Today we’d like to introduce you to Akiko Stehrenberger.
Hi Akiko, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I fell into making movie posters and after almost 20 years later, I can’t seem to quit it. Back then, I took this job as a junior designer at a movie poster ad agency to help pay off my student loans. Little did I know that it would change my life forever. With a background in editorial illustration, I was able to adapt what I learned from summarizing an article into a spot illustration into distilling a film’s storyline down to an image. As much as I may complain about the deadlines and demanding clients, not one single person is going to feel sorry for me that my job is watching movies and drawing.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I definitely had to pay my dues and still work very long hours. This job is very demanding and it’s never as easy as an outsider may think. The biggest challenge is creating something that’s not only great to look at and feels fresh, but also ticks the specific marketing boxes. The deadlines are insane and continue to get shorter. My body has become the exact convex shape of my desk chair and my TMJ is really cute when I try to eat a slice of pizza. In addition to the pace of the job, early on I had an internal struggle with making commercial art. When I started in this industry, I still had the art school mentality. I wanted to leave the job as soon as I paid off my student loans because I felt I was “selling out”. However, as that attitude became antiquated, I also started working with more people that wanted to embrace and grow my point of view rather than change it. I feel extremely lucky for this.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I art direct, design, do the typography and illustrations in my movie posters. I pride myself on my concepts while my versatility in painting styles helps execute any idea that comes into my weird brain to cover any genre. I never have the chance to get bored because every project is so different from the previous one. Because of this, I’m constantly researching and teaching myself new tricks. During this research, I also stumble across a lot of memes and have zero shame sharing them with the rest of the world.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
During the pandemic, I learned that when movie productions shut down, streaming services went crazy and needed multiple pieces of artwork for each title. I am so incredibly lucky that during this time I was able to keep the lights on for my 5-year-old. Outside of work, the crisis taught me that no matter how old your European dad is, you will not be able to stop him from going to a rave during lockdown.
Contact Info:
- Website: akikomatic.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/doyrivative
Image Credits
Portrait of A Lady on Fire – Gold CLIO Award Winner 2021 Funny Games – Official One Sheet 2004 Dune – Gold CLIO Award Winner 2022 Dahmer – Official Teaser Poster 2022 Last Black Man in San Francisco – CLIO Award Winner 2019 It Follows – Official Teaser Poster 2015 Da 5 Bloods – Clio Award winner 2021 I’m Thinking of Ending Things – CLIO Award winner 2021
