A real rebrand story about visual branding on Substack. See how Caitlin McColl built a lived-in visual world for Dose of Wonder, and test your own visuals!
This is a smart case study because it treats visuals as narrative infrastructure, not decoration. “Aesthetic cognitive dissonance” is exactly the problem. When the writing says grit and presence, but the images say glossy wellness ad, trust leaks before the first paragraph lands.
The strongest move here is the system thinking: a protagonist (Elara), a repeatable anchor object (the iron key), and constraints that keep the world coherent while still leaving room for variation (light, mood, setting). That is how you get consistency without going stale.
If I’d push on anything, it’s making the “Visual Distinctiveness Test” output feel a bit more concrete for readers. One quick mini-template would turn this from inspiring to immediately executable. For example: pick 1 anchor object, 3 textures, 1 lighting rule, 1 “absorbed action” rule, and 1 brand easter egg. Done. Now build ten images.
Hey Mark, thank you for the analysis and the suggestions. :) @Dheeraj Sharma and I are actually working on something that will do just that. Stay tuned. 🩷🦩
Ohhhhh, I struggle with visuals for my projects. Today I started using screenshots from my videos with AI to make a few thumbnails but theyre still a wee too glossy. I do like it better than completely leaving the image up to AI and it feels less iffy artwise. But still struggljng. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1T45GTjfq6/
I'm not sure. It just hit me when I was getting ready to create a new thumbnail. I wanted to try out AI again and had a screenshot that I was going to use to hand make the thumbnail and just thought ....why not use both.
This is a smart case study because it treats visuals as narrative infrastructure, not decoration. “Aesthetic cognitive dissonance” is exactly the problem. When the writing says grit and presence, but the images say glossy wellness ad, trust leaks before the first paragraph lands.
The strongest move here is the system thinking: a protagonist (Elara), a repeatable anchor object (the iron key), and constraints that keep the world coherent while still leaving room for variation (light, mood, setting). That is how you get consistency without going stale.
If I’d push on anything, it’s making the “Visual Distinctiveness Test” output feel a bit more concrete for readers. One quick mini-template would turn this from inspiring to immediately executable. For example: pick 1 anchor object, 3 textures, 1 lighting rule, 1 “absorbed action” rule, and 1 brand easter egg. Done. Now build ten images.
Thanks Mark! I like the template idea!
Hey Mark, thank you for the analysis and the suggestions. :) @Dheeraj Sharma and I are actually working on something that will do just that. Stay tuned. 🩷🦩
Too cool 😎
Coming very soon.. We have the validation right here @AI Meets Girlboss :)
Painterly realism? 100% Sara approved! Awesome work you two!
Thank you! And glad Sara approves! 😄 (us red heads have to stick together! Lol)
I’ll never forget Nano Banana getting confused by the two redheads for the Lookbook cover. 😄🩷🦩
Ohhhhh, I struggle with visuals for my projects. Today I started using screenshots from my videos with AI to make a few thumbnails but theyre still a wee too glossy. I do like it better than completely leaving the image up to AI and it feels less iffy artwise. But still struggljng. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1T45GTjfq6/
What a brilliant idea to create video thumbnails with screenshots from your video! How did you come up with it? 🩷🦩
I'm not sure. It just hit me when I was getting ready to create a new thumbnail. I wanted to try out AI again and had a screenshot that I was going to use to hand make the thumbnail and just thought ....why not use both.
Imagine Sara entering Elara’s world…
Thank you Calder! Caitlin has done amazing work these past months. She has been the no1 implementing every single visual branding experiment. 🩷🦩
Love this interview with Caitlin! Thanks for sharing the story and some glimpses behind the scenes 🩷
Thanks Dallas! Pinkie asks the best questions!
Thank you dear! It’s easy to ask good questions when I know there’s so much value you can give us. 🩷🦩
Thank you Dallas. 🩷🦩