Established in 2015, Realm—formerly Serial Box—is an audio entertainment company that creates original fiction podcasts and audiobook series. Our brief was to help them define a positioning, name, voice and identity system that better reflected their distinct offering.
Through our research we uncovered something quite special about the company - they provide a “magical refuge” for their listeners—a progressive intention that manifests both in the inherent themes of speculative fiction and the business’s concerted effort to feature culturally underrepresented voices, writers, and characters. The idea of a Magical Refuge formed the basis of the positioning and inspired our naming and design exploration.
We landed on the name “Realm”—round, mysterious, and warm— not only to increase the brand’s searchability (Serial Box posed several SEO challenges), but also to represent the mental journey listeners take in the acts of escapism and relaxation.
The color palette largely features purple, representing inclusivity, magic, spirituality, vitality, and creativity; it also creates an otherworldly aesthetic when paired with the near-black background. Complementary 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.
We developed a brand mascot named Ruby, who accompanies every listener down the audio rabbithole, 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 complements it by sharing unique, slightly strange, but overall friendly characteristics, and flexes many weights and styles depending on purpose and usage. And, because the Baskerville typefaces remain very popular in book design, we included the modern revival Libre Baskerville, which works exquisitely for on-screen reading.