# Video Poster Design

> Create cinematic movie poster concepts and final poster images from a user's brief, existing video plan, storyboard, character design, or project context. Use this skill whenever the user asks to generate a film poster, movie poster, key art, campaign poster, teaser poster, title poster, or promotional visual for a video project. This skill proposes several creative directions first when appropriate, defaults to a 3:4 poster ratio when no ratio is specified, and ensures typography, title treatment, imagery, genre, setting, and story tone are coherent and visually inventive.

- Skill: `magiccube/video-poster-design` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add magiccube/video-poster-design`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/magiccube/video-poster-design/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: magiccube (https://skillmd.com/u/magiccube)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/magiccube/video-poster-design

---


# Video Poster Design

Use this skill to create movie-poster-style key art for a video, short film, vlog, TVC, storyboard, or campaign.

The final output is a poster image. When useful, also create a short poster spec or prompt file so the design can be regenerated consistently.

## Default Behavior

If the user does not specify an aspect ratio, use `3:4`.

If the user asks for a poster but has not chosen a creative direction, propose `3-5` poster concepts first and ask them to choose one. Keep the options concise and visually distinct.

If the user already gives a clear direction, title, ratio, and story context, proceed directly to image generation.

## Output Location

Use a project-local poster directory:

```text
posters/
```

Recommended file names:

```text
posters/{poster-name}.png
posters/{poster-name}.md
```

Use lowercase, hyphenated, ASCII-safe names. Examples:

- `posters/youth-unlimited.png`
- `posters/meaning-of-travel-teaser.png`
- `posters/campus-energy-key-art.md`

Do not overwrite existing files unless the user explicitly requests replacement. For variants, use suffixes such as `-v2`, `-teaser`, `-main`, `-alt-a`.

## Inputs to Extract

Before designing, identify:

- Poster title and subtitle.
- Video/story context.
- Genre: drama, travel, romance, documentary, commercial, thriller, coming-of-age, sports, etc.
- Required aspect ratio. Default: `3:4`.
- Main character(s), product, place, or object.
- Character design images or approved reference assets.
- Storyboard or scene images that define visual continuity.
- Mood and emotional promise.
- Setting, time period, weather, and culture.
- Typography language: English, Chinese, bilingual, no text, etc.
- Required copy: tagline, credits, release date, brand line, campaign line.
- Output path if specified.

If the user does not specify text language, use the user's local language for any prompt/spec, and use poster typography that matches the title/campaign language.

## Use Available Visual References

If the context contains any of these assets, use them as references for poster generation when relevant:

- `characters/*.png` character design sheets.
- Approved character `.md` specs.
- `storyboard/scene-XX.png` images.
- Existing poster drafts.
- Product or brand assets provided by the user.

When a character design image exists, feed it to the image generation model as a visual reference so the poster preserves character identity, hairstyle, wardrobe, body proportions, and material details.

When a storyboard image exists, use it to preserve scene language, color palette, setting, and story mood.

## Creative Direction Options

When proposing options, make them concrete. Each option should include:

- Concept name.
- Main image composition.
- Typography direction.
- Color and lighting.
- Story emotion.
- Why it fits.

Example option format:

```markdown
## Poster Concepts

1. **Blue Hour Arrival**
   - Composition: [specific image]
   - Typography: [title style]
   - Color: [palette]
   - Emotion: [promise]
   - Fit: [why this works]

2. **Object as Portal**
   - Composition: [specific image]
   - Typography: [title style]
   - Color: [palette]
   - Emotion: [promise]
   - Fit: [why this works]
```

Do not make all options variations of the same composition. Vary the visual strategy:

- Character-led portrait.
- Environmental wide poster.
- Object-led symbolic poster.
- Motion/action poster.
- Minimal teaser.
- Ensemble composition.
- Graphic split or reflection concept.
- Product-as-hero commercial poster.

## Typography Principles

Poster typography must match the story, setting, genre, and background image. It should not feel like generic overlay text.

Choose type direction based on context:

- Coming-of-age / campus: energetic but clean, slightly condensed sans serif, hand-painted or marker accent only if it feels natural.
- Travel documentary: editorial serif or restrained humanist sans, generous spacing, quiet placement.
- Romance: soft serif, handwritten accent, or understated title lockup depending on tone.
- Sports / youth TVC: bold condensed sans, dynamic italic or kinetic stacked layout.
- Thriller: severe condensed type, high contrast, restrained title placement.
- Sci-fi: technical geometry, but avoid generic neon unless the setting supports it.
- Period film: typography should reference the era without becoming costume-like.
- Minimal arthouse: sparse type, strong negative space, carefully placed title.

