Movie poster for Chuck Palahniuk's new novel, TELL-ALL!
a print design project by Doubleday

Creative brief

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT US: 



We're looking for a 50s-era-style movie poster with a Palahniuk twist. Here's a little copy about the book. 



"The hyperactive love child of Page Six and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? caught in a tawdry love triangle with The Fan. Even Kitty Kelly will blush. 



Soaked, nay, marinated in the world of vintage Hollywood, Tell-All is a Sunset Boulevard–inflected homage to Old Hollywood when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford ruled the roost; a veritable Tourette’s syndrome of rat-tat-tat name-dropping, from the A-list to the Z-list; and a merciless send-up of Lillian Hellman’s habit of butchering the truth that will have Mary McCarthy cheering from the beyond. 



Tell-All is funny, subversive, and fascinatingly clever. It’s wild, it’s wicked, it’s bold-faced—it’s vintage Chuck."

HERE IS WHAT WE NEED: 



A movie poster, evocative of the 50s, designed to catch the eye and arouse the implacable desire to run out a buy Chuck Palahniuk's newest outrage, TELL-ALL. Design through to print-ready mechanical for a 24" x 36" poster to be displayed in bookstores and used as snipes (outdoor posters)

OUR TARGET AUDIENCE IS:



Disaffected urban Gen X, Y and Z. 55/45 male with a smattering of Suicide Girls. Sophisticated college kids. We want them to think that all of their reserves of "cool" will be siphoned away if they don't have this poster adorning the walls of their bedroom/living room/dorm room/panic room/boudoir. 


WE LIKE THESE EXAMPLES: 



Here are some apt and lurid posters of the time:


http://bit.ly/9TcoEi

http://bit.ly/cmuJFs

http://bit.ly/93j9oK 

http://bit.ly/9YQ50x 

http://bit.ly/b2dLjL 

http://bit.ly/bAtYPT

http://bit.ly/aOdMwI 


WE ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE THIS IN OUR PIECE:



The book title 



"A Novel by CHUCK PALAHNIUK!" 



"Boy meets girl. Boy gets girl. Boy kills girl!" 



Photo of Chuck Palahniuk (perhaps turned into a 50s style illustration) in proximity to the words: "It could be the most wicked novel I have ever written!"



"Published by Doubleday!"

Update 11-Feb-10, 10:30p.m. GMT

To be clear, this is a poster for a book that we'd like to have designed to look like a movie poster.

Update 11-Feb-10, 10:33p.m. GMT

Also, Chapters 1 and 2 are in "Materials." Those who read it will be the first outside of the book business to do so! Enjoy!

Update 12-Feb-10, 9:16p.m. GMT

Just uploaded an author photo. Note the credit. Not the best picture, but if you take out the busy background and turn it into a 50's style caricature, it might work.

Update 13-Feb-10, 3:02p.m. GMT

I've posted links to a number of famous 50s movie posters, and they all share a lurid look, I think. I do very much want to mimic the look of those posters, esp. since those movies and those stars have a role in TELL ALL.

I realize, too, that the photo we have of Chuck may pose a problem. Do your best with it. I think turning it into a 50s-style illustration may be the best way to go. You'll see that I have a quote from Chuck that I want to appear on the poster--there may be a good way to get that across without showing him.

Also check out his fan site to get more flavor: http://chuckpalahniuk.net

Update 16-Feb-10, 7:05p.m. GMT

Some of the poster links went bad, so here are some new ones:

The Birds: http://bit.ly/d88bT7
All About Eve: http://bit.ly/bWmNiS
Sunset Boulevard: http://bit.ly/bFWFbR
North by Northwest: http://bit.ly/ce5607
Man Who Knew Too Much: http://bit.ly/bGCals

Update 17-Feb-10, 3:49p.m. GMT

We have some good entries and I'm beginning to see a thread. This poster should evoke 1950s Hollywood intensely but with Palahniuk edge, make it kind of unsettling, a touch of nightmare and transgression.

Update 19-Feb-10, 5:47p.m. GMT

I just added another picture of Chuck that I'm considering buying if it works out, so it has a watermark. It's Chuck pix #2. I think it should be played pretty small and I urge you to make an illustration out of it in the mode of the movie posters I've linked to.

Update 20-Feb-10, 1:40p.m. GMT

PLEASE USE THE NEW PHOTO, Chuck pix 2, the 5th file upload.

Update 25-Feb-10, 3:07p.m. GMT

OK, boys and girls, now the fun begins! We've extended the deadline to March 5 so that the many thousands of Chuck Palahniuk fans can visit this project and "heart" their favorite designs. We are honestly very impressed with the caliber of work that we see here and want to show it off to the members of the Cult.

See the post on Chuck's site tomorrow: http://chuckpalahniuk.net