Mad Max 1979

A movie poster printed on raw steel that develops like a Polaroid: the weather rusts it, and the rust reveals the poster in time for the film’s release.

Medium
Experimental poster
Year
2019
Discipline
Graphic design
Status
Self-initiated, prototype
Materials
Untreated mild steel, white and transparent UV ink, rust
A rusted metal sign with Mad Max in brush lettering, mounted at an angle on a wooden utility pole.

The idea

In this project, I wanted to reimagine marketing material for the original Mad Max film from 1979. I created a dynamic poster inspired by the vernacular of the Mad Max universe.

I wanted metal, rust, texture and destruction to reveal the poster’s content over a given period.

Rust forming around the printed mask, close up.

Objective

This project explored how to make static visual content more dynamic and exciting. The content had to respond and change to natural elements, without human interaction.

The poster is meant to be displayed outdoors and to change with the weather. If tested and calculated correctly, it can show all of its content at a given time, like a Polaroid that slowly develops.

From my timeline sketches: the poster is timed so the full message arrives on the day the film opens.

Approach

Inspired by the rusty, gritty vernacular of Mad Max, I experimented with metal as the base and rust, or oxidation, as the medium that displays the content.

Raw, untreated mild steel rusts fairly quickly in natural conditions. To make the rust form readable content, I used a large-format UV printer to print masking layers.

  1. Untreated mild steel

    Raw, untreated mild steel rusts fairly quickly outdoors. Wherever it’s left bare, the poster will turn to rust.

  2. White ink

    A large-format flatbed UV printer prints the Mad Max wordmark in white ink, on both sides of the poster.

  3. Transparent UV ink

    A thick, transparent UV ink masks off everything that should stay metal. It’s shown in blue here; on the poster it’s clear, so the steel shows through.

  4. Rust

    Out in the weather, or sprayed with hydrogen peroxide, salt and vinegar to speed things up, the bare steel rusts and the content appears.

Pre-treatment

Using a large-format flatbed printer, I masked off the areas of the metal I didn’t want to rust. The mask is a thick, transparent UV ink, so the metallic surface stays visible. White ink was used for the Mad Max wordmark on both sides of the poster.

Printing on the flatbed.
The clear mask and white ink on bare steel.
The front and back of the poster before rusting: two steel plates printed with white lettering and clear-ink text.
Front and back, printed and ready to rust.

Accelerated conditions

To test the “development” of the rust quickly, I accelerated the oxidation by spraying the metal with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, table salt and vinegar. The exposed metal rusted instantly, revealing the content.

Spraying hydrogen peroxide, salt and vinegar onto the plate.
The bare steel rusting within minutes.
A wet, rusting plate: bright orange rust and pools of solution around white letters and clear-masked text.

The final result

The front and back of the poster revealed high-contrast text from the oxidation process. The front carries a partial crop of the Mad Max wordmark, with an outlined “Now Showing Everywhere” covering the whole poster. The back carries the full transcribed narration of the Mad Max trailer.

The rust and metal texture convey the destructive spirit of the film.

Front.
Back, with the trailer’s narration.

Ever-changing

After many months, the surface keeps transforming by itself, revealing new textures and oxidation patterns. The poster is alive, and breaks the short, static life of a traditional movie poster.

The rusted poster leaning against a grey wall on a white shelf, between two figurines in puffer jackets, an orange cube lamp and a black-and-white book.
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