Role: Senior Designer and Retoucher | Project: STAGS | Paramount+
Nominated Best Key Visual, GEMA Awards 2024
TAGS follows groom-to-be Stu and his friends on his stag do in South America. What was meant to be a week of drink, drugs, and fun turns dark when instead of boarding a plane home, the group is thrown in to a notorious and depraved prison island run by two drug-dealing siblings and it becomes clear that the stags need to pick a side if they have any chance of survival. Friendships are tested and life-long loyalty is sacrificed as Stu and his friends begin to question, who will make it home?
As the lead graphic designer for STAGS, I helped guide the key art creative from inception to completion, overseeing every stage of the process. From conceptualisation to final retouching—a task I handled personally—I crafted a suite of compelling key art used extensively in the show's marketing and on the Paramount+ platform.
The concept for the key visual was based on the moment our stags arrive at El Puerco Negro.
Overwhelmed and underprepared, the realisation of just how f****d they are hits the group.
Cast Mugshot Portraits
Character Artwork
Key Art Scamp
Key Art Concept Explorations
Metal Detector: We use the fact that both airports (where the story starts) and prisons (where the story ends) use metal detectors. We treat this as a transition point that highlights how badly the stag do goes.
Mural: South America, where this show is set, has a rich culture of colourful street art. We would lean into this by painting our ensemble on the exterior of the prison wall. Red paint can act as a nod to blood alluding to the violent themes in the show. Narrative elements, like the monster hidden
Behind Bars: We collage two juxtaposing scenes - the group partying for the stag and them locked up in prison. The bars act as a visual divide allowing us to alternate the scenes while maintaining compositional continuity so there is flow.
Cavity search: We distill the horror of the show’s premise into a single “Oh no” moment. The prison setting, the cast performance, and the disembodied guard provocatively snapping on a rubber glove speak to moments before a cavity search.
Trailer
Senior Designer & Retoucher: Richie Nolan
Senior Creative: Ben Mahon
Art Director: Yeen Trinh
Production: Arianna Tipper
CGI: Giant Bonsai
Photographer: Matthias Clamer
Creative Director: Kate Dunn