A new week (after an extended weekend) means a new travel poster. For this installment I went to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Something people may not know is that 2001 was also a book by Arthur C Clarke written in parallel to Kubrick making the film as a companion piece. This is the first time I know of where a book has been written in such a way and Clarke is certainly the most high-profile author I’ve ever hear of to do something like it. If you haven’t seen the movie it is basically required viewing at this point. It is a long, slowly paced movie but absolutely worth it. The attention to detail in creating a realistic future has been almost unmatched in the 45 years since it debuted and the special effects hold up really well. I also highly suggest reading the novel. In many ways it was easier to get through than the movie, went into a lot more depth on HAL’s motivations and the ending was much more obvious to the reader than the movie goer.
In keeping with the “no earth” rule I am attempting to hold as long as I can, I decided to focus on the SS Discovery One, the ship where most of the plot occurs and where 2001’s antagonist HAL 9000 became a pop-culture icon. I may be pushing my luck with the gradient overlay but I’m happy with how it turned out, representing both Jupiter and HAL simultaneously. I used the same bold Futura font Kubrick was fond of and used on posters during the original release.
I still haven’t standardized the fine print since each poster’s layout is different. Any suggestions would be welcome.
Blake Smisko 