Sajjadul Islam Sayeem is one of those film poster artists who have played a decisive role in transforming the landscape of Bangladeshi film posters, which were once dominated by clichéd and overly dramatic visuals. To audiences, he is known as the ‘poster boy’, while for producers he has become a dependable name in visual storytelling.
His journey was never carefully planned. Sayeem studied electrical engineering and began his career at a private institution. Yet from childhood he had a deep fascination with drama and cinema. To friends he appeared to be a homebody and to relatives, a television serial addict. But privately he nurtured the dream of writing stories for films. Life did not offer him that path but it opened another door into storytelling.
It was Sayeem’s brother-in-law, a graphics designer, who introduced him to the world of graphic designing. Sayeem would watch him work in Photoshop at home and learn by observation. By around 2007, he had become fluent in the finer points of graphic design, initially treating it as a hobby.
When he decided to write a blog, he designed it himself, often working for hours without losing interest. It was then that he realised he had found his muse.
A major turning point came in 2011, when he met film director Swapan Ahmed during the making of the science fiction film ‘Porobashinee’. Although he joined the project as an assistant director, his primary responsibility was designing graphics for posters and promotional materials.
He listened closely to the story, studied international posters and attempted to convey the narrative within a small visual frame. The poster was well received and that experience drew him fully into graphic design.
In 2012, he founded his own company, YFVFX (Youth Film Visual FX). The name itself reflected his love for cinematography, inspired by his admiration for Yash Raj Films. His true breakthrough, however, came in 2014 with Ashiqur Rahman’s ‘Kistimaat’.
At the time, Sayeem was disturbed by the crude depiction of women and the excessive use of violent imagery in local film posters. With Kistimaat, he set out to place the story at the centre. Once the poster was released, praise spread quickly among audiences and producers alike, and from that point onward, his career gained unstoppable momentum.
Today, an estimated 70 to 80 percent of the country’s film posters pass through his organisation in one form or another. His work spans films, television dramas, web films and web series.
Since 2020, he has been handling the visual graphics for the OTT platform BongBD while living in Barisal. He believes creativity is not constrained by geography; in fact, a less hectic environment can sharpen focus and attention.
Sayeem does not view posters as mere promotional tools. In his words, a poster is the opening dialogue of a film. A strong poster sparks curiosity and establishes the mood of the story. For this reason, he believes it is far more important to understand the language of cinema than to simply master software.
He remains realistic about the status and remuneration of designers in Bangladesh. Conditions have improved compared to the past, though there is still significant room for progress. Producers are now more aware of the value of visual design, which he sees as an encouraging sign.
His ambitions extend beyond personal success. Sayeem aims to keep pace with the evolving language of Bangladeshi film poster design and to build a learning platform for newcomers to the field.
Sayeem hopes to take this subtle yet powerful form of storytelling further and wants poster design to be recognised as a distinct category at major award ceremonies.
