Netflix just dropped the poster for its upcoming comedy-action (caction?) thriller Hit Man, and it's, er, fine. It gets across the premise of the film – Glen Powell plays a strait-laced professor discovers his hidden talent as a master of disguise, posing as a fake hit man. No Joker 2 or Days of Heaven levels of artistry here, just some straight lines and a few shots of Powell in different costumes.
But the straight lines aren't as straight as they should be. Twitter (sorry, X) users have spotted that the edge of the poster's striking orange background features a few pixels out of place – and if you're at all pernickety about Photoshop (which we are), it can never be unseen. For anyone with design experience, this kind of thing is all too painful to see. (To avoid making this kind of of rookie error, take a look at our guide to the best Photoshop tutorials.)
Come on bro https://t.co/mYidVHFffw pic.twitter.com/xP3vn1cgjHApril 17, 2024
It's hardly the most egregious design fail we've seen, but it's notable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, this is Netflix, the biggest streaming platform and one with a presumably vast design budget and quality control process. Not only that, but it's also a pretty simple design – the afflicted area is literally a straight line. Any designer could clean this up in seconds.
Some people are saying that at least Netflix didn't use AI like it's accused of doing with photos in the documentary What Jennifer Did.
Still, at least we've seen some pretty stunning movie posters in 2024. With the dreaded floating head concept finally fading from ubiquity, we're seeing more and more creative one-sheets, with painterly 80s aesthetics making a particular comeback. And Netflix knows how to score in that area – we're big fans of its Stranger Things 4 posters.
