Buffalo Song Productions

Singing Back the Buffalo Film Poster

When Buffalo Song Productions needed a film poster to promote their documentary, "Singing Back the Buffalo", they wanted art that could speak to the gravity of the past and evoke the hope in the future of the North American buffalo population. The imagery of the poster features a blend of the silhouette of a real bison from the film and original artwork from Lauren Crazybull, a collaborator who created animations for the documentary. The poster composition was created in Adobe Photoshop with title text and credits added in Adobe Illustrator.

Artwork Composition

The composition of the poster is a layered complex of images, masks, effects, and advanced blending technique. In the poster image, the sun rises on the horizon of a bison's back while indigenous singers connect with it though song, uplifting the silhouette. This is symbolic of the efforts of current First Nations governments and organizations to rematriate the buffalo to their genetic homelands and ecosystems. Once the main art was complete, the image was ready for the title and credits.

One Size Fits Some

Once the poster art was finalized, the image would be used in many different formats across print and digital spaces. But a 27x40 inch poster will not work in a webpage thumbnail or a 3:4 social media post. Even in print with minor ratio differences, a design can lose impact if not properly laid out for its intended format. This artwork, with its central bison motif, was reconfigured many times over for any application needed.