Skip to main content

Free association: Production designer Jeremy Hindle on building Severance

Amber BravoDirector of Story Studio, Figma

From Jacque Tati’s “Playtime” to David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks,” Jeremy Hindle traces the ideas and images that shaped Lumon’s uncanny world.

Share Free association: Production designer Jeremy Hindle on building Severance

Free Association is a new series that explores a creative person’s process through a series of visual prompts and references. Our first guest is Designer Jeremy Hindle, the Emmy Award–winning production designer on Apple TV’s hit series, “Severance.”

Watch Jeremy Hindle's episode of Free Association on YouTube.

Jeremy Hindle got his start in commercials, where he estimates he’s designed “hundreds of offices.” But it’s the office of Lumon Industries—the sinister corporate headquarters at the center of Apple TV’s hit series “Severance”—that has come to define his career.

When Jeremy first read the script, the set description was strikingly spare: Four desks, large room. From that Beckettian stage direction, he set out to build the world of “Severance”—drawing references from the furniture of Dieter Rams to the large-scale institutional architecture of Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche—creating an atmosphere that is, as he describes it, “stunning and lonely.” “I really try to hone in on designing the emotion,” says Jeremy. “Most of the responses you feel when you’re watching something are kinetic, not cerebral.”

To explore the kinetic connections that make the world of “Severance” so unsettling and unforgettable, we pulled some images to spark insight into Jeremy’s process. Here’s how each reference influenced the show’s design whether through mood, composition, or color.

Playtime (1967), Jacques Tati

Jacques Tati’s architectural satire (and the most expensive French film in history at the time of its production) was a guiding reference for “Severance.”

A man in a coat and hat stands at the top of an escalator, overlooking a grid of identical gray office cubicles filled with workers.A man in a coat and hat stands at the top of an escalator, overlooking a grid of identical gray office cubicles filled with workers.
“It’s a design masterpiece—the symmetry, the simplicity, the absurdity. Even the word ‘play’ reminded me we needed to play with this show.”
A person walks down a stark white hallway decorated with a cluster of blue balloons featuring a printed face on them.A person walks down a stark white hallway decorated with a cluster of blue balloons featuring a printed face on them.
“The whole film was [about] how to visually create a world that we know, but just is not real. It’s the same with ‘Severance’.”

Go deeper:

John Deere Headquarters (1964), Kevin Roche and Eero Saarinen

The monumental John Deere corporate headquarters gave Jeremy the blueprint for the look and feel of Lumon, not to mention the iconic desk for the show’s fictional team working in Macrodata Refinement (MDR).

A vast, symmetrical office filled with rows of desks and filing cabinets stretches into the distance under a glowing grid ceiling.A vast, symmetrical office filled with rows of desks and filing cabinets stretches into the distance under a glowing grid ceiling.
“This is where I got the idea for the MDR desk—a single plinth, four workstations. The producers called it the Cadillac of desks.”
A lone worker sits at a small cluster of desks in a vast, sterile white office with green carpet and symmetrical clocks on the walls.A lone worker sits at a small cluster of desks in a vast, sterile white office with green carpet and symmetrical clocks on the walls.
“This is basically the show. This is like the console of ‘Star Trek,’ where the characters will be for most of the show.”

Go deeper:

Braun Wall Console (TS 45 & TG 60), Dieter Rams

Among Lumon’s mostly fabricated sets sit a few choice design classics, one of which is Dieter Ram’s Braun TS 45 and TG 60.

A minimalist Dieter Rams audio system with speakers, reel-to-reel, radio controls, and a turntable neatly integrated into a wall unit.A minimalist Dieter Rams audio system with speakers, reel-to-reel, radio controls, and a turntable neatly integrated into a wall unit.
“This is probably the greatest piece by Rams. We thought, what would Gemma listen to? It had to be this. Beautiful, but also a little sinister.”
A minimalist, sterile room from Severance shows a man in white standing near a Dieter Rams audio system while a woman works at a sleek kitchen counter under bright ceiling lights.A minimalist, sterile room from Severance shows a man in white standing near a Dieter Rams audio system while a woman works at a sleek kitchen counter under bright ceiling lights.
“I designed that triangular desk because I wanted it to be quite violent.”

