Braid is one of my favorite horror movies, in part due to its candy colored, high-femme, aesthetic.

It's a movie about three women whose lives are inextricably tangled, hence the title. My first idea was a braid made of the women's three different hair colors. It was a good start but needed more, especially in the way of menace. So I tried making the braid into a noose.

Braid - image 1 - student project

Simplistic designs are very popular and I *do* like that this composition is almost unnervingly spare. But I wasn't totally sure that it read as a braid and not just rope so I kept working.

There's a scene where two of the characters are tied up with braids, so that was an obvious second thought but it didn't *quite* work.

Braid - image 2 - student project

One of the most striking images of the movie is the use of an upside down crib as a cage. I thought it would work for the poster because it's both sinister and childish, which is an apt description of the characters in this film. I tried making the crib-cage out of the braid but that just looked silly. So I switched the line styles and ended up with this, which looks pretty cool.

Braid - image 3 - student project

But it doesn't really tell you much about the film.

My husband liked the braid bondage image but pointed out that it should be three hands. Which should have been obvious but I was hung up on the logistics of tying three wrists together. Finally, a solution presented itself.

Braid - image 4 - student project

By that time I was tired of pouring energy into things that weren't working, so I just did a quick mock up. This definitely felt closer but I wasn't sure how to have those arms just...end.

I tried something else, but it didn't quite work. And it didn't solve my problem anyway.

Braid - image 5 - student project

Finally it occurred to me that the intense girliness of the movie wasn't in the poster either, and it really should be. So I added an aggressively pink and flowery panel, which solved both problems at once.

Braid - image 6 - student project

Since I usually work in watercolors, I might replace the hands with painted versions but I kind of like the starkness they have right now.

I'd love to know what you all think.

Alithea Howes

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