Announcing the Apocalypse + Coiled in Deception: Advertising 2020 Winners

Bright colors, striking imagery, and playing with dimensions are all great methods to use to make eye-catching advertising. These 2020 entries each use one of these methods as self-promotion and to bring home the win!

“American Horror Story: Apocalypse” (above, left) is an advertisement for the eighth installment of the prominent FX horror anthology television series, American Horror Story. Set in the remains of the world after a nuclear apocalypse, the story is a crossover between two fan-favorite seasons: “Murder House” and “Coven,” and follows both old and new characters as they gear up for a gruesome battle between good and evil. As a long-time client of the Graphis Master creative agency ARSONAL, FX Network entrusted the agency with making the key art that not only captured the main themes of the season but would also intrigue long-time fans of the series. In their Gold-winning composition, the agency utilized the iconic bold and provocative red color palette from “Murder House” to create a promotional poster depicting an eerie red baby and an inky-black hand, both with matching black talons. The poster immediately grabs the attention of veteran fans who remember the warning at the end of the “Murder House” season that the birth of character Vivien Harmon’s baby would bring the end of the world, hinting that season 8’s central evil figure could be the “Antichrist” finally wreaking havoc.   

Next is a Platinum-winning promotional poster by FBC Design, “EMPIRE – ‘Coiled in Deception’” (above, right) for the Fox Entertainment TV series, Empire. The poster centers on the show’s complicated power couple Cookie and Lucious, whose relationship throughout the series has never been easy or straightforward. Both driven by ambition and fame, the things that divide the two characters throughout the show, like money, power, and lies, are also the things that ultimately unite them. The gold snake coiled around their bodies represents both the nature of their relationship and the drama and wealth that envelopes them. This visually striking advertisement succeeds in communicating the deep and complex connection between the show’s two most iconic characters, encouraging fans to find out the duo’s fate in the show’s 6th and final season.

“Monuments” (above) is a part of another Gold-winning campaign, this one created by The Gate | NY for BHP, an Australian mining company focused on providing metal materials essential for infrastructure and building electric vehicles. Seeking to publicize their company initiatives on a wider scale, BHP worked with The Gate to adapt their Australian “Think Big” advertising campaign for parts of the world that aren’t familiar with who BHP is or what they do. As their approach, the team at The Gate devised a series of images featuring some of the world’s most iconic metal structures, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Chrysler Building as an ode to what “Big thinkers can create when they use the resources that BHP mines.” The campaign rolled out to the U.S. before launching in both the U.K. and Asia.

If you would like the chance to submit an entry for our Advertising 2023 competition, come check us out at graphis.com. To see all the incredible posters from our 2020 Poster Annual, click here.