Role: Art Director
Client: BBC Creative
Production: Hartswood Films
Campaign assets: Key art and gallery imagery

The Challenge
To create a distinctive key art campaign for a provocative psychological thriller that subverts expectations and explores dark, taboo themes. The work needed to reflect the intelligence and originality of the writing, while capturing attention and appealing to a visually sophisticated audience.

Creative Development
Responding to the script’s focus on subversion and moral complexity, I developed a concept that mirrored the narrative structure of the series. At first glance, the four central characters appear familiar—the vicar, the teacher, the journalist, the prisoner—but each is gradually revealed to be something far more unexpected.

The idea centred on translating this tension into the imagery: creating portraits that feel polished and straightforward on the surface, but carry an underlying sense of unease and disruption. The aim was to prompt a second look, drawing the viewer into the same unsettling question at the heart of the drama—what would it take for an ordinary person to commit murder?

Execution
I led the creative development and art direction of the campaign, working closely with the production team to bring the concept to life. I directed the photography shoot and oversaw post-production, shaping the final imagery with the designer Amy Fullalove.

The resulting key art and gallery imagery captured the series’ psychological intensity while maintaining a clean, impactful visual language across all assets.

Inside Man, written by Steven Moffat, stars David Tennant, Stanley Tucci, Dolly Wells, and Lydia West.

The campaign received Bronze at the Promax Awards in 2023.

Photographer: Sam Barker
Post-production design: Amy Fullalove

Photography © Hartswood Films (reproduced with permission).