The film poster has been enticing audiences across the threshold of the movie theatre since the birth of cinema in the late 19th century, providing an immediate entry point into the world of a film. But when the trailers are no longer played and the promotional campaign winds down, the poster ultimately remains, with the strongest visuals becoming lodged in our collective consciousness long after they were first shown.

Over the years, the creatives behind some of the most seminal movie posters have been at the forefront of design: from well-known names like Saul Bass and Paul Rand through to modern film studios that take a 360-degree approach to branding such as A24. Despite all this, as a medium it remains chronically underappreciated compared to other areas of cultural design, such as book covers and theatre posters. “It’s always an area that people have looked down on, because it’s advertising rather than art, if you like,” says Reel Art Press editor-in-chief Tony Nourmand.

As the founder of Reel Art Press, Nourmand is considered a world authority on movie posters. The specialist publisher’s latest book, 1001 Movie Posters: Designs of the Times, is his attempt to revisit their expansive design history. Spanning the colourful Parisian lithographs that marked the first public film screening by the Lumière brothers in 1896 through to recent blockbusters including Barbie and Parasite, it is the most comprehensive collection of film posters ever published.