Even casual movie buffs probably know the name Drew Struzan. His iconic movie posters have graced cinemas for decades, with his most memorable work being his art for the "Indiana Jones" and "Star Wars" films.
A name that might not be quite as recognizable, but is no less prolific or deserving of fame, is that of the late John Alvin. You may not know his name, but you definitely know his work. The artist behind hundreds of movie posters and paintings, Alvin created the beautiful, evocative posters for "Blade Runner," "E.T.," "Empire of the Sun," "The Goonies," "Gremlins," "The Princess Bride," "Rain Man," "Spaceballs" and many more. He's also known for crafting indelible theatrical posters for Disney animated films such as "Beauty and the Beast," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," "The Lion King," "The Little Mermaid," "Mulan," "Pocahontas" and more.
Over his storied career, John Alvin proved himself capable of multiple art styles and was able to adapt to any genre of movie. His catalog of work includes posters for more than 130 films.
Coming on August 26, 2014 is a published collection of Alvin's work called "The Art of John Alvin." While the 140-page book includes all of his most famous posters, the real draw is getting your hands on unused art Alvin created for various movies. It's common that the poster you remember was just one of dozens of concepts submitted by poster artists, ultimately chosen by the director or producer to represent the movie and set the tone for the marketing campaign.
To promote "The Art of John Alvin," Titan Books has released unused posters and concepts for "Jurassic Park" that show how drastically different the movie's marketing visuals could have been. Aside from the widely diverse imagery, many of the posters have variant slogans and title treatments as well. One example is seen below, but you can find many more at Flavorwire, IGN, Movies.com and Parade.
