Maar het boek was beter

Campaign
Screen printed posters

2010

March traditionally is the month of the Oscars and the yearly Ball of Books (Boekenbal). The two worlds are connected in one respect since both books and films are cultural products that tell a story. On the other hand these worlds compete with each other. When a book is adapted for the screen, it’s only a matter of time before reviews come out stating that ‘the book was better’ than the film. By unifying both events we had the ultimate ground to motivate the public to consider this cliché.

Our creative idea started with the familiar image of the Academy Award statue. We realized our play on this image could be communicated most effectively on a poster. Therefore we screen printed 120 posters showing the statue reading a book. An immediate connection is made between the two worlds: would even Oscar prefer the printed version?

The posters were presented to publishing houses, book stores and various cultural institutions. The literary world embraced the project, so much so that the demand for the posters exceeded the number of copies we printed. Several bookshops used the poster in thematic displays.

Details

70 x 100 cm
Limited production of 160 pieces
Screen printed by Kees Maas / Interbellum
Illustration by Ferry Bertholet
Admitted to the Eye Film Institute Nederland (Filmmuseum) collection
Publication in Dutch newspaper Het Parool (PDF 519KB) (Febr. 23rd, 2010)
Part of Streetlab / Heimatdesign exhibition (August 2010, Dortmund, Germany)
Published in the ‘Never Sleep with the Director and 50 other Ridiculous Film Rules’ book (Anneloes van Gaalen, BIS Publishers, 2012)