The poster design for Steve McQueen's latest film is very clean and straightforward, with Chiwetel Ejiofor's character of Solomon Northup depicted in a running pose against a background of pure white. Obviously I can be pretentious and suggest that there is meaning to the fact that his character, a black man, is alone in this poster and surrounded by the colour white (though I guess I've just suggested it) but I think this is simply down to a stylistic choice - a successful attempt to add a touch of class to the proceedings. However, his pose is certainly significant. Unlike many posters which have the characters stood in a photogenic stance, here the main character is presented in motion. Coupled with the title and its emphasis on the length of time he spent as a slave, it could suggest psychologically he was running all this time, or perhaps that at one point in the film he does successfully escape or at least attempt to do so - and this presumably standout scene is what is depicted on the poster.
Aesthetically, the poster is very pleasing to the eye. Strict restriction is given to the colours - his clothes are very basic and so are muted in tone, as his skin, so the orange of the number 12 in the title is the only real distinct use of colour in the poster, thereby making it stand out against the rest. Obviously the title is very important and so the viewer of the poster should remember that. While the 12 is presented in a stylised, perhaps hand-written style, possibly the handwriting of the main character, which makes it seem more down-to-earth, the rest of the font is a regular serif font that evokes the period in which the film is set. The names of the cast are overlaid on to his body, as is the rest of the text, but in comparison to the image of Northup, they are relatively small and hard to distinguish. Ejiofor is not a hugely well known actor so his name isn't singled out to promote the film and simply appears with the rest of the cast. Director Steve McQueen, however, is highly regarded in the film community and so his name appears in the same size font, but somehow more distinguishable due to its isolation, above the title, as his involvement will be a unique selling point for moviegoers. Underneath the title, which is given a clean line underneath for emphasis as well as aesthetics, is the tagline 'The Extraordinary True Story of Solomon Northup' which works in informing the audience of the film's basis in reality and that it has a story that is, for whatever reason, extraordinary, therefore inviting the audiences to see the film for themselves to discover the truth.