Vintage Game Posters
A personal poster series that reimagines iconic video games as vintage horror and sci-fi movie advertising through typography, texture and cinematic storytelling in Photoshop.
What I made
A self-initiated poster series that reimagines five iconic video games as vintage horror and sci-fi movie advertising, self-directed from pairing research through to finished, print-ready artwork.
Each piece merges two influences: classic theatrical posters from the 1960s–1990s and modern game franchises. The goal was never to copy. It was to translate a game into the visual language of another era, selling it like a real film while keeping the game’s identity intact.
No brief, no deadline, no art direction. I started this series to prove I can take an idea from reference research to a polished body of work entirely on my own.
The concept
Take two things people already love, vintage movie posters and modern video games, and fuse them until each one reads like a film that should exist.
The goal was to recreate the feeling of old theatrical advertising by reimagining recognizable game titles through retro-inspired layouts, dramatic typography, grain textures and cinematic composition, built entirely in Photoshop.
Inspiration & direction
Inspiration came from vintage horror, sci-fi, and action movie posters of the 1960s–1990s. I worked through Pinterest, classic film advertising, and retro poster archives to study composition, colour palettes, texture, and typography.
The creative direction treats every design like a real theatrical release: atmosphere through lighting and distressed texture, bold title treatments and dramatic framing, all while preserving the identity of the original games.
Research & pairing
Rather than starting from moodboards, I began by studying individual movie posters that stood out for composition, typography, colour and visual hierarchy, analyzing how each one communicated genre and tone before selecting a game that shared its themes.
The pairing was deliberate. Horror posters got horror games, Westerns got Westerns, psychological thrillers got games with the same emotional weight. Nothing was matched at random.
Process & exploration
Once a source poster was selected, I analyzed its composition, hierarchy, typography, colour treatment, and structure. The target was never a replica, but a reinterpretation through a different franchise that kept the spirit of the original artwork.
I worked directly in Photoshop rather than sketching first, rebuilding each layout layer by layer against the reference and adjusting until the hierarchy, typography, and mood landed.
01 · Research
Studied original movie posters and identified the key visual elements.
02 · Concept selection
Matched a game franchise to a poster style that shares its themes.
03 · Design development
Rebuilt the composition using game assets, typography, and effects.
04 · Refinement
Applied textures, grain, and colour grading for the final polish.
Poster comparisons
The proof is in the pairing: every reimagined poster sits next to the one that inspired it.
Dawn of the Dead × Resident Evil
Inspired by the classic horror poster for Dawn of the Dead, this redesign blends vintage horror aesthetics with the atmosphere of Resident Evil, recreating the dramatic composition, distressed textures, and theatrical typography of retro zombie film advertising.
The Shining × Silent Hill
The unsettling minimalism and psychological tension of The Shining poster, combined with the eerie atmosphere of Silent Hill. Fog, muted tones, and layered textures create a sense of unease while keeping the cinematic style of vintage horror advertising.
Full Metal Jacket × Fallout
The iconic Full Metal Jacket poster reimagined through the world of Fallout: bold typography, military-inspired colour and aged print textures that recreate the gritty cinematic feel of classic war film posters.
Harakiri × Ghost of Tsushima
The composition and dramatic framing of the Harakiri film poster, adapted to Ghost of Tsushima: minimalist structure, cinematic contrast and the influence of traditional samurai cinema.
Dirty Harry × Red Dead Redemption 2
The gritty, hard-edged style of the Dirty Harry poster translated into the world of Red Dead Redemption 2: rugged typography, Western-inspired palettes and worn, weathered textures that hold the tension of classic crime cinema against the frontier.
Key design decisions
Four deliberate choices separated the posters from fan art and kept them reading as designed, era-accurate theatre advertising.
Typography
Vintage-inspired typefaces matched the era and genre of each original poster while staying readable and impactful.
Texture & ageing
Film grain, paper textures, scratches, and distressed overlays recreate the look of aged theatrical prints.
Colour grading
Each palette was drawn from the source material to reinforce mood and atmosphere.
Composition
Original layouts were studied and adapted: new characters, settings and narratives inside the source structure.
What I contributed
Everything here is mine, from which games matched which films to the last grain of texture.
Research and pairing, poster reconstruction, typography and asset work, and the ageing and colour treatment: a complete, self-directed body of work produced in Photoshop.