They call one another “mama bears” because of the ferocity with which they fight for their children’s rights. Although they grew up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians praying for the souls of LGTBQ+ people, these mothers are now willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to champion their kids—even if it challenges their belief systems and rips apart their worlds.
MAMA BEARS KEY ART
When I was first assigned the Mama Bears key art, I knew there were many aspects I needed to keep in mind. Not only did I think about the sensitivity around the subject matter, but I also needed to keep in mind the message that needed to be conveyed in the art.
The above key arts were my first pass. I aimed to to keep the focus on the people in the film and incorporate LGBTQ+ colors. The tag line, "Unwavering Fatih. Unconditional Love.", was also a source of inspiration as I wanted to design art that would visibly represent a mama bear. For the religious aspect, I designed the elements within a church window. The direction on the left uses a mosaic stained glass approach while the direction on the right is more clean.
With my second passes, I leaned more into the church window. I really wanted the design to be bright and not dark. While the film talks about the challenges and prejudices these families face daily, what really spoke to me were these mother's unconditional love. Mother's that would bravely face opposing members of their own church, families, and friends. That's the message I wanted the key art to show.
FINAL KEY ART
The approved key art is as you see above. The filmmakers had a few tweaks, mainly with changing the images in the church window. They requested a more simplified version so I removed the background and lessened the rainbow reflection in the glass. In the end, I feel like the art shows hope and promise and it translated easily into the marketing assets.