The Silence of the Lambs
Design Studio
Dazu
Art Director
Dawn Baillie
Designer
Dawn Baillie
Photographer
Ken Regan
Photographer
Lee Varis
Photographer
Kevin Stapleton
Client
Orion Pictures
Date1991
MediumOffset Lithograph
Dimensions40 1/4 x 27 in. (102.2 x 68.6 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LineGift of Dawn Baillie, Poster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.8150
DescriptionSince an account executive quit right around the time this project was brought to Dazu, designer Dawn Baillie ended up being the only person working on the poster. Her imagery for The Silence of the Lambs would go on to become her most highly praised design, frequently listed as one of the most important and impactful movie posters of all time. This series of posters was created during a time of technological transition when computer finishing was being introduced. The differences between the two processes are best seen through a comparison of the original teaser design on the far left with the payoff image on the far right. In the original teaser design, Dawn was still working by hand. Using unit photography by Ken Regan, she airbrushed out the highlights on Jodie Foster’s face and had a mezzotint (black-and-white image made on a stat camera) printed, into which she then airbrushed the Day-Glo orange of the eyes. The payoff poster of the same composition was finished by a computer technician directed by Dawn. As the technology was in its infancy, it was comparatively crude, resulting in higher contrasts, sharper gradations, and an overall less refined image. Before computer finishing, a designer would order a photo composition of the image as a dye transfer or C-print. This person would then retouch the photograph by hand and fix any seams between elements that had been added separately. The printer would receive both the final, camera-ready art as well as a mechanical of the type on an FPO (For Position Only) mock-up of the poster—this mechanical would be referenced by the printer to position the typography on top of the final design prior to printing.On View
On view
