{"id":842,"date":"2025-08-12T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/?p=842"},"modified":"2025-09-23T09:53:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T09:53:42","slug":"lessons-in-immersive-branding-from-sci-fi-and-fantasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/12\/lessons-in-immersive-branding-from-sci-fi-and-fantasy\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons in Immersive Branding from Sci-Fi and Fantasy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\"><em>This industry perspective is by Talia<\/em> <em>Patapoutian, research lead at Red Antler.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"\">Indulge me for a moment: imagine you&#8217;re standing inside the walls of <em>Game of Thrones<\/em>&#8216; Winterfell, with centuries of heroes, traitors, myths, and magic swirling around you. Or perhaps you&#8217;re strolling through Tolkien\u2019s beloved Shire, wandering idyllic green fields and ducking into hobbit-holes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Legendary settings like these are so immersive that they transcend words on a page or pixels on a screen. They become places an audience doesn&#8217;t just passively perceive, but ones they actively <em>inhabit<\/em>. That\u2019s part of the power that speculative fiction giants like George R.R. Martin and J.R.R. Tolkien have wielded to capture the hearts and minds of millions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Now, consider this: what if all of us in the branding field\u2014designers, strategists, marketers\u2014are in the very same business as these speculative fiction masters?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">I am, of course, talking about the business of creating worlds.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brand as Speculative World<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\">This parallel between fiction and brand feels particularly relevant now, as society grapples with critical issues like AI, climate change, and geopolitical crises. People are seeking escape from, and viable alternatives to, their uncertain reality. (Indeed, speculative fiction has never been more popular\u2014see the proliferation of sci-fi\/fantasy media franchises and romantasy books.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">When you think about it, speculative worldbuilding and branding share basic goals: both aim to transform intangible concepts into immersive, authentic, and differentiated experiences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">And these shared objectives aren\u2019t a coincidence. Fundamentally, both speculative worlds and brands provide the context that deepens audience understanding and engagement. Fictional worlds contextualize narratives and characters; brands contextualize products and customer touchpoints. Their essential functions are aligned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">So, what lessons can brand-builders learn from masters of science fiction and fantasy? Here&#8217;s a look at the worldbuilding processes of four exceptional authors, and what each can teach us.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">N.K. Jemisin: Start With Element X<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\">N.K. Jemisin (a MacArthur Genius Fellow included in the TIME100) builds her worlds from the top down. Rather than starting with separate details that have to be reconciled, she begins with what she\u2019s termed &#8220;Element X&#8221;: the single biggest departure from our reality. In her award-winning <em>Broken Earth<\/em> trilogy, Element X is a recurring apocalyptic winter caused by seismic catastrophe. Nearly every subsequent detail, from social hierarchies to character psychology to architecture, flows in some way from that idea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">To build out those downstream details, <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/i-build-a-world-with-fantasy-master-n-k-jemisin\/id1081584611?i=1000418571825\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jemisin uses<\/a> anthropological principles like:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Syncretism: how cultures build in layers over time, retaining echoes of their past<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Differentiation: how groups distinguish their identities from others<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Cosmogony: origin beliefs that shape the worldview<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Economy: how resources are acquired and distributed<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\">This approach yields worlds that feel real and lived-in because they\u2019re cohesive, and they reflect fundamental human patterns.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\">A narrow focus is generative, not limiting.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The brand takeaway:<\/strong> Start by identifying your brand\u2019s Element X\u2014its singular, differentiating truth\u2014and then build from there. It can be easy to forget that a narrow focus is generative, not limiting! Then consider how anthropological principles can help amplify authenticity. For example, syncretism suggests that brands feel more genuine when they retain subtle (even incongruous) vestiges of their history; cosmogony underscores how a brand\u2019s \u201ccreation myth\u201d (or founder story) can inform the brand world\u2019s underlying physics, influencing everything from its values to its typeface.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Hinge_image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-798047\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>While creating Hinge\u2019s new brand identity, Red Antler leaned into one particular Element X: the brand strategy of \u201cYour way to something real.