Go deeper:

“Zero Dark Thirty” (2012), Kathryn Bingelow

Jeremy's first feature film, "Zero Dark Thirty," tested his commitment to building out large-scale physical worlds—and the full-scale models he'd use to make these worlds readable to the entire crew.

Officials gather around a table model of a compound in Zero Dark Thirty.Officials gather around a table model of a compound in Zero Dark Thirty.
“We built the [‘Zero Dark Thirty’] compound to scale, and I built three models before that.”
The sleek, futuristic interior of the Eagan mansion from Severance, furnished in a stark modernist style.The sleek, futuristic interior of the Eagan mansion from Severance, furnished in a stark modernist style.
“Models are the best way to make people understand scale—drawings never do it. But it’s becoming a lost art.”

Go deeper:

“Fargo” (1996), Joel and Ethan Coen

A single still from “Fargo” shaped Jeremy’s vision for the scale of “Severance,” and was the first image he showed director Ben Stiller.

A lone figure walks across a snow-covered parking lot toward a car surrounded by evenly spaced planters and lampposts.A lone figure walks across a snow-covered parking lot toward a car surrounded by evenly spaced planters and lampposts.
“It needs to be winter. He had to be tiny in the frame. Period cars. This was the image that really solidified that.’”
A lone figure walks across a vast parking lot toward a massive mirrored office building surrounded by snow.A lone figure walks across a vast parking lot toward a massive mirrored office building surrounded by snow.
“To understand that when they are outside, if they are small in the frame, it makes you feel how vulnerable they are.”

Go deeper:

“Her” (2013), Spike Jonze

For Jeremy, Spike Jonze’s “Her” remains a masterclass with production design by K.K. Barrett and costume Design by Casey Storm.

A bright, open-plan office with pink cubicles, bookshelves, and colorful glass panels glows in warm sunlight.A bright, open-plan office with pink cubicles, bookshelves, and colorful glass panels glows in warm sunlight.
“Color is so rare these days—people are afraid of it. But [production designer K.K. Barrett] wasn’t. It’s perfect. This is my son’s favorite set of all time.”
A vintage-style living room with a Christmas tree is filled with teal household items as a man and woman sit in quiet contemplation.A vintage-style living room with a Christmas tree is filled with teal household items as a man and woman sit in quiet contemplation.
“Red is a color we don’t use very often [in ‘Severance’]. It’s either love or danger.”

Go deeper:

“Twin Peaks” (1990–2017), David Lynch

Jeremy says he never had much interest in doing television before “Severance,” but that the project presented an opportunity to create something uniquely enduring like David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks.”

ChatGPT said: A car drives past the “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign with misty mountains rising in the background.ChatGPT said: A car drives past the “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign with misty mountains rising in the background.
“I watch ‘Twin Peaks’ every year. It’s dreamlike, cinematic—it pushed TV to another level. Honestly, it’s better than 99% of films ever made.”
A man sits alone by a roaring fire in a dark wood cabin, lit warmly by the flames and a single lamp.A man sits alone by a roaring fire in a dark wood cabin, lit warmly by the flames and a single lamp.
For these two sculptures, “I called [writer and showrunner Dan Erickson] and said, ‘What should they be?’ He said: ‘Mrs. Keir pregnant, Mr. Keir pregnant with industry.’ Surprising everyone with things like this gives the actors something real to respond to.”

Go deeper:

Watch the full episode of Free Association on Youtube.

Amber Bravo is the Director of Story Studio at Figma. Previously, she's worked as a writer and editor at Google Design, Herman Miller, The FADER, and Dwell Magazine.

TwitterInstagram

Subscribe to Figma’s editorial newsletter

By clicking “Subscribe” you agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

Create and collaborate with Figma

Get started for free