Fantasy series branding project
This project was about exploring the boundaries of my fantasy sci-fi series brand, Explorers of Somnium. My previous branding, marketing, and website just didn't represent the brand well enough, so I set out to carve out an identity with assets that would really communicate the exploration and depth that the world has to offer.
Fantasy series branding project
This project was about exploring the boundaries of my fantasy sci-fi series brand, Explorers of Somnium. My previous branding, marketing, and website just didn't represent the brand well enough, so I set out to carve out an identity with assets that would really communicate the exploration and depth that the world has to offer.
PART 1: BRANDING
I expect Explorers of Somnium to be the flagship of all the good works I've done. Someday in the future I want to position myself as an author who had to learn all the design and marketing myself, and how I can give the same thing to other creatives. But in order to get there, I need to have my own series to look good, so that's part of what the project was about.
The first thing I did was endless sketching and moodboarding with Midjourney. That's the first step of a lot of my projects, but this time, I really went hardcore. I probably had more than fifty logo sketches and brand images before I started, because I needed to make sure I nailed the right vibe before I began producing. In Somnium, aesthetics are everything.
After that, I slowly refined the brand position, logo, colors, and typography, then threw them all together into a cohesive Somnium Brandbook. You can look at some of the pages below.
I expect Explorers of Somnium to be the flagship of all the good works I've done. Someday in the future I want to position myself as an author who had to learn all the design and marketing myself, and how I can give the same thing to other creatives. But in order to get there, I need to have my own series to look good, so that's part of what the project was about.
The first thing I did was endless sketching and moodboarding with Midjourney. That's the first step of a lot of my projects, but this time, I really went hardcore. I probably had more than fifty logo sketches and brand images before I started, because I needed to make sure I nailed the right vibe before I began producing. In Somnium, aesthetics are everything.
After that, I slowly refined the brand position, logo, colors, and typography, then threw them all together into a cohesive Somnium Brandbook. You can look at some of the pages below.
Tap brandbook to open
Brandbook pages
Alternate logo concept sketches
Motion idea
PART 2: WEB DESIGN
The website was by far the biggest part of the whole project. Now that I had the assets from my Somnium Brandbook, it was full speed ahead into creating the most immersive, beautiful, and intriguing website I'd ever attempted yet.
My goal was to make someone enter the website and say "Wow." If they got awed enough by the visuals, overall vibe, and sheer depth of the content, chances are they would want to keep exploring.
I used Framer to enhance the visuals and storytelling by creating animated components. That includes the paralax effect on the hero, the opening book, and the most maddeningly complex component I've ever made: the Interactive Somnium World Map. Which, unfortunately, can only be viewed on a desktop for now.
The website was by far the biggest part of the whole project. Now that I had the assets from my Somnium Brandbook, it was full speed ahead into creating the most immersive, beautiful, and intriguing website I'd ever attempted yet.
My goal was to make someone enter the website and say "Wow." If they got awed enough by the visuals, overall vibe, and sheer depth of the content, chances are they would want to keep exploring.
I used Framer to enhance the visuals and storytelling by creating animated components. That includes the paralax effect on the hero, the opening book, and the most maddeningly complex component I've ever made: the Interactive Somnium World Map. Which, unfortunately, can only be viewed on a desktop for now.
PART 3: MARKETING
After I finished a couple weeks on the website, I turned to the marketing side of Somnium. Newsletter designs up until this point had been clunky and sloppily designed, and the social media presence of the brand was absolutely nil. Working with my design instructor Austin Pickett, I came up with some campaign ideas and outlined a marketing strategy that would give the series a place for interested people to discover it.
After I finished a couple weeks on the website, I turned to the marketing side of Somnium. Newsletter designs up until this point had been clunky and sloppily designed, and the social media presence of the brand was absolutely nil. Working with my design instructor Austin Pickett, I came up with some campaign ideas and outlined a marketing strategy that would give the series a place for interested people to discover it.
After hearing the success other authors in my genre had with Kickstarter—particularly Brandon Sanderson's history-making $40 million campaign back in 2022—I really wanted to try it for my book, as opposed to a normal boring launch on Amazon.
After hearing the success other authors in my genre had with Kickstarter—particularly Brandon Sanderson's history-making $40 million campaign back in 2022—I really wanted to try it for my book, as opposed to a normal boring launch on Amazon.
MERCHANDISE
Working on the graphics was my favorite part of the whole campaign—aside from watching the funding climb, of course. Adding a little character and a cool landscape background for each header really made the whole page burst with Somnium-esque life.
Working on the graphics was my favorite part of the whole campaign—aside from watching the funding climb, of course. Adding a little character and a cool landscape background for each header really made the whole page burst with Somnium-esque life.
To make them, I used my superpower combination, Midjourney and Photoshop. I layered each AI created asset—the character, border, background, then used Photoshop controls like gaussian blur, outer glow, and exposure adjustments to get them all to work together. Each one took about twenty minutes.
To make them, I used my superpower combination, Midjourney and Photoshop. I layered each AI created asset—the character, border, background, then used Photoshop controls like gaussian blur, outer glow, and exposure adjustments to get them all to work together. Each one took about twenty minutes.
For the reward graphics below, I discovered how to harness the power of reflections to make things look professional and realistic. All you have to do is duplicate the layer, flip it vertically, and move it down beneath the original one!
For the reward graphics below, I discovered how to harness the power of reflections to make things look professional and realistic. All you have to do is duplicate the layer, flip it vertically, and move it down beneath the original one!
Thriving on the extraordinary.
Adam Vineyard is a multi-media creator on an epic quest to bring his vision of quality to life.