Overview
In partnership with Merlin Studio, we set out to define what a marketing site for a fantasy series could be, transforming The Pendragon Cycle into a living, breathing digital world. Our ambition was not just to promote the show, but to ignite early fandom by crafting an immersive online experience that unveiled the mythic landscape, tone, and scope of Pendragon long before the first episode airs.
Duration
10 Weeks
Art Direction & Design
12 Weeks
Development & Launch
Success
FWA
Site Of The Day
CSSDA
Site Of The Day & Public Winner
From Client
"Format-3’s work had a big impact by elevating the brand and creating a unique, premium experience. Feedback has been universally similar — we’ve been surprised and impressed with the quality of the site, which brings to life a book and TV series in a unique and immersive way."
Sam Brown
VP of Creative
The Vision
Art Direction & Design
Striving for a powerful visual identity that blends high-fantasy epic scale with a tactile, grounded texture. Through bold typographic treatments, layered atmospheric imagery and a muted, earthy palette, the design evokes both the mythic sweep of the narrative and the immersive world it inhabits. Each section, from story to map to lineages, is framed with cinematic art direction, seamlessly guiding users through a narrative journey.
Strategic use of motion, scroll-triggered transitions and visual hierarchies supports clarity and engagement while reinforcing the domain’s mythic tone. In short: the art direction turned the site into a rich, atmospheric portal that reflects the epic themes of the series while maintaining design discipline, readability and refined aesthetic cohesion.
Implementation
Development
Merlin Studio, working with our design team, built an immersive WebGL experience that serves as a cinematic prologue to The Pendragon Cycle – Rise of the Merlin. They developed real-time 3D environments with custom shaders, particle systems, and dynamic lighting, using motion-driven storytelling instead of text-heavy content.
The team focused on performance-focused engineering, optimizing materials, effects, and camera transitions, so the interactive journey feels rich and atmospheric while still running smoothly across a wide range of devices.
Result
Digital Fantasy
We launched a visually rich digital companion for The Pendragon Cycle, crafting an atmospheric site that extends the series’ world through cinematic art direction, tactile textures, and a cohesive mythic visual language. Designed to feel like an extension of the narrative itself, the experience blends bold typography, layered imagery, and nuanced motion to guide users through the story’s characters, lore, and world-building.
The result is a polished, story-driven showcase that not only elevates the series’ brand but also earned multiple awards for its digital excellence and immersive design.
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