draft:

this was branding for poseidon research: an ai interpretability lab focused on the patterns hidden inside the "black box" of ai. they started with some heavy-handed sea monster illustrations.

i convinced them to abstract their concept, but kept it nautical. bathymetry (the scientific mapping of underwater topography) was a better visual direction and metaphor. It's how we "map the deep unknown". I wanted to create bathymetric lines, in motion (rolling waves), that traced something hidden beneath the surface.

started by commissioning a rolling, rainbow seed shader from lumim. i blurred, posterized, and traced the separate rgb channels into the lines. then i flattened the original rainbow to deep-ocean blue, preserving the lightness/darkness values. you can still feel the movement, but the lines are the only indication of the hidden hues. prototyped in AE, then dictated the specs to claude.

end result: a clean motion asset that physically demonstrates finding the signal just beneath the surface. it's a safe, serious brand asset for a new lab, with a bit of poetry for anyone who dives deeper.