The yellow one with the face on it...what kind of face is that?
"how's a fella go about gettin' a holt of the police?" -Karl
It looks like the face of a young boy, so we can assume the boy stands for Danny. It doesn't matter what it looks like. The poster's purpose was to attract customers back in 1980. The design looks appropriately supernatural and outlandish, which is what the movie is.
shareI'm not a huge fan of that poster. It feels amateurish and not representative of the movie.
shareThe face isn't Danny, although it may seem as so. It's ambiguous. Almost Alien or Spirit like. The T... Well... It's the elevator and a prelude to the River of Blood(Amongst other things. The 2 i's also play a role. Like or dislike, it very much ties into the film.
shareIt's anything but "amateurish." IMdb trivia link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
Saul Bass reportedly produced around 300 versions of the film's poster before Stanley Kubrick was satisfied.