Who's Harry Crumb
Design Studio
Seiniger Advertising
Creative Director
Tony Seiniger
Art Director
Dawn Baillie
Copywriter
Steven H. Miller
Photographer
Steve Schapiro
Designer
Dawn Baillie
Client
TriStar Pictures
Date1989
Dimensions40 x 27 in. (101.6 x 68.6 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Dawn Baillie, Poster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8143
DescriptionWho’s Harry Crumb? was one of the last posters designed by Dawn Baillie during her tenure at Seiniger Advertising. It marked a moment when she was gaining confidence in pitching her own ideas for a poster. Working with an in- house illustrator, she presented Tony with a variety of wild concepts for the design; this was one of a few that resulted in a special photoshoot with John Candy. The decision to reference a pop-cultural moment in a movie poster can be risky, as it often falls flat or feels gimmicky. Here, though, turning John Candy into a human-sized suction-cup Garfield, the comic-strip orange cat that was seemingly in everyone’s car in 1989, became a fabulous visual conceit, inviting the viewer to be in on the joke. While Dawn originally thought she would add the suction cups in post-production, they had been made as physical props for Candy to use during the shoot. To complete the final iteration of the poster, she tilted the photograph of the actor and airbrushed in stock images of the cityscape, the plane, and the sky. She also drew the window frame and streaks on the glass.On View
Not on view
