Creating a Tarot deck is no small task. With its intricate symbolism and deep-rooted mysticism, each card must capture complex meanings and archetypes. In the autumn of 2023, I embarked on the journey to create Luminous Hermetica, a Tarot deck designed entirely with the help of GenAI tools like DALL-E 3, Magnific, and more. From meticulous research to generating and refining thousands of images, here’s how I brought 94 unique cards to life in a process that combined ancient wisdom with modern AI technology.
I’d dreamed for years of creating my own Tarot card deck, and in the autumn of 2023, I finally took the plunge with Luminous Hermetica. I’ve always been drawn to the powerful use of symbolism, especially in Tarot, where each image is infused with layers of meaning. For me, symbolism lies at the heart of good illustration, creating an almost instinctive understanding—like the universal recognition of traffic signs, company logos, or ancient icons. My background in advertising and branding seemed to naturally lead me to this fascination with symbols.
Symbols have been a part of human communication since the beginning, from cave paintings to the grand imagery found in temples and cathedrals. They tell stories, convey meaning, and build associations. So, with the help of GenAI tools, I wondered if I could bring my vision of a Tarot deck to life while capturing the deep, symbolic language of Tarot in a visually compelling way.
From the start, I knew this would be a massive undertaking. I’d need to maintain consistency across 78 cards (and eventually more) while ensuring each one had the right symbolic depth. I spent about 4-6 hours each evening from October to December, with an additional push in January when I decided to expand the deck to 94 unique cards, including the traditional 78 Tarot cards (Major and Minor Arcana), 8 archetypes, and the 8 Hermetic core principles. The result? A labor of love that took me until the end of May to complete.
My approach was inspired by the symbolism and style of the classic Rider-Waite Tarot deck by A.E. Waite and Pamela Colman Smith, but I wanted to bring a fresh perspective and unique touch to each card. I incorporated elemental, planetary, and astrological symbols as well as Hebrew letters, aligning each card with its broader mystical context.
The research phase was extensive—I immersed myself in books, websites, videos, and forums, delving into the origins, philosophy, and symbolism behind Tarot. This journey revealed a vast “rabbit hole” of knowledge, spanning Hermetic principles, Stoic wisdom, Kabbalah, and even aspects of modern science. It was an enlightening experience that enriched my creative process and deepened my understanding of the deck’s symbolic roots.
Here’s a breakdown of my work process for creating Luminous Hermetica:
Designing a vinyl record cover is a unique challenge—a blend of art, precision, and a whole lot of patience. When Dan Dark approached me to create the cover for his debut solo album, “Dark Avenger,” I saw it as an opportunity to push GenAI tools like MidJourney, Magnific, Krea, and Topaz to their limits. From crafting an artist logotype to designing front and back covers, inner sleeves, and promotional graphics, this project took me on a journey through thousands of image renderings. Here’s how it all came together—and the lessons learned along the way.
At the end of 2023, I was asked to design a vinyl record cover for Dan Dark. The request likely came because of the work I’d been doing for Peder Pan’s Facebook page, along with some mutual friends Dan and I shared. Initially, we had a couple of meetings to brainstorm ideas, themes, and style. About a month later, after some exploratory ideation and trial runs with MidJourney, I had narrowed it down to 2-3 promising concepts.
The first part of the project was creating the artist’s logotype, a key element that would set the tone for the album’s visuals. This was followed by designing the main album cover (front and back) for the vinyl, including an inner sleeve and labels for the vinyl plate. Additionally, the project included a few promotional images for Spotify singles.
Working on graphical originals for record covers was a bit tricky at first—I didn’t have my old vinyl collection on hand for reference. Fortunately, the record label provided templates with essential measurements, helping me work within the correct dimensions. Designing for vinyl comes with its own set of challenges: you need to consider bleeds, cuts, and fold areas, which means extending certain parts of the image to account for the physical assembly of the cover. Ensuring these details were perfect was meticulous work, but ultimately rewarding. After everything was finalized, I realized I’d rendered around 3,000 images for this task alone!
This project was an excellent test of GenAI tools and their capabilities in detailed graphic design. Tools like MidJourney excelled in fast, exploratory ideation, while Magnific, Krea, and Topaz allowed me to refine images to meet the high-resolution demands required for quality vinyl prints. Here’s a breakdown of the output: Graphic Design: Image creation, concepts, logotype, and print originals
Elements: Artist Logotype, front and back cover, inner sleeve (front and back), vinyl labels, and promotional images for online media.
Tools: MidJourney v.6, Krea, Magnific, Topaz PhotoAI.
Dan Dark, the iconic voice of the classic Swedish metal band TORCH, has recently released his debut solo album, Dark Avenger. After parting ways with Torch post-2022’s Live Fire, Dan’s new album marks a fresh chapter in his musical journey. Dark Avenger retains the raw, driving energy that fans have known him for since the early ’80s while exploring new musical landscapes.
The album features contributions from renowned musicians, including Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Dream Evil, Therion) and Dave Talon (Kings of the Sun, Rollerball, Poor Little Things, The Marlboro Men), bringing an added dynamic edge to the music. Available on Spotify and vinyl, with CD and tape versions forthcoming from Swiss label Metalworld, Dark Avenger is a must-listen for fans of heavy music.
