Kenny Gravillis on the BlacKkKlansman Poster and the Challenges and Evolution of Key Art

Released this past spring, BlacKkKlansman was hailed as Spike Lee’s best film in years, and it certainly helped the movie’s cause that it had one of 2018’s most striking posters—a stark image of a person of color in a Ku Klux Klan hood.

The poster was the work of Gravillis Inc., which has designed other posters for Lee, including Chi-Raq.

Muse caught up with founder and chief creative officer Kenny Gravillis at Clio Entertainment judging, where he chaired the Print and Out-of-Home jury. Gravillis spoke about the BlacKkKlansman poster, as well as trends and challenges he’s been seeing lately in the key art space. 

Born and raised in East London, Gravillis moved to New York in 1987 and found work in the art department at Def Jam Records, where he designed album packages for the likes of Public Enemy, LL Cool J, and Notorious B.I.G. He moved to Los Angeles five years later to be vp of creative services at MCA Records. He launched Gravillis Inc. in 2000 and has focused mostly on film and TV marketing. 

Check out the full BlacKkKlansman poster below.