwork within the poster, the colors, and the head of the swan create a sinking feeling.

Containment is created using the outer edges of the poster.  The fact that the swan’s body isn’t “completed” on the left and bottom of the pages creates visual interest and unity.

This composition uses repetition to great effect.  The color choice of black, red, and white; the repetition of the arms and head of the ballerina; the repetition of the typeface throughout the entire work; and the use of the white outlines reflect the principle of repetition.

Proximity and fusion are used throughout the swan/ballerina to create unity.  This creates the tension found in the piece.  The title block is separated and reads as a separate object yet it is still unified via color and location.

Continuity, the fluid connection among compositional parts, is an essential element of unity in this poster.  Actual continuity is used for the ballerina/swan.  This artful use of continuity creates movement through the upward glance of the ballerina and the angle of the arms and hands.  The eye is led to the face of the swan which helps complete the visual image. The diagonal lines of the arms and tilt of the head create a focal point upward toward the head of the swan. It also appears that the ballerina and the swan are looking at each other which further promotes continuity.

Closure in this work is created though the use of the images of the ballerina as part of the swan.  The smaller images became part of the whole.  The arms and face become opening wings.  The swan itself helps unify and close the entire poster by leading the viewer to the text. 

I didn’t see this movie but I love the artwork that was produced for it.  All of the posters can are shown at: http://www.impawards.com/2010/alpha1.html.