Movie posters are like trailers and websites: you don’t realize how important they are until you realize how hard it is to make a good one, one that both looks legit and will stick with your potential audience.

If you remember the infographic about the trends in movie posters in 2011, you know that understanding what font to use, and where to place your image and other information has an impact and follow trends. But if it is tempting to use ‘what worked’, it can become a problem when everybody does the same over and over again.

If I tell you to think about a movie poster using an open eye as an extreme close-up, chances are, if you are around 30 that you’ll picture Requiem For a Dream. But you might very be thinking about any of the films from the above series.

Christophe Courtois has become a specialist over the years of spotting redundancies in movie posters, whether it be in composition or in catchy taglines:

Below are 9 more examples of overused aesthetics you should probably avoid trying to reproduce if you don’t want your movie poster to end up being another drop in an ocean of images:

All in Red

Title Hiding the Eyes of the Protagonist

Female Character Holding Impossible Angle

Reflection in Glasses

Public Benches

People in Bed

Mouths Everywhere

Text on Face

All in Yellow

Make sure to check Christophe Courtois’ excellent website for much more about movie posters.

[ Thanks to Gizegen