What you see is what you get! Top 10 Publicity Designs of 2013 & 2014

Though WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) is only a promise of quality that might not always materialize as expected, it nevertheless gives you the feel of the product before its final version is released to you. Unless you are developing something that’s revolutionary or significantly anticipated by the market, your WYSIWIG model must create great impression. If your movie posters on the real and virtual walls are irresistibly attractive, and if the real-wall ones escape the vandalizing wrath of the rival hero/star’s hooligan fans, assume you have begun your journey well. And you know any project ”well begun is half done”!

Malayalam Film Industry has always had the best of publicity designers. P N Menon, Kitho, Sabu Colonia, Gayatri Ashok are only some of the top-grade artists and designers of yesteryears, with Collins Leophil, Jissen Paul like new-age talents ably assuming their mantle today. Let’s go though the top ten projects from 2013 and the first half of 2014 that had very impressive publicity designs. While most of them were bang on about the WYSIWYG promise, a few missed the mark.

Amen :

Topping the list is Amen. The curly and flowery lettering style of the title with its images of the two cherubs, along with other symbols and graphics that suggested early Church and Christian ideas, and the visual splendour that pointed to the bygone era of gods and saints and other fanciful attractions – Amen’s posters were marvellous visual treats! Coming to the WISYWIG promise of those posters, the actual product was promises fulfilled beyond expectations. One can religiously say that the publicity designs contributed well to the movie’s miraculous box office success.

(Publicity Designer: Old Monks)

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Amen

Vedi Vazhipadu :

One closer look at the title depiction style would clearly tell us that the movie was supposedly a path-breaker, a nonconformist, a belligerent. The other elements like the uneven layout, the crooked lines, the cartoony images (especially the cock– the bird, of course!) and catchphrases, and the cautionary note to the moralists clearly indicated what to expect – kinky stuffs! Expectations soared high with the erectile and innovative designs. Then came the movie after fighting it out with the Censor Board. Rest was a sad story of premature speculation blowing up in non-performing anxiety, coupled with malfunctioning virility, whatever that means!!

That the movie in its final act packed some good emotional moments and messages that were not in line with the poster projections, worked against its effectiveness and commercial success. The WYSIWYG suggested nothing like that sort of seriousness, and the viewers that flocked cinemas for the first couple of days were not of the type that would tolerate infidelity (pun intended)! The negative word of mouth publicity “there’s nothing in it” surprised and disappointed everyone, including the moralists!

(Publicity Designer: Thought Station)

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Vedi Vazhipadu

Koothara :

The designs set expectations of fun, frolic, celebration of youth, freshness, and all those cinematically-imaginable new-gen stuffs. The title and its depiction style were invitations to indulgence in waywardness. The many lasses beckoned youth. The superstar Mohanlal in the never-seen-before attire and appearance promised substance and suspense. But the movie could not live up to the expectations, and was a big downer. It meandered aimlessly for an awful duration, and then sprang open Mohanlal like a jack in the box, only to add insult to injury at the end. The WYSIWYG model was very overambitious.

(Publicity Designer: Yellow Tooth)

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Koothara

Celluloid :

There was unmistakable class in Celluloid’s publicity designs. Class does not clutter, it does not shout. The golden color scheme matched the actual content of the movie very well, and the title realization style hinted at the epic or the historical significance of the movie. The class was visible in every frame of the actual product, making its WYSIWYG prototype as true as steel.

(Publicity Designer: Panache)

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Celluloid

ABCD :

The designs exuded youthful abandon and freedom. The postal stamp styled titling with the Chicago Bulls jersey lettering patterns gave the posters the irresistible Yankee feel. Vibrant colors, jovial characters, and the very handsome Dulquar Salman added another dimension of ABCD (Aesthetically Born Charming Designs) to the American Born Confused Desi!

The posters were super hits with the younger generation, and so was the movie.

(Publicity Designer: Old Monks)

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ABCD

Bangalore Days :

The title writing style packed nostalgia, class, radiance and quality fun. The designs also followed the same style, and audience precisely knew what to expect from the product. Cheap and vulgar comedy, fags and drugs were all very clearly insulated from the product by the publicity material. The movie never looked back even for a moment on its way to super duper success! Set the right expectations that are in common demand with the public, and stay very true to it in the final product, was the simple message.

(Publicity Designer: Thought Station)

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Bangalore Days

Annum Innum Ennum :

There was a series of simple and creative designs in the very early stage of the movie’s publicity phase, which wins the movie a position in this list. The movie title was the subject of this series – the “forever” part of it. Evergreen comic filmy situations and dialogues were chosen, like the one shown above. Who can forget Kuthiravattom Pappu’s character in the classic social satire “Vellanakallude Naadu”, with the Road-roller and ‘Thamarassery Churam‘ attached to him inseparably! However, the movie did not fare well at the box office because the end product was anything but original and simple!

(Publicity Designer: Seerow)

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Annum Innum Ennum

Neram :

The hour-glassed title, the subdued colors, the multitude of characters with some of them flipped vertically or kept at an angle to give the feel of a common “centre of activity” – the designs cleverly projected the movie’s WYSIWYG model. At the end, we got exactly what we saw, while the makers reaped excellently what they sowed!

(Publicity Designer: 24 AM)

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Neram

Punyalan Agarbatis :

Colorful and eye-candy – the publicity designs of Punyalan Agarbatis spread fragrance of the cinematic incense sticks that it was to market. The designer used cute cartoons, bright flowers, great catchphrases and taglines (like the one that announced the theatre list – “here’s the cinemas that would spread the fragrance from today”) to market the movie with scented style. They struck a chord with the Mallu audience in no time, and the movie was one of the super hits of 2013.

(Publicity Designer: Antony Stephens)

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Punyalan Agarbattis

Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla :

The movie’s designs clearly followed a theme, like Amen and Punyalan Agarbatis. The ethereal beauty of underwater life was poured on to the designs in fanciful colors and endearing adaptations. The introvert protagonist and his fictitious counter-ego sitting back to back (literally) like in the above poster was indeed a beauty in every regard. The designs successfully set expectations of creative innovation and experimentation.

Publicity designing is a powerful tool in the hands of able movie-makers to set the right expectation in the minds of audience, which is very important for their movies’ acceptance and success. It is a double-edged sword, one can say!

(Publicity Designer: Old Monks)

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Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla