For The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu was looking for provocative art that reflected the disturbing yet addictive nature of the show, without being too dark or depressing. They wanted to tap into the visual contradictions between the beautiful world of Gilead (a dystopian society in the not too distant future) where things appear very normal, but on closer inspection, things are very off. The show also has an underlying humor via Elisabeth Moss’ character’s voiceover that they wanted to allude to in the art.

To reflect the juxtapositions of the storyline between beauty and horror, and submissiveness and resistance, we mined the scripts for visual cues and dialogue that told this story. The final pieces feature quiet, subdued character images set against more disturbing backdrops, with copy that captures the voice and tone of each character. The double read on the character campaign’s copy is also a reflection of the duality in the settings and characters in the show.

Hulu doesn’t release ratings data, but the client was thrilled with the art. The show was immediately picked up for an additional season.