Eric van den Boom talks about his poster art celebrating five years of Moulin Rouge! on Broadway.

In July 2024, Baz Luhrmann’s musical version of Moulin Rouge! celebrated five years on Broadway and marked the occasion with a special ‘Bohemian Summer’ capsule campaign to attract theatregoers. IllustrationX artist BoomArtwork – AKA Eric van den Boom – was commissioned by Moulin Rouge!’s creative agency RPM to illustrate a new poster for the anniversary that would capture the energy, romance and dazzling nature of the show and its performers.

We talked to Eric about the project and how it developed from the initial brief, through his creative process, and ultimately to the final execution of this stunning artwork.

When and how did the job come about?
Late February I got an email from Stacey Endress at IllustrationX in New York. The Broadway marketing agency RPM was working on the summer campaign for Moulin Rouge! The Musical. They liked my portfolio and were wondering if I was available in March to work on this project for them. I was super busy working for other clients but luckily I managed to reschedule things to make time for this job. When something like this comes in, you don't want to decline it because you don't have time!
 
What was the brief?
The brief was to capture the vibrant energy and romance of the show, highlighting the iconic red windmill and its dazzling characters.
 
How did it feel to start work on such an iconic show?
It was amazing. It’s such a visually rich and vibrant show and I immediately had ideas popping up in my head for the campaign image.
 
How did you research the project?
I’d seen the movie when it came out and loved it, but I watched it again a couple of times and watched parts of the musical on YouTube as well. I also did more general research on the internet.

Which route was chosen and why?
The team at RPM were super happy with all the designs but in the end the second route was chosen, with a couple of minor revisions. The type needed to be straighter, less curved and some elements needed to be bigger or smaller. When RPM was happy with the revised version they presented it to their client, Moulin Rouge!, for approval.

What were your favourite parts of the drawing process?
I really loved the sketching phase. I really was in the flow – when you sort of zone out and forget about time. I loved how quickly all the ideas started to become visual. When the composition was locked and approved, I really enjoyed working on all the characters, having lots of reference images and trying to get the anatomy and expression right. They are quite small so it was challenging to do this without adding too much detail. Sometimes I needed to simplify a character to make them work with the rest. 

What tools and media did you use?
I started doodling my thumbnails with paper and pencil. I started by trying out all sorts of compositions and testing how I could change them from portrait to landscape. Finally, after exploring lots of ideas and compositions I selected the three routes and refined them in
Photoshop using a Wacom Cintiq, in quite detailed monochrome images. I tested the three routes in different situations via mock-ups – for example on a bus stop, on a smartphone and on a subway billboard. This was to test the artwork but also to give the client an idea of how it would work for them.

How was the project completed and delivered?
When the sketch had been approved, I moved on to rendering the final versions. From early on, I thought about how I would change the composition from portrait to landscape and make both work. I do a lot of artwork for festival posters, and nowadays it is normal to have lots of different compositions for posters, billboards, social media, banners, flags and so on. So, I was used to thinking that way. Traditional poster design has become really fluid, which is great fun. After a couple of small revisions, I delivered the final posters in portrait and landscape, each with art- and copy-forward versions. I created a Photoshop file with all the elements neatly organised and labelled because I knew the client wanted to animate some of the elements for the campaign on screens.
  
Is it fair to say there’s a hint of stained-glass windows and Alfonse Mucha about the artwork?
Yes, I definitely used Art Nouveau as inspiration, especially for the frame shapes. 

Did you draw the typography?
Initially, I was free to do the lettering myself. As I love to do custom lettering, I was really excited about that. But after the first round of sketches the client decided that it was important to stick to Moulin Rouge! brand fonts.
 
What was the collaboration like with RPM and the Moulin Rouge! company?
It was brilliant to work with the people at RPM – such a friendly, professional and organised team with great ideas. I've worked with loads of clients, but this job went super smoothly so it was a blast to work with them. I'm in the Netherlands and they are in New York, but the communication was great despite the time difference. I hope we can work together in the future.
 
Who are some of your influences?
I've always been a big fan of the work of Jim Phillips of Screaming Hand and Santa Cruz, and the linework of Charles Burns and his Black Hole comics. I follow a lot of contemporary art online and in museums. I love the great history of art. I always try to mix things up and make it into my own style. I guess that may be why they asked me for this job.
 
What’s next for BoomArtwork?
I'm slowly working on creating posters with positive and mindful quotes in cool lettering. The idea is that I want to screenprint them and sell them in a limited run via my web shop. Hopefully some of the posters will be live early next year. I love doing commissions, but it is good to create personal work as well, to have all the freedom and time to experiment.

Read more about this project here.