Perhaps the expression should be "A circle is worth a thousand words."

Nicholas Barclay is an artist and designer who uses a series of modern circles to convey meaning — and movie titles. One of Barclay's collections is a series of minimalist movie posters, all of which center on the idea of using color and size to illustrate the concept of a movie through perfect circles.

"I got the idea while I sat through a painful three hours of Interstellar," Barclay told Mashable in an email. "Me and a friend got talking about 2001: A Space Odyssey and it got me thinking about how a circle can be a main character in a film. So I decided to see how many popular culture films I could break down into circles."

"My design style has really developed itself," says Barclay. "I've always enjoyed swiss design and I think that shows through but the minimal side of it comes from challenging myself to see how far I can go but still hold the idea or pass on a little information or knowledge."

One of the best parts of Barclay's pieces is the puzzle they pose: it isn't always immediately obvious what aspect of the movies the circles are meant to represent. But after a moment or two, it finally clicks. Barclay says this aspect of his work is something that he relishes. "I really enjoy the process of breaking something down or giving it lateral twist so that when people view it they have that 'ahhh' moment and enjoy it a little more."

Can you figure out what classic movie moments the circles below are supposed to signify?

minimalist movies

You can see more of Nicholas' work on his website.