Realm
An otherworldly identity for a profoundly inclusive podcast
How do you create a magical refuge through brand?
What we did
Industries
Established in 2015 as “Serial Box,” Realm is an audio entertainment company that creates original fiction podcasts and audiobook series. They collaborate with popular fiction writers, directors, artists, and voice and acting talent to create original stories and official continuations of popular franchises, like Orphan Black and properties from Marvel and DC.
Confident in its weirdness and fearless in its efforts to feature culturally underrepresented voices, writers, and characters, the podcast studio needed a distinct expression as magical and authentic as its content and mission. The name “Serial Box” posed issues with clarity and searchability, and the brand identity struggled to hold its own beside well-established podcast studios.
So Mother Design positioned the brand as a “magical refuge”—one filled with stories that transcend the binaries of reality—and, to accompany new name “Realm,” built a visual and verbal identity that welcomed one and all to Listen Away.
Outside the Serial Box
Mother Design’s goal was to develop a name, visual system, and tone of voice that could transport listeners to Realm’s oasis of fantasy and spec-fiction, but also stand proud and assured beside the major players in the space.
The name “Realm” captures the spirit, purpose, and occasion of the brand. Round, enigmatic, and timeless, the name symbolizes the platform and its content—considered a haven for folks to feel seen and understood—as well as the psychological journey to places of relaxation or escapism.
Brand mascot Ruby, who accompanies every listener down the audio rabbit hole, sits embedded in the “R” of the new wordmark—one born from an inviting shape language and inspired by fiction film and literary art.
The bold, condensed Roc Grotesk typeface has unique, slightly strange, but overall friendly characteristics, and flexes many weights and styles depending on purpose and usage. Because the Baskerville typefaces remain very popular in book design, we included the modern revival Libre Baskerville, which works particularly well for on-screen reading.
The color palette largely features purple, representing inclusivity, magic, spirituality, vitality, and creativity; it also creates a unique, otherworldly aesthetic when paired with the near-black background.
Complimentary colors like orange and off-white help make the visual world vibrant and friendly. Portal-like graphics represent entrances to other “realms”; their inner glow creates a weird, mysterious sci-fi vibe, and adds magic and energy (á la James Turrell) to the visual language.
Working in concert with the new name and visual identity is Realm’s tone of voice.
Weird, Witty, Welcoming.
We sought to capture Realm’s inclusivity with warm, authentic energy, while keeping copy unexpected, clever, magnetic, and quick. Tagline Listen Away invites audiences to leave the known world, with its biases and traditions and systems, behind—to join Realm and its community on the journey to rediscover wonder.
Listen Away.
Branding for the senses
We collaborated with Felt Not Heard to create a distinct, inviting, repeatable, and memorable sonic mark that brings the Realm experience to life. It prepares the listener for a new experience—as if the listener is about to enter a portal—through a dramatic, cinematic sound that’s quick with punctuation.
Reveri
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