Great games often inspire more than conversation. They inspire creativity. Across the 007 First Light community, artists, designers and creators have already begun putting their own stamp on Bond’s latest adventure through original fan art and personal projects.
With our new Fan Art Spotlight series, we want to shine a light on some of those community creations and the people behind them. For our first feature, we are highlighting a striking poster created by Berlin-based artist Sahin Düzgün.
Released on 007 First Light’s launch day, Düzgün’s fan-made poster serves as both a celebration of the game and a tribute to the visual legacy of James Bond.
At the centre stands Bond himself, pistol drawn and framed by the iconic gun barrel. Surrounding him is a cast of familiar faces from 007 First Light: Agent Roth, Moneypenny, Greenway, M, Q and Bawma, while the masked antagonist watches from the shadows behind them. A second portrait of Bond, the distant Grand Carpathian Hotel and the sleek Aston Martin Valhalla complete a composition that feels every bit like a modern Bond movie poster.
Düzgün has been creating digital artwork for years, combining his passion for films and visual art through poster design and image editing. Some of his previous projects have even found a wide audience online.
Düzgün’s Bond journey began with the last actor to portray 007 on the big screen.
“My first Bond film was Casino Royale and it completely blew me away.”
The experience left a lasting impression, and the Daniel Craig era continues to be his strongest point of reference within the world of 007.
When asked about his favourite Bond poster, Düzgün points to the iconic Casino Royale (2006) artwork featuring Daniel Craig at the poker table. Photographed by Greg Williams as part of the film’s marketing campaign developed by Vox & Associates, the image has become one of the defining visuals of Bond’s modern cinematic era. For Düzgün, it perfectly captures both the character and atmosphere of Bond’s first mission as 007.
Creating fan art was nothing new for Düzgün. As a longtime Hitman player, he followed IO Interactive’s Bond project from its earliest days, paying close attention as more details about 007 First Light began to emerge.
“After I saw more and more footage and realised the scale of the game, the idea came to me.”
What convinced him most was that 007 First Light appeared to receive the full Bond treatment. Not only was it presented as a major action-adventure, but it also embraced many of the traditions associated with the film series — right down to an original theme song performed by Lana Del Rey.
When Düzgün began work on his poster, much of 007 First Light remained under wraps. With little known about the story, the characters became his anchor point, allowing him to build a cinematic composition around the faces players had already come to recognize.
Looking back, the approach feels right at home within the Bond franchise. Although Düzgün has developed his own style over the years, classic Bond posters still served as a source of inspiration. The official No Time To Die (2021) artwork, for example, places Bond at the centre while surrounding him with key figures such as Madeleine Swann, Nomi, Paloma, Q and Safin. Düzgün’s own 007 First Light poster follows a similarly ensemble-driven approach.
The biggest challenge? The antagonists.
“There wasn’t much material available, especially for the villains, but I did my best.”
The finished Bond artwork took approximately six to seven hours to complete using Adobe Photoshop on macOS. For Düzgün, the poster was finished once the composition, colours and typography had all fallen into place and every piece of the design felt where it belonged. One element, however, was always indispensable: the iconic 007 logo.
Curious how those six to seven hours came together? Düzgün also shared a timelapse of the creation process, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how the poster evolved from its earliest building blocks into the finished artwork:
Asked what he would change today, Düzgün already has a few ideas. More official imagery before launch would have given him even greater freedom when building the poster’s composition, highlighting the important role promotional assets can play in inspiring community creativity. Looking back, he would have liked to incorporate additional action scenes and character imagery, replacing some of the landscape elements with moments that better reflected the scale of Bond’s adventure.
Beyond this particular artwork, Düzgün’s approach to poster design is guided by a simple principle:
“My golden rule is simple: don’t show everything, but still tease the story on a surface level. A good poster sparks curiosity instead of explaining the entire story. The strongest images are often the ones that leave room for the viewer’s own imagination.”
Seeing the poster embraced across social media, the wider Bond community and sites such as ExpectingMrBond was particularly rewarding for Düzgün. The artwork also found an audience among fellow poster enthusiasts, earning shares on platforms such as PosterSpy.
Perhaps Düzgün’s poster has inspired you to create one of your own. If you’re working with Photoshop, his advice is to first get comfortable with the software through design exercises and the many tutorials available on YouTube. For layout ideas and inspiration, he recommends taking a look at artwork shared on platforms such as Pinterest and PosterSpy.
Our thanks go to Sahin Düzgün for taking part in our first Fan Art Spotlight and for sharing the story behind this impressive tribute to 007 First Light. If his artwork has caught your eye, you can explore more of his creative work through his Linktree page.
Source:
Linktr.ee – Sahin Düzgün – Graphic Designer & Illustrator Berlin, Germany
