By Becca Owsley, The News-Enterprise

Murray State graduate and Elizabethtown native Alex Griendling was the principle designer of the movie poster for Ron Howard’s film “Angels and Demons,” which opens in theatres May 15.

"I was always better at drawing than I was at studying, which helped me out when it came to getting into Murray State University ," Griendling said. “But not so much when it came to getting scholarships."

Griendling received an undergraduate degree at MSU and the summer before his final semester had the opportunity to intern at Interlink Film Graphic Design in Los Angeles .

During those two months, he worked on a teaser poster for "Death Sentence" staring Kevin Bacon.

His father, artist Rich Griendling, is beaming at his son’s success. "First and foremost, as a father, I’m quite proud," Rich Griendling said. "I’m very pleased to see his hard work at Murray State result in getting him his dream job right out of college, and I’m quite impressed by what he has accomplished on a professional level in such a short time. As a fellow graphic designer there is a bond that makes a proud pop, a very, very proud pop," Griendling said.

For Griendling, the movie business has proved hectic and stressful, but more than anything a lot of fun. The long work days have been worth it. "I love movies but don't have the skill to make them," Griendling said. "Most times posters and trailers are the first things people see from a new film, so while I might not be able to make movies, I can try to make them look good by designing a good first impression." He is particularly proud of work he designed for "Watchmen" — but that design never got printed. "That's part of the job though," Griendling said. "I did around 80 posters last year and only one got printed."

Working on the poster for "Angels and Demons" was exciting for Griendling, especially since the book was already popular. "It's always cool to work on a project that has a lot of hype and excitement surrounding it," Griendling said. "This, along with the fact that movie greats like Brian Grazer, Tom Hanks and Ron Howard are all attached to the project, makes it exciting not just from a designer's point of view but also from a movie fan's point of view."

When designers take on a project to promote a movie, the client generally gives direction on what to do. Sometimes the direction is narrow and focused, sometimes it is wide open. Art directors for "Angels and Demons" were encouraged to use the sculpture seen in the final poster.

"I think the final product is beautiful, and I'm very proud of it and proud to be working with such an accomplished group of people here at Intralink," said Griendling.

He can’t discuss upcoming movie projects but has other projects he is working on outside of work.