Integrate typography with the image:

- Let title placement interact with light, architecture, silhouette, product shape, or motion direction.
- Keep text legible.
- Avoid random fonts, fake credits, distorted letterforms, and unreadable generated text.
- If exact typography matters, consider generating poster art with clean space for text, then add text using deterministic design tools or image editing.

## Poster Spec Template

When saving a `.md` spec, use:

```markdown
# [Poster Title]

## Source Context

- Project:
- Poster type:
- Aspect ratio:
- Reference assets:
- Language:

## Selected Concept

- Concept name:
- Core image:
- Story emotion:
- Genre signal:

## Composition

- Foreground:
- Midground:
- Background:
- Character / product placement:
- Negative space:
- Motion direction:

## Typography

- Title:
- Subtitle / tagline:
- Typeface direction:
- Placement:
- Color:
- Integration with image:

## Color & Lighting

- Palette:
- Contrast:
- Time of day:
- Texture / grain:

## Image Generation Prompt

[Complete final prompt.]

## Negative Prompt

- No generic poster template
- No random extra text
- No unreadable typography
- No distorted letters
- No extra logos
- No inconsistent character
- No unwanted face changes
- No AI-smooth skin
- No deformed hands
- No irrelevant props
```

## Image Generation Prompt Structure

Use this structure for the final poster image:

```text
Create a cinematic movie poster, aspect ratio [ratio], for [title/project].

Use the provided reference images if available:
- Match character identity, hairstyle, wardrobe, and material details from the character design sheet.
- Preserve scene mood, color palette, and setting from the storyboard references.

Concept: [selected concept name].
Story: [one-sentence story premise or emotional promise].
Composition: [foreground, midground, background, negative space, camera angle].
Main subject: [character/product/place/object details].
Typography: [title text, language, placement, font direction, texture, integration with image].
Color and lighting: [palette, contrast, time of day, grain, atmosphere].
Style: [commercial key art / arthouse poster / documentary poster / teaser poster / campaign poster].

Make the typography feel designed for this story and setting, not generic. Letterforms should be legible, intentional, and integrated with the background image.

Negative constraints: no random extra text, no fake credits unless requested, no unreadable letters, no distorted title, no extra logos, no inconsistent character, no wrong wardrobe, no AI-looking skin, no deformed hands, no cluttered layout.
```

## Workflow

1. Read relevant project context: plan, storyboard, character design, prior poster references, or user brief.
2. Extract title, ratio, story, genre, main subject, visual references, and required text.
3. If ratio is missing, set it to `3:4`.
4. If the creative direction is not already clear, propose `3-5` concepts and ask the user to choose.
5. After the user chooses, write a compact poster spec if helpful.
6. Generate the poster image using the selected concept and all relevant references.
7. Save the image to `posters/{poster-name}.png`.
8. Inspect the result if possible: ratio, composition, typography, character consistency, artifacts.
9. If text rendering is poor and exact text matters, recommend or perform a second pass with deterministic text overlay when appropriate.
10. Final response should include the saved path and render the image when supported.

## Quality Checklist

Before finalizing, verify:

- Aspect ratio matches the requested ratio or defaults to `3:4`.
- Poster concept fits the story, genre, background, and setting.
- Typography direction matches the narrative world.
- Title is legible enough for the intended use.
- There is no random or unintended text.
- Character identity is consistent when references are provided.
- Wardrobe and material details are consistent when character references are provided.
- Composition has a clear visual hierarchy.
- Poster does not look like a generic template.
- Output file is saved under `posters/` unless the user requested otherwise.

## Example

User asks:

```text
Make a poster for the 60-second campus sports drink TVC. Youth unlimited, campus style.
```

If no direction is specified, propose:

1. **Run Toward the Light** — full-body student running into morning track light, kinetic bold sans title.
2. **Blue Bottle Spark** — product close-up with campus reflected in condensation, clean commercial typography.
3. **School Gate Launch** — wide campus gate with students moving through sunlit trees, title integrated with shadows.
4. **After-Sweat Smile** — character portrait with realistic sweat and blue-white palette, youth campaign title lockup.

Default ratio: `3:4`.