The Japanese poster is better.

Shut up. Please…shut up.
arahman

It's anything but "amateurish." IMdb trivia link:
http://www.imdb.com/board/10081505/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
Saul Bass reportedly produced around 300 versions of the film's poster before Stanley Kubrick was satisfied.
The same very famous graphic designer Saul Bass who did the opening titles for Hitchcock's
Vertigo
,
North By Northwest
, and
Psycho.
It's actually very representative of the film Kubrick made that's embedded inside of a horror film. A bright yellow and black caution sign to future generations.
Wake up.
_
THE SHiNiNG

The 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.

I'm not a huge fan of that poster. It feels amateurish and not representative of the movie.

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.