Video Game Poster: Portal

I love poster design, and I always enjoy an opportunity to design something completely whimsical. In this case, the local AIGA chapter hosts an annual poster design show, and the theme for 2023 is video games.

Portal is one of my favorite games of all time, and I wanted to think of a way to pay homage to it, but also depart from its distinctive aesthetics. I recalled that when playing the game, I often felt like I was an athlete in an Olympic training facility, shooting around through portals, jumping off ledges, and so forth.

I decided to imagine if the fictional company in the game, Aperture Science, actually tried to market the Portal gun featured in the game. More specifically, I took inspiration from classic 20th century advertisements from Olympics past. These always featured idealized human forms and fundamental shapes and exaggerated movements. So I ramped that into something just a bit futuristic but mostly evocative of those classic designs.