Initially, Cummings, known for his work on shows like “Westworld” and “Lovecraft Country,” considered updating the visual style of the project to make it more modern. However, after immersing himself in fan content, such as videos of homemade vaults and Pip-Boys, and delving into game wikis for details, he became captivated by the franchise’s blend of light-heartedness and darkness. He felt compelled to align the show’s aesthetics closely with those of the game, noting that the script was so closely tied to the game’s essence that it was a natural decision to mirror its visual style.

As Cummings delved deeper into the project, he honed in on what it means to be distinctly “Fallout.” Attention to detail was critical, with custom features like triangular bolts and metal arches defining the underground vaults. Specialized parts had to be fabricated, requiring the establishment of a production facility for computer cuts and Vacuform, as well as a line of 3D printers for crafting small components. Transforming the settlement of Filly involved constructing a metal-centric small town with towering structures, including an airplane fuselage. Over 30 welders worked tirelessly each day to bring this vision to life.

One element of Fallout lore that Cummings particularly loved was the Red Rocket truck stops, with their distinctive sloping roofs and giant red rockets. But initially, there wasn’t one in the script. “I begged Graham [Wagner] and Geneva [Robertson-Dworet], the showrunners, to let me do a Red Rocket,” Cummings says. Eventually, they found a functioning 1950s gas station in Nyack, New York, that had the right look, and the owner gave the team five days to use the space. That meant three days to prep, one day of shooting, and then one day to “return it back to a functioning gas station.”

Not everything got the Fallout treatment, however. In the games, shots of the pre-war world usually consist of a series of perfectly pleasant suburban homes ripped out of a 1950s sitcom. But for a scene early on in the Amazon show featuring a children’s birthday party at a rich executive’s home, the vibe needed to be different. Instead of “Fallout-ing” a location, Cummings and the design team instead crafted a sleek, mostly glass house inspired by the futurist Googie architectural movement. It was a different look that still fit within Fallout’s time period and aesthetic — and also made one of the more tragic parts of the show even more dramatic. “If you’re going to have an atomic bomb go off,” says Cummings, “you do not want to live in a glass house.”