This site was created to promote the (fictional) upcoming premier of the movie, Thank You for Smoking. I wanted to challenge myself to do a creative layout and incorporate some interactive illustrations.
Visit the site!
Moodboard
Design Rationale
Thank You for Smoking is a satire movie that paints a character who would usually be seen as “the bad guy” as the hero. I wanted to mirror the tone of the movie by glorifying something that, at least in Americans culture, is seen as harmful or bad. By making cigarettes the main focal piece, I hoped to illustrate this idea.
I took a symbol that would be very recognisable as a “no smoking” sign and made it into a “smoking” sign by removing the slash through the cigarette. I used this symbol as the home button for navigation. I also chose a font that was heavily used in the U.S. for anti-smoking advertisements around the time this movie was released.
While the movie heavily focuses on the topic of smoking, the real substance of the movie is about the American government and the ability of large corporations with deep pockets to influence law makers. To reflect this, I wanted to incorporate the colors of the U.S. flag. I also created an image that looks like a campaign button similar to one worn in the movie, which I used as a container for the producer’s names.
Political cartoons have been used in the U.S. to make certain statements about the government and they are often satire, much like this film. I chose to use illustrations on my site as a reference to political cartoons. Many times, political cartoons can be very detailed, but to modernise the look, reduce distractions, and minimise the file sizes, I chose to go for a more sleek and crisp looking illustration style.
I made sure to include the most time-sensitive information on the home page so users can easily find things like the premier time, location, and cast. Because there is so much information, the page got a bit long so I decided to add links in the main navigation menu to those areas of the page as well as a back to top button that appears once you scroll down the page.
My goal was to make the site fun and interactive while still being informative. I used the principles of material design we learned about in class, to make it seem like you’re taking a cigarette out of the box when navigating the main menu on the home page.