Bond redesigned: reinterpreting the basic 007 film poster
This year should mark the release of the highly anticipated 25th installment in the James Bond film series No Time to Die. As in much of the film industry, however, the coronavirus has thrown a little bit of work into it. The movie's release date was originally postponed from April to November when the pandemic broke out and has since been delayed further until 2021.
A glimmer of hope for 007 design nerds is a personal project by graphic designer and illustrator Matt Needle called Bond Redesigned. The Cardiff-based designer has spent the last decade building a client base for the movie industry, including Warner Bros and Marvel. However, for the last seven months of the lockdown, he has created an alternate movie poster for every movie in the Bond franchise from the beginning of the '60s.
Here we talk to Needle about the inspiration for the project, the process of bringing the alternative poster series to life, and why freeing up time for passion projects is invaluable for your commissioned work.
Creative Review: Tell us how you got into movie poster design.
Matt Needle: I started working for a few studios and magazines while I was still in college, but I made an early decision to be my own boss to do the job I wanted to do. I started making alternative movie posters to keep myself busy and creative over the summer vacation. I would put them on my blog and they would spread on the internet somehow.
I started getting featured in magazines, which resulted in my being invited to take part in some great projects and exhibitions. A decade later, I'm working almost entirely on key art for films – recent clients include Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Array Films, and BFI – and editorial illustration for magazines, newspapers, and websites.
CR: Have you always been in the Bond films?
MN: I've loved Bond films for as long as I can remember. They were repeated over and over again here in the UK on ITV and I remembered falling in love with the series as a kid and being excited and inspired by the artwork that was there for the older films.
CR: How did the idea for this personal series come about?
MN: It's actually a project that I've been thinking about for years, but it's always been too busy. With No Time To Die due to be released soon (at the time) and many of my projects being put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, this was the perfect time to work on something personal that could also be open ended and experimental.
I saw it as a way for me to creatively try things that some daily projects wouldn't allow. From then on, the series generated some following online, and it seemed that people were enjoying watching the project as much as I loved it.
CR: How did you deal with the redesign of the individual posters?
MN: As I mentioned earlier, every design should experiment. They should never look or feel the same, but you can still tell it's a job. I approached each piece by watching the film again and choosing key elements, be it a scene, a weapon or just a pattern, a lighting or shape or color.
That brought me to a stylistic experiment where older influences like Bill Gold's posters and the work of people like Hans Hillman were combined with more contemporary and modern stylistic choices.
CR: What did you learn from the project over the past seven months?
MN: I've learned that I really like the structure of a project that lets me work on something new, but that is linked every two to three weeks. I take my time and experiment instead of trying to meet a deadline. Again, this project was just for me, the fact that people were interested in it too was a bonus, but essentially I was creating pieces that I loved on a subject that was important to me.
In terms of skill and style, I think I have some new parts in my tool belt for future projects too, and am looking for similar personal projects to work on in my downtime. I think these projects actually help keep you from getting burned out.
The full project can be found at @needledesign