Case Study

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin

HBO Max

Concepting
Live-Action
On-Staff Directors
Main Titles

THE CHALLENGE

HBO Max came to us with an exciting opportunity: relaunch the iconic Pretty Little Liars series with an all-new cast and premise. The catch? It’s told entirely through the genre of retro horror.

So with something so different from the original, how could we capture the attention of core fans while expanding the audience? We followed our own passion for the genre and got to work.

OUR APPROACH

A full year before the series launched, our exploration began with Key Art. Diving into the visual language of 70’s and 80’s horror posters, we developed a wide range of looks, merging the vintage with the modern.

As the campaign look took shape, we applied it to custom launch teaser concepts. We took inspiration from the film Se7en’s iconic main title, exploring the new killer’s lair as he destroys images of the new cast. We also remixed the original theme song, infusing it with a musical expression of horror.

Our teaser concept caught the attention of the showrunners, who wanted to expand it into the show’s main titles. So we expanded our shoot ambitions, capturing material for the teaser, main titles, and a library of images for use throughout the campaign.

The design and typography set by our Key Art team flowed into our main titles and social pieces, growing into a comprehensive graphics toolkit for all of HBO Max’s assets, including our flagship featurette piece for the series.

Our integrated approach to creative development and execution resulted in a robust and unified campaign, helping launch the series to critical and audience acclaim.