beyond the stars
Client
TNT
It was a return to form for the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild awards show with the broadcast airing live and hosting an in-person audience for the first time since 2020. We were thrilled to be invited back by our friends at TNT, who broadcast the ceremony, to mark this momentous occasion with a fresh batch of promos that would highlight what makes the SAG Awards so great– the actors.
lights, camera...
We’ve had a hand in our fair share of SAGs, which presented both a challenge and an opportunity. How do we freshen up the design with some new and exciting ideas while maintaining the spirit of the awards?
We’ve had a hand in our fair share of SAGs, which presented both a challenge and an opportunity. How do we freshen up the design with some new and exciting ideas while maintaining the spirit of the awards? The team at TNT shared with us some inspirational concepts that incorporated a lot of Art Deco elements, many pulled from the elaborate set design being created for the ceremony, which we used to compile a robust reference deck.
After a couple SAGs together, we have a great shorthand with the team at TNT, so it was easy for us to build and ideate on design concepts that were working. We cast a fairly wide net, then drilled down into variations on each of those to give the clients a lot from which to choose what resonated.
After working together to edit down our ideas, we moved forward with a concept that would incorporate Art Deco design and Hollywood glam while placing the actors front and center. Much of the beauty in this project comes from the fact that it came from a really straightforward exercise in graphic design in all the best ways.
Classic typography, bold shapes, highlighting the statue and showcasing the logo– these were the directives that guided our design led by BigStar artist Ross Henderson. This pure form graphic design is something he really excels at and it translated to a really slick final edit.
Our first milestone was to combine the design elements into a toolkit for our client. We built an architecture to house the elements needed to create the title cards, transitional language, treatments and more, giving our clients what they needed to produce promos on their end. After we’d delivered that package, we also produced a couple of fully graphic spots for the ceremony’s nominee announcements.
The design on these highlighted the intimacy of the return to the in-person format of the awards and was something we tried to translate by featuring the actors.
The incorporation of the stars into the Art Deco design creates a sophisticated vibe that plays well into the re-entry into live events SAG is returning to.
We built out a few social elements to build on and we were able to turn over a robust and highly functional promo package. The beautiful design and versatility set the TNT team up for success as they began promoting the fan-favorite awards show. We always look forward to what the team comes up with each year and are honored to be asked back to design it into existence.
Props where props are due
