Dawn Baillie
Partner
Poster House
Role
Creative Director
Producer &
Designer
Awards
Anatomy of a Movie Poster: The Work of Dawn Baillie offers an immersive exploration of Baillie’s nearly four-decade career, showcasing her contributions to some of the most iconic movie posters in cinematic history.
The exhibition opens by deconstructing the anatomy of a movie poster, highlighting essential components like the grid, key art, and the billing block. The exhibition design transforms the gallery into a dynamic studio environment, reflecting the process-driven creativity at the heart of Baillie’s work.
Posters are displayed against gray backgrounds, referencing the familiar hues of the Photoshop interface. Accents of yellow—drawn from Little Miss Sunshine, post-it notes, and safety markings in film studios—along with red hand-drawn annotations, bring the design process to life. Folded-paper walls create intimate corridors and alcoves, encouraging visitors to engage closely with Baillie’s posters and design sketches.
The intimate space offers a close look at the Salvador Dalí-inspired moth design, where naked female bodies are ingeniously arranged to form a skull on the moth's body—an identifying feature of the specific species, the Death's-head Hawkmoth. This striking detail encapsulates the essence of the film, showcasing Baillie’s ability to distill its core themes into a singular, haunting image, known as key art.
In addition to the posters, the exhibition showcases Baillie’s original sketches and Polaroid photos from film sets, offering insights into her creative process and revealing the evolution of movie poster design from analog techniques to digital production. This ephemera is set on a case that moves through the wall, allowing it to be visible from both sides. The exhibition’s design reflects the precision, innovation, and artistry of Dawn Baillie’s work, presenting a visually compelling tribute to her lasting impact on film marketing and poster design.
Photography & videography by Sameul Morgan, courtesy of Poster House