Girl From Nowhere, a top-trend series with that red poster.

Girl from Nowhere is a story of a mysterious, clever girl named Nanno transferring to different schools, exposing the lies and misdeeds of the students and faculty. It was the top trending search on Twitter for every episode it was on.

The unique storyline, an outstanding character, with an amazing production team have become the talk of the town and this dark-red poster was everywhere.

Simple yet powerful, Mint-Nopparat Eksuwancharoen, associate creative director and an art commander from Sour Bangkok, was behind the creation of the iconic poster. She’s going to take us on a tour of the idea behind it, the meaning, and also what is it like to work as a creative director in Thailand and all the obstacles you need to face in the real world.

Tell us a little about your role in Girl From Nowhere the series?

Actually, we, the whole group of creatives in Sour Bangkok, were there since the very beginning. We were the ones pitching ideas of what the character should be like. That was when came up with this girl, a girl that everyone would love, not only guys. Then, we had to plan what is she going to do in each school. What are we going to talk about in each episode. Maybe one about teachers, another about an old friend, and so on. So, basically, we were there since the very beginning, until the shooting, post production, and PR, the very end.

Poster(s): Movie posters, mostly in Thailand, usually show a picture of pretty girls or celebrities. I’m not a fan of that kind of poster very much, so, for this series, I want to do something different. I wanted to make it kind of a teaser poster. Basically to unbrand this main character, Nanno. There are 3 versions of them: the one with graffiti, cuts, and the ripped one. This idea is to make people wonder who is this girl and why is she getting bullied. I just wanted to tell them a little bit about her and make them desire to know more, that’s the basic idea.

Color: As it is a series about a women, I think it is important to have a color that represents feminism. When we think about girls, the first color that comes into most people’s minds is probably pink, but it can’t be that innocent because she (Nanno) wasn’t. That’s when red came into my mind . It is still a feminine color, yet not too girly. It also includes a sense of strength. Despite Nanno’s look, a glimpse of strength in her is presented throughout the series as she took a revenge on others, and that she is independent and confident. So, we came up with the red to be a color-base for this series.

Logo: Actually, the written font, which reads Dek Mhai (Girl From Nowhere in Thai), was developed so many and many times. There were tons of prior versions before this one. But it was just there on its own, though. When we sat down and think about it, we thought it would only be there to attract the viewers. So the only thing we considered while making this was how to make it as attractive to the fullest.

What about the posters for each episode?

When we thought about making posters for each episode, we wanted to make it fashion. Personally, I like films’ posters such as Lobsters (2015). When you look at it, you had no idea what the film’s going to be about. The only thing you knew by looking at it would be “I’ve got to watch this film.” That’s my goal in making these posters.

Firstly, we have got to make people interested. Besides, there has got to be some hooks or sentences that kind of tell people what is it going to be, or at least, in which genre. Because in each episode, the girls is going to a new school, so we have to set the different mood & tone for people each week. The posters would be our main tool to do so, telling them this episode is about murder, this one is romantic, and so on.

It would be really hard to say which one is my favorite. But if I really had to pick one, the one with a black rose would be it. Since the very beginning in the process of planning Nanno’s character, we created her to be a girl who hates love. As roses are the flower of love, Nanno, herself, would see roses to be black. One day, Kitty (Chicha Amatayakul) walked into a set with a black rose without preparing with anyone. At the moment, I thought ‘how interesting.’ So that’s the starting point of a poster with black rose and a black uniform.

Obstacles in making all these posters: Actually, there are many challenging part making these posters (laugh). During the production, we didn’t think we would have different posters for each episode. The idea came later, even after the wrap. So, the only element we had was the pictures took during the set, which were so limited. Also, taking pictures in the set would get a really raw-looking image unlike in studios. The lighting or the composition of things would be really real. The difficulty is when we have to retouch them all by ourselves. Also, with a short timeline as new episodes have to be out every week, we really had to work against time.

Feedback and feelings: As Sour Bangkok is an advertisement agency, we don’t really get much shares on our project. It was cheerless, sometimes, when I put my heart and soul into something, but it couldn’t reach to everyone. But when we got a chance to work on an entertainment, it was a whole new feeling. It got so many shares online, so of course, I’m proud of it. It’s good to be able to see that my work could be effective and that people like it.

It got so famous to the point where someone print it out and sell the copy online. It was like an illicit page on social media. I’ve never expected this kind of reaction before (laugh). But I didn’t do anything though. I texted them, at first, asking if they did it themself and they said yes. So with the answer I got, I was just like okay.. I had no idea what to do next (laugh).

Working as a creative in Thailand: Between when I first started this job and where I am now, I work so differently. In the past, I would pay much attention to little details; move them little by little to left and right without considering if people passing by would recognize my work. I just want it to look good in each little details that I like. As I grow older in my career path, I start to focus on how to communicate with the viewers through my work. I started to learn that beauty alone may not be enough. Sometimes, being the most outstanding poster of all things around the bus stop may be more important. But beauty has to be there too, though (laugh).

For me, the preference and the taste of viewers are important in one level, but on another level, I also want my work to uplift them, not only for them to just looking at it. Most of the Thai design kind of affront the viewers a little, in my opinion. Like those poster that only has a picture of celebrities and a big-bold font. I get it, though, that sometimes it was the need of those who hire them. But on the other side, I believe if we present them 5 different design that don’t have a big celebrity’s face and a huge-ugly font, they would choose a good one.

I believe, little or none, that by trying to make Girl From Nowhere poster to be more fashion would contribute to enhance the design circles in Thailand for a bit. At least, I wish people would notice that it doesn’t need to have a famous celebrity on there to get attention.

Obstacles in being a creative?: There are going to be many factors manipulating you in the design. For example, when you pitch the idea to your customer telling them to create one wonderful sculpture in part of the design, and they replied that they have no budget for it. That’s it. No budget is no budget. Not enough is not enough. You have got to admit that we’re not living in a dream world where everyone would be able to afford anything. You’re not the one paying the price, so you can’t do nothing, but to accept. This is what working in the real world like. Some ideas would only be possible in our dreams.

What do you think of the designing circle in Thailand?: To be honest, it needs to be developed a lot. It would be a long way (laugh). One part of it was probably that we, Thai people, usually choose to like what we find familiar with. That’s why we’re not going anywhere. I used to work in Shanghai for 2 years, and there is a big difference from here. People there were full of imaginations and great ideas. The best thing is that they are so passionate about what they’re doing. They would create a new design piece or art piece like painting, for example, everyday. While in Thailand, not a lot of people would have an eager to learn. I feel like if we can be more passionate in what we’re working on, probably there could be more of something new presented to see.

Girl From Nowhere's uncensored version is now streaming on Netflix. You wouldn’t want to miss their great revenge epics, would you?