To Solve a Murder – Helena Fallet
Telling a disappearance story with the one thing left behind
Official key art for a Viaplay true-crime documentary about the disappearance of Helena Andersson, built around a real detail from the case: her abandoned shoes. I developed the concept, art direction and final image to communicate absence and unresolved mystery without relying on sensational crime imagery or showing the victim.
Brief
The documentary needed a haunting but respectful key visual for a real unresolved case.
The image had to carry enough mystery to attract attention while avoiding graphic content and the usual visual shorthand of true crime. It also needed to work across streaming interfaces, press and campaign materials where subtle storytelling still had to survive at thumbnail scale.
The Challenge
The subject left very little room for visual sensationalism, and rightly so.
Police tape, silhouettes and dramatic violence would have made the image louder but less specific. The real challenge was finding one detail that belonged uniquely to this story and could imply loss, investigation and unanswered questions without inventing events.
Execution
A detail from the case became the concept: Helena's shoes were found in the forest while she remained missing.
I built the scene around those shoes as a silent focal point, placing them in a misty woodland that feels paused rather than overtly dramatic. Search lights cutting through the trees suggest investigation and movement around an otherwise still image.
Cold blue and violet grading, restrained haze and evidence-inspired typography support the tone without overpowering the central metaphor.
Stills & Styleframes
Results
The artwork became one of the main promotional visuals for the documentary across Viaplay's streaming and press materials.
Its strength came from restraint. The image communicated the emotional tone of the case without showing violence, and the abandoned shoes gave the campaign a specific visual identity rather than a generic true-crime look.
Personal Reflection
This project reinforced how powerful absence can be in an image.
The most important decision was what not to show. Once the shoes became the focus, every other element had to support the silence around them rather than compete for attention.