Dan Sherratt's "Donnie Darko" Movie Poster

Dan Sherratt is a UK-based artist I stumbled onto recently, originally through his Shop Reworking Titles blog, but more recently through the website Eat Sleep Live Film, where he contributes a feature called, you guessed it, "Reworking Titles." I decided I'd highlight one of my favorite posters from his blog and I'm sure as time goes on I'll continue to write about the amazing work Dan seems to be consistently cranking out.

Donnie Darko was a film I really identified with when I first saw it in high school. It wasn't necessarily that I saw myself as a loner or anything like that, but rather, Darko was a film that spoke to all of the things I loved about cinema at the time. It was confusing, inexplicable and unbelievable all wrapped up in a vague science fiction / horror shell - I thought it was cool.

Donnie Darko

I remember showing the DVD to everyone I knew while attempting to describe how indescribably deep and awesome it was. I've rewatched the film several times since (go with the theatrical cut, not the overly indulgent director's cut), and I still love it. Sure, a little bit of the luster has warn off, and I wouldn't put it anywhere near my top ten films of all time list, but it's still a damn fun movie to take in and explore. Dan's Donnie Darko poster has that increasingly popular Saul Bass (everything IS cyclical I guess) feel to it and it works in just about every way. The poster's design is concise, without being too simplistic, and quickly conveys a fairly convoluted plot. You've got Frank, the prophetic rabbit, proclaiming the end of the world, or at least Donnie's world, with two possible realities existing to the right and the left of one of cinema's most memorable bunnies (next to Harvey that is). This is a great poster and an excellent example of design done right.

The Donnie Darko movie poster by Dan Sherratt is available through the Shop Reworking Titles blog for £20 (roughly $32). The poster measure 594 mm x 420 mm (or 23.4" x 16.5" for US readers), and from what I can tell appears to be an open edition, but I'm not certain of that. I also don't think this is a screenprint, but again, the site doesn't feature a ton of information. I would have loved to see some process shots or find out more about his approach to the poster, but no such luck. Be sure to check out the Shop Reworking Titles blog for more prints and his Eat Sleep Live Film feature, where he talks about a few of his designs. It looks like he also hosts a portfolio of his work at heartstrand.co.uk.