Inside the visual world of The Good Place

The Good Place is a great show because it succeeds on multiple levels. It’s masterfully acted, beautifully written, and somehow even manages to be educational. It’s also visually charming, with its visual in-jokes, and horribly deformed cartoon giraffe horses. That charm is due in part to the show’s art direction, which is the work of Adam Rowe. He’s worked on shows like Mad Men and American Crime Story in the past, and was nominated for an Art Directors Guild award last year for The Good Place’s excellent “Janet(s).” The A.V. Club sat down with him in Los Angeles to talk about what exactly art direction is, how it’s helped create The Good Place, and how the show’s creative teams have come together to create places like famous Australian-American restaurant Cowboy Skyscraper.