THE CHALLENGE:
Entering Hellspace isn’t a film that hands you answers. It pulls you in, drags you through its atmosphere, and leaves you unsettled. The title treatment needed to do the same. It had to feel like an extension of the film’s universe—not just a label slapped onto a poster. The challenge was to create a typographic design that visually mirrored the film’s creeping tension while also working across different formats, revealing more in wider compositions.
THE SOLUTION:
I designed a vaporous, smoke-infused title treatment that visually ties into the film’s plot. Its wispy, shifting form reflects the eerie, unstable forces at play in the story. The typography itself feels like it’s dissolving, materializing, or slipping between dimensions, reinforcing the film’s unsettling tone.
The treatment also shifts based on composition:
- In the portrait layout, the title remains the primary focus, serving as a preview of the film’s atmosphere.
- In the landscape format, the full design is revealed, exposing an alien claw lurking near the protagonist, adding another layer of narrative foreshadowing.
The design was crafted to be responsive across different promotional formats, ensuring it maintained impact in a variety of aspect ratios. For streaming platforms and digital marketing, cinematic title treatments must be versatile enough to work across different layouts, from vertical posters to horizontal banners, without losing clarity or atmosphere. Composition and layering played a key role in making sure the title treatment adapted seamlessly while preserving the film’s tension and mood.
MY PART:
✔ Designed a title treatment that feels like an extension of the film’s atmosphere, not just a logo
✔ Developed the vapor/smoke effect to visually tie into the film’s plot and eerie tone
✔ Created adaptable layouts where the full visual impact is revealed in landscape compositions
✔ Laid out the poster using a raw image from filming, originally intended for greenscreen editing
✔ Photo-edited the image to match the film team’s storyboard mockups, ensuring visual alignment with the intended final look
✔ Balanced cinematic aesthetics with legibility, ensuring the typography felt immersive but functional
✔ Worked closely with the film’s creative team to align the treatment with the film’s worldbuilding
The result? A title that doesn’t just introduce the film. It pulls you straight into Hellspace.
