Launching Jurni – An original storytelling brand across publishing, music, and film

Designed the brand identity and digital platform concept for a startup focused on creating safer environments for peer-to-peer exchanges.

Overview

Jurni is an original children’s story about a young girl who dreams of becoming an astronaut after losing her mother. What began as a personal story evolved into a published illustrated book, a musical album, and an animated short film currently in development.

As the creator of the project, I led the creative direction across storytelling, visual identity, marketing campaigns, and brand development to bring the world of Jurni to life.

The Story

The idea for Jurni began with a simple but powerful question: how might a child understand loss through imagination?

In the story, a young girl loses her mother at a very young age. When her father tells her that her mother is “among the stars,” Jurni interprets this literally and grows up dreaming of becoming an astronaut so she can be close to her again.

The story explores themes of grief, love, and resilience through the lens of childhood imagination.

Brand Identity

Working with a team including illustration, graphic design, and social media members, we established a style guide. It incorporated discoveries from the buyer persona research to create a consistent approach to brand touchpoints across physical activations, social media, and marketing campaigns.

Goals

The goal of the project was to transform a personal story into a meaningful and accessible experience for families navigating conversations about loss.

Key objectives included:

• Establish a trustworthy and recognizable brand identity
• Communicate safety and convenience as core brand values
• Design a digital platform concept for scheduling secure meetups
• Develop professional materials to support investor discussions

Building the World

To bring the story to life visually, I collaborated with an illustrator to develop the characters, environments, and emotional tone of the book.

As Creative Director, I guided the visual development process, ensuring the illustrations captured both the warmth of childhood imagination and the emotional depth of the story.

This phase included character design development, illustrated scene creation, visual tone and color direction, and narrative pacing across spreads.

The result was a visual world that balanced wonder, warmth, and emotional sensitivity.

Publishing the Book

After completing the manuscript and illustration process, the book was prepared for publication and distribution. Jurni launched as a full-color illustrated children’s book and became available through major online retailers, including:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Walmart
• Books-A-Million

The goal was to make the story widely accessible while establishing the foundation for the broader Jurni brand.

Marketing the Launch

To build awareness for the book’s release, I developed and executed a digital marketing strategy focused on social media and email outreach. This included researching audience segments and developing buyer personas to guide messaging and creative assets.

These insights informed the tone, messaging, and visual direction of the marketing campaigns.

Marketing work included:

• Social media campaigns across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok
• Landing pages for email list building
• Email campaigns through Mailchimp
• Promotional graphics and video content

These campaigns helped grow an early audience and drive interest in the book ahead of its launch.

Expanding the Story Through Music

To deepen the emotional experience of the story, I collaborated with musicians and producers to create a three-song musical album inspired by the themes of Jurni.

The music was distributed to major streaming platforms through a digital distributor, becoming an extension of the storytelling experience.

This multimedia approach helped expand the emotional world of the story beyond the book itself.

Media Coverage

To further amplify the book’s launch, I coordinated with a PR firm to secure media coverage and interviews. The project was featured on television and digital news segments, including coverage from major regional outlets. The exposure significantly increased awareness of the project and resulted in the book selling out across several online retailers during its initial promotion period.

Expanding the Story into Film

Following the release of the book and music, I began developing an animated short film adaptation of Jurni.

This phase included:

• Writing the screenplay and treatment
• Researching animation studios
• Planning a crowdfunding campaign to support production
• Establishing the legal and intellectual property framework for the film

The animated short film is currently in development and represents the next chapter of the Jurni story world.

Outcome

Jurni successfully launched as a published illustrated book and multimedia storytelling project.

The project has been distributed through major online retailers, expanded into music streaming platforms, and featured in media outlets through television and digital news coverage.

Today, the project continues to evolve as an animated short film currently in development, building on the original story’s themes of imagination, love, and resilience.

Key Takeaways

• Story-driven brands can grow across multiple creative mediums when guided by a cohesive vision.
• Strong visual identity and illustration direction helped unify the book, music, and film development.
• Strategic digital marketing and media outreach played a key role in building early audience engagement.