We were alarmed to read in HuffPo (Ignition Print Balances Commerce, Creativity In Cutthroat Movie Poster Graphic Design World) about a 200 comp presentation to Warner Bros. for Dark Shadows.
Two hundred comps! Is this the new normal? If it is, we’re going to start charging by the pound instead of by the hour.
Indecision Print, more like.
Posted by: Jem | Monday, May 14, 2012 at 04:46 PM
Usually good work speaks for itself.... I guess theirs need a bullhorn ..."O'DOYLE RUUULESSSS!!!"
Posted by: Whogoesthere? | Monday, May 14, 2012 at 05:17 PM
"When a good designer can draft a poster in two hours. "
Sausage factory at it's best...
Posted by: Duck Phillips | Monday, May 14, 2012 at 07:12 PM
Haters gonna hate...
That being said if you have to brag that your presentation is bigger than everyone else's odds are you are probably overcompensating for something.
Posted by: Haterade | Monday, May 14, 2012 at 07:32 PM
Lindeman admitted that he likes Polish posters -- "but not as much as every blogger wants to believe.”
LOL, Shout out to MAAs! Kudos!
Posted by: Buried Lede | Monday, May 14, 2012 at 07:44 PM
I imagine there are some creatives at IGN who would like some sunshine, but your names will remain Jason to the rest of us.
Posted by: Taktarov | Monday, May 14, 2012 at 09:08 PM
If I were an Ignition client, I'd now feel slighted if they didn't give me at least 201 comps for my movie. Is that really the bar they wanted to set for themselves?
It's clear from this article that they have no real sense of themselves. You can either be the be über creative shop or the machine that churns out comp after comp after comp, but you can't be both.
Posted by: oops | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 06:51 AM
So out of the 200 comp presentation they picked that campaign?
Posted by: Clark Bran | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:22 AM
Taktarov, the article clearly states the winning concept was “the brainchild of a designer named Ravi Rochanayon.”
As far as the number of comps expected in a presentation, Ignition is merely ahead of the curve on this trend. We’ve been witnessing relentless “comp count creep” for years. It’s not just Ignition’s next client who will feel slighted if they don’t get 201 comps on the next presentation, it’s everyone’s next client.
And yes, we’ve done this to ourselves.
Posted by: Edwina Trout | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:30 AM
Whether the Key Art is great or banal... At the end of the day it all boils down to this:
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkshadows.htm
That movie bombed you better pull those One-Sheets out of your lobby Jason the blame game begins.
Posted by: Numbers Guy | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:31 AM
Hey slackers, its not even 10am and I’ve already squeezed 6 solid, well thought-out and painstakingly crafted comps out my ass!
Posted by: The Compinator | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:49 AM
Don Draper would have left 199 of those comps in the cab.
Posted by: Peggy Olson | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:55 AM
That's not movie advertising, it's wall decoration.
Posted by: Bunny Funkhouser | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:56 AM
i love how the last few paragraphs of this article downplay the blatant "idea theft" of polish posters
as "similarities."
if you say it enough times then I guess It must be true.
Posted by: doc obvious | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Perhaps they are moving to the exclusive deal with WB.
BLT ring a bell.....
1200 comps per movie just cuz
Posted by: me | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:35 AM
BLT is no stranger to 200 comp presentations, so I don't know if you can really say Ignition is ahead of the curve there. If you're looking for volume, the sandwich shop is still the gold standard. But they know enough not brag about it in front of their other clients.
Posted by: Piptadenia | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:40 AM
ENOUGH SAID......http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GxJX3yn1DY
Posted by: WEROCK2012 | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:54 AM
Doing interviews like this is always high risk for agencies. Even if it's 100% true we're in the business of making our clients the heroes, whether they are or not. And this breaks that unspoken code.
Posted by: flAVor flAVe | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 01:26 PM
um, don't talk about FIGHT CLUB.
fallout to ensue.
Posted by: offended shmended | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 02:08 PM
Uh, BLT does a shitload of comps, but I doubt they go in with 200 on the first round.
Posted by: Jess Sayin' | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 04:43 PM
There was a time when you could say "Yeah, I design movie posters" with a modicum of pride. Now it's more like "Yeah, I design movie posters, would you like fries with your order?".
Posted by: O.G.A.D. | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 08:44 PM
he with 200 ideas has none.
Posted by: confuse us. | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:23 PM
I think it was 2 million...
Posted by: crumbling necropolis | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:30 PM
this isn't so bad - i once presented at least 20 comps for a dvd cover - considering this was a Burton/Depp film 200 roughs doesn't seem such a trite idea . . . even if the version differences were minimal it's still better to have too many ideas than not enough or 'the right one'.
IMO the DS key art was BS though.
Posted by: Jamie Alder | Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 09:23 AM
Sounds like as a CD his direction is pretty much "Just Google It"
Posted by: ImJusySayin | Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 12:20 PM
Don't be envious people
Posted by: Cabron2012 | Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 02:25 PM
envious? of what?
Posted by: joe | Friday, May 18, 2012 at 11:30 AM
Yeah. I sure envy art directors working in a sweatshop where 200 comps are expected on a first stage presentation.
Posted by: Going Green | Friday, May 18, 2012 at 04:36 PM