Following the success of the poster contest for the first "Resident Evil," fans were again invited to submit their designs for the official poster of "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," the sequel to the $100 million worldwide hit based on the best selling video game series.
Davis left his day job in 2000 and began working from home. “My work really started taking off in 1998,” he said. “I do a lot of CD covers for rock and heavy metal bands, company logos for the music industry, and freelance for comic books.”
Contestants for the contest were allowed up to three poster designs. Assets (photography stills from the film, title treatments and the billing block) were posted online at the official "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" website, www.RE2.com, which provided links that enabled contestants to build their posters electronically.
Almost 8,000 posters were received – more than double the number of entries submitted for the first contest. A panel of judges from the studio's marketing department had the difficult task of narrowing the impressive selection down to FIVE finalists. Sienna Guillory (the film's Jill Valentine) presented the five finalists' entries in San Diego at Comic-Con on July 24th.
Their artwork was posted online at www.RE2.com, where the worldwide web audience voted on the winning poster. Over 15,000 votes were received and Travis Smith’s winning poster was announced on August 2, 2004. Smith will receive a cash prize of $2,500, free movie passes, and possible nationwide exposure of his poster in theaters everywhere.
Married with two kids, Smith finds working from home an added benefit. “Stacy, my wife, was very supportive to allow me to quit my day job,” he explained. “It took a real leap of faith. But it’s also allowed me to be home with our son, three, and our daughter, six.”
Smith was born in San Diego and has lived in East County all his life. He attended high school in the mid 80s and always had a flair for graphic arts. “My first real work was for a photographer who does horse books. I did computer enhancement of his photos.”
Working on a freelance basis can be hard to plan. “Yes, it’s usually feast or famine, but I enjoy it,” said Smith. “I think winning the contest will make a positive addition to my portfolio and will be well received by companies who like movie posters. I really enjoy representing other people’s visions.”
Smith is looking forward to appearing at the Premiere for "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" and maybe moving into an entire new line of work.
"Resident Evil: Apocalypse" will be released nationwide on September 10, 2004. Be sure to check out Smith’s poster on the way into the theater.
