The artist Drew Struzan has died, aged 78. For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, he effectively illustrated our childhoods by illustrating the theatrical posters to some of the decades most popular films. It is worth noting some of his posters to realise just how influential he was. In the best cases, Struzan’s art remains synonymous with the films he was promoting. In some examples, his art could be better than the films themselves.

On a personal level, nothing by Struzan resonates as strongly with me as his work for the Muppets. Creator Jim Henson once remarked that no one captured the essence of the Muppet characters as effectively as Struzan, who wound up painting the theatrical posters to The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Muppet Treasure Island.

As a complete contrast, I was always impressed with Struzan’s poster for John Carpenter’s 1982 science fiction horror The Thing. The poster was a last minute commission, with Struzan not even provided with reference photos of the film. His solution, thematic rather than reproductive, is still one of the most effective horror movie posters I’ve ever seen.

A lot of Struzan’s 1980s work was undertaken for Steven Spielberg and his company Amblin Entertainment. Some of these represent Struzan’s most memorable work, including posters for Back to the Future, The Goonies, and others.

Struzan’s art also graced several Indiana Jones and Star Wars films during the 1980s and beyond.

It is a veritable tragedy that Hollywood shifted away from painted, artful posters to photographic and Photoshop-based ones. There is a richness and an artfulness to the painted artefacts that digital efforts have never managed to match. Drew Struzan was one of the greatest there was, and no doubt his exceptional work will continue to be treasured for decades to come.