\u201d This core idea manifested in everything from the logo to the product to \u201cDesigned to Be Deleted\u201d campaigns.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Brandon Sanderson: Layer for Discovery<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\">Brandon Sanderson has sold over 30 million copies of books based in his Cosmere universe (which encompasses multiple planets, all connected through a shared creator and gods).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Sanderson is particularly skilled at building mystery and filling his work with ongoing and carefully planned reveals. For him, worldbuilding is about creating layers of discovery. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/blog\/brandon-sandersons-world-building-turns-skyward\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told Audible<\/a> that \u201cWhen I&#8217;m doing my world-building \u2026 I start with the end goal in mind and then build those strata that the reader is going to dig through as an archaeologist reaching new understandings.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><em>The Way of Kings<\/em>, for example, is dripping in questions from page one. As readers make their way through the book, Sanderson very gradually fills in clear knowledge gaps and mysteries. <em>What don\u2019t we know about the Parshendi? Who are the Heralds? What could these epigraphs possibly be about?<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Anticipating and working to find these answers is a large part of what keeps Sanderson readers turning pages late into the night.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\">Layered brand worlds leave the audience room to explore over time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The brand takeaway: <\/strong>Building and revealing layers of meaning adds depth and engagement, creating an ongoing, dynamic relationship with the reader or consumer. Static or less-dimensional brands may still get noticed, but layered ones leave the audience room to explore over time. A prime example is the way Taylor Swift manages her mega-successful brand world. She\u2019s known for integrating hidden clues into social posts, symbolic visuals into music videos, and narrative connections across albums. All of this creates an ongoing sense of discovery, helping to keep her loyal fanbase hyper-engaged.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"334\" src=\"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Charmspring_image.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-798048\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Children\u2019s brand Charmspring has layers for customers to explore over time, including limited edition tiles for their hero Springboard product, an illustrated book (which isn\u2019t for sale, as a perk with certain purchases), and offerings that evolve as your child does.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ursula K. Le Guin: Use Rigor to Fuel Boldness<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\">Ursula K. Le Guin (who was named a Grand Master by the SFWA and Living Legend by the Library of Congress) brilliantly used speculative fiction to interrogate society\u2019s deepest-held assumptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">She accomplished that in two steps. First, she posed provocative \u201cWhat if?\u201d questions by taking something society considers fundamental and inviting us to wonder: \u201cWhat if that worked very differently?\u201d In <em>The Left Hand of Darkness <\/em>(1969), she asked, \u201cWhat if someone\u2019s biological sex and gender were always changing?\u201d In <em>The Dispossessed<\/em> (1974), she wondered, \u201cWhat if an entire world\u2019s society was built to reject hierarchy and private property?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Then, she turned those questions into viable, robust worlds. Her father was a celebrated anthropologist, so\u2014like Jemisin\u2014she turned to principles from that field for credibility. In a paper for <em>Theory, Culture &amp; Society<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/02632764211051780\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Davison-Vecchione and Seeger argue<\/a> that Le Guin\u2019s \u201cscience fiction is a form of \u2018speculative anthropology.\u2019\u201d Her rigor involved carefully describing and contextualizing rituals, myths, norms, and taboos, making her speculative visions feel deeply plausible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Le Guin took this two-pronged approach intentionally. She once wrote that \u201cfantasy not only asks \u2018What if things didn\u2019t go on just as they do?\u2019 but demonstrates what they might be like if they went otherwise\u2014thus gnawing at the very foundation of the belief that things have to be the way they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The brand takeaway:<\/strong> Brands that aspire to disrupt or invent categories\u2014who are looking to create a vision of <em>what could be<\/em>, beyond what exists today\u2014can take a page from Le Guin\u2019s book (no pun intended). She shows us that we can take big, bold swings as long as we have a methodical and rigorous foundation. So, perhaps counterintuitively, a structured process that\u2019s built on <em>logic<\/em> just as much as creativity is what enables visionary boldness.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-videopress\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<\/div><figcaption><em>The Ori brand has a boldness that\u2019s believable because it defies B2B tech tropes by staying true to its very real product promise: limitless possibility through cloud infrastructure.