The Kings Speech

The King's Speech. Directed by Tom Hooper.

Synopsis:
The story of King George VI of Britain, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it.

Design: 
I can't find a credit for the poster above but other posters that have been created for this have been done by:
All City,
TWC 
Momentum Pictures

This poster is clear clean and effective. It touches on all the governmental information posters of the 1930's especially the little crown over the 'I' it brings to mind the Keep Calm and Carry On poster while remaining in the present. The layouts use of space with the image of Colin Firths' mouth poised to speak to the Nation enforces the film's title and communicate a sense of anticipation.

Another thing that I like about this poster is the fact that you can see Colin Firths' pores! No smoothing over in Photoshop here a la Miss Portman. This little design decsion adds an authenticity and realism to it which echos the fact that it is based on a true story. I have read so many comments on film sites where people are aghast at the fact you can see real skin! God we have become sensitive flowers!

The one thing that does jar with me is the typeface used. If I was thinking of an English typeface from the 1930s, there would be only one choice and that is good old Gill Sans but for some unknown reason the designers have opted to go for Futura, I wonder if this has anything to do with Mr. Gill's questionable past?!

Where this film falls down is the plethora of other posters that have accompanied it's release, some follow suit perfectly, a change of colour from the mustard to red or orange, while others look like a bad paperback edition of the film released by Mills & Boon. Some use Gill while others use some sort of embossed effect serif as if alluding to an official seal and they all use the little crown to some extent. In general they all rotate around the same premise but fail to be as effective and direct as the main poster, this is probably due to studio pressure to feature shots of the main actors. Here are a few of the other posters I'll let you decide for yourself.