I watched Inside Llewyn Davis sometime last year which is much later from the film’s actual release. Being a big Oscar Isaac fan, I should have done it earlier and this poster should have been made much before but better late than never. I had the idea for the poster for a long time in my head but it got shelved because of something or the other. What made me go back to it is an experience I had sitting in a medical clinic. There were so-called inspiration slides running for the patients to boost their morale. This particular one was about failure and it started with describing the life of an unknown person, their doomed luck and struggles which finally got revealed to be the life of someone like Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Michael Jordan, Marie Curie etc. It felt like a bunch of people were assigned to put together this slideshow and they looked at who are the famous and successful personalities who failed in the beginning. Success is a prerequisite for an acceptable failure. It reminded me of this quote/tweet I had come across sometime back -
Remember, always follow your passion. And if your passion doesn't fit into global capitalism, well, then you are a failure at life.
- Existential Comics (If the source is incorrect then please let me know who wrote this gem.)
This brought me back to Inside Llewyn Davis, the narrative loop of the movie and the artist with unchanging struggles got close to what it’s like to follow your passion. The movie didn’t romanticise it by putting the shining light of success at the end and I am glad for that. It has to be one of my favourite movies and it surprises me why it wasn’t a success at the Box Office.
Also, I treated myself to buying this newly released typeface called Cenzo Flare. The R, Z and Q are gorgeous in the character set. Worked like a good fit for this poster. Thank you to Bana Arasanz for creating this beauty.