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\">A structured process that\u2019s built on <em>logic<\/em> just as much as creativity is what enables visionary boldness.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" src=\"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Fuku_image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-798049\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Fuku&#8217;s recent rebrand is provocative, featuring audacious symbols and copy. The system still feels grounded because every element is inspired by the restaurant&#8217;s roots (its flavor over frills mentality, East Village origins, and back-of-house grit).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jeff VanderMeer: Embrace Contradictions<\/h3>\n<p class=\"\">Finally, there\u2019s Jeff VanderMeer, who\u2019s been dubbed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/culture\/cultural-comment\/weird-thoreau-jeff-vandermeer-southern-reach\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cKing of Weird Fiction\u201d<\/a> by <em>The New Yorker<\/em>. According to his imaginative fiction guide <em>Wonderbook<\/em>, a \u201cwell-realized\u201d world should contain certain key elements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">If you consider those elements together, some tensions emerge. To name a few, VanderMeer believes that successful speculative worlds will:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"\">Have cohesive internal logic, but also feature the real world\u2019s \u201cconsistent inconsistency\u201d<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Contain evocative details, but showcase them only sparingly<\/li>\n<li class=\"\">Both mirror our known world and deviate from it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"\">These capture three of the trade-offs that came up again and again in my research. Internal consistency creates believability, <em>but<\/em> the real world is messy and often lacks answers. Concrete details and idiosyncrasies create immersion, <em>but<\/em> too many details lead to overwhelm. Familiarity makes something more palatable, <em>but<\/em> truly weird and subversive settings are the most exciting. Navigating these tensions is what creates a nuanced and intriguing world.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"\">Pushes and counter-pulls are what breathe life into the whole operation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The brand takeaway:<\/strong> Worldbuilding and brand-building both require striking many \u201cperfect balances,\u201d and no two projects have the same sweet spot. Great brands, like great worlds, embrace their own particular tensions; they recognize that pushes and counter-pulls are what breathe life into the whole operation. Take two well-known examples: Nike\u2019s brand is both aspirational <em>and<\/em> inclusive, while Apple taps into both mainstream popularity <em>and<\/em> its counterculture roots.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"495\" src=\"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/HenryRose_image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-798052\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>True to its ingredient transparency and sensual appeal, Henry Rose embraces tension by balancing honesty with intrigue. This shows through in its sumptuously simple brand system and peek-through bottle design.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building Worlds Worth Inhabiting<\/h2>\n<p class=\"\">Hopefully, I&#8217;ve convinced you that the realms of speculative fiction and branding are neighboring territories, and that we should establish better trade routes between them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Building fictional and commercial worlds is about creating spaces so compelling that people choose to inhabit them. Our work as brand creatives isn\u2019t just about developing visual and verbal identities. It\u2019s about creating <em>contexts<\/em>, entire universes of meaning that unlock the full resonance of a brand\u2019s offerings and touchpoints.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">With this in mind, I propose that we, as brand-builders, ask ourselves a new question when evaluating our own work:<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Is what we\u2019re making a flat backdrop, or is it a world worth stepping into\u2014and staying in?<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p class=\"\"><em>Talia Patapoutian is research lead at Red Antler. It\u2019s her job to turn consumer truths into bold, clarifying brand \u201caha\u2019s\u201d. Before joining Red Antler, she worked at Microsoft and then agency-side with brands like Nike, Apple, and IKEA. In her free time, you can find Talia taking blurry film photos, perusing the snack aisle, or\u2014of course\u2014curled up with a good book.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><em>Images and videos courtesy of Red Antler<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printmag.com\/industry-perspectives\/immersive-branding-lessons-from-sci-fi-fantasy\/\">Lessons in Immersive Branding from Sci-Fi and Fantasy<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.printmag.com\">PRINT Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This industry perspective is by Talia Patapoutian, research lead at Red Antler. Indulge me for a moment: imagine you&#8217;re standing inside the walls of Game of Thrones&#8216; Winterfell, with centuries<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/12\/lessons-in-immersive-branding-from-sci-fi-and-fantasy\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Lessons in Immersive Branding from Sci-Fi and Fantasy<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-color-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicsofabed.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}