Learn more about Dan Dark and listen to the album here: Dan Dark’s Website, Spotify Link
After our first playful experiment with GenAI in “The Fisheries Agency – An Elof Tale,” Peter Öberg and I couldn’t resist diving into a new Elof story. This time, with “The Northern Link,” we set out to create a short film with a more complex storyline, voice narration, and historical references. Inspired by the ongoing infrastructure project in Gothenburg, our fictional character Elof takes on his own ambitious tunnel-building attempt from the late 1930s. Here’s how we brought this nostalgic, humorous tale to life using GenAI tools.
A few weeks after wrapping up our first GenAI film project, “The Fisheries Agency – An Elof Tale,” my friend Peter Öberg and I found ourselves brainstorming ideas for the “next” Elof adventure. Partly driven by curiosity and partly by a desire to push GenAI tools further, we wanted to see how well AI could handle a more complex short film, incorporating dialogue, voice narration, and a more developed storyline.
This time, we aimed for a film just under two minutes to keep it manageable. Our main goal was to experiment with new techniques, but we also wanted to have some fun with it. We didn’t invest too heavily in scriptwriting or serious plot development—this was about testing the tools, learning, and having a laugh along the way.
Once again, Elof took center stage in our tale. For this story, we drew inspiration from current events in our hometown of Gothenburg, where an ongoing infrastructure project called Västlänken (The West Link) is reshaping the city landscape with a tunnel construction that’s stirred up public opinion due to delays and budget overruns. We decided to create a fictional backstory for Elof, imagining that he had attempted his own version of this project back in the 1930s, dubbing it “The Northern Link.” Of course, his endeavor was destined to fail—but in a humorous, nostalgic way that locals might recognize.
To make the story feel authentic, we focused on capturing details of the late 1930s Gothenburg, sourcing old photographs and adding “filler” clips of the city and its surroundings. For narration, we used an old journalistic style with a voice we trained specifically in ElevenLabs to resemble the tones of classic Swedish newsreels. We also chose a brass orchestra soundtrack to capture the feel of that era, along with historically accurate fonts for the title graphics. These details helped transport viewers to another time, making the short film feel true to its setting.
This time, we went beyond the static, silent film approach of the first Elof movie. We wanted to mimic the evolving cinematic techniques of the era, so we analyzed old journal films and noticed a shift in how scenes were presented—more filler shots, smoother transitions, and a balance between narration and action. We tried to capture this in our own scenes, arranging them to keep the narrative flow without overcrowding the main footage with voiceovers.
The entire project took us about 16-20 hours, as we worked with new elements like voice narration and advanced editing. The process was an eye-opener, not only for understanding AI’s capabilities but also for appreciating the art of vintage cinematic storytelling. The end result was a charming little short film that blended nostalgic elements with our own playful take on historical events.
Who is Elof? Elof was Peter’s grandfather—a figure Peter met only a few times in his childhood but heard many stories about over the years. Known for his entrepreneurial spirit and unique way of doing things, Elof had the perfect personality for a quirky, fictionalized portrayal. As Peter’s alter ego “Peder Pan” shares some of these traits, Elof became an ideal character to bring to life in our nostalgic cinematic experiments. “The Northern Link – An Elof Tale” became a playful exploration of Elof’s character, merging my love for graphic design with the curious possibilities of GenAI. It’s been a journey in combining past and present, humor and nostalgia, all through the lens of AI-assisted creativity. Say hello to my creative friend & ideator Peder Pan at: YouTube
“The Fisheries Agency – An Elof Tale” began as a late-night exploration of GenAI video tools with my friend Peter Öberg. Inspired by the nostalgic charm of old Swedish silent films, we decided to create a one-minute silent film, featuring Peter’s larger-than-life, fictionalized grandfather, Elof. With GenAI as our tool and a vintage aesthetic as our guide, here’s how we turned a simple idea into a quirky short film, complete with classic silent-movie vibes.
The Fisheries Agency – An Elof Tale started as a spontaneous project born from a late-night creative jam session with my friend, Peter Öberg, in autumn 2023 (September 29, to be exact). Our conversation that night drifted toward the possibilities of GenAI video tools, and soon enough, we were brainstorming wild ideas about the kinds of short films we could create with these tools. One tool we used, Pika, was still in beta, with several limitations, including an embedded watermark on all clips, but that didn’t stop us.
We couldn’t resist the urge to create something simple yet unique. Inspired by old Swedish newsreel clips that played before feature films in theaters from the 1920s to the 1950s, we envisioned our project as a short, silent-style film. We aimed to capture that vintage aesthetic, using intertitles (text slides) to drive the storyline and a crackling old record for background music. This approach gave us both a theme and a set of creative boundaries, allowing us to turn the limitations of AI into a stylistic choice.
Peter suggested his grandfather “Elof” as the protagonist. Elof, as Peter remembers him from family stories, was a bit of a character—a spirited entrepreneur with a reputation for doing things his own way. We set ourselves a one-minute time limit to keep the story focused and fun. With this loose structure, we brainstormed scenes and plot points to showcase Elof’s personality.
With the basic storyline sketched out, we split up the tasks. I created the initial images and generated clips, while Peter assembled the movie’s foundation by organizing frames, adding text slides, and working on sound. Once my clips were ready, I sent them to Peter, who arranged them into scenes, added sound effects, and applied vintage-style filters for that classic silent film look. In just 6-8 hours—from ideation to final product—we had a one-minute “trailer” for The Fisheries Agency, a quirky homage to Elof’s fictional exploits.
Who exactly is Elof? Elof was Peter’s grandfather, whom Peter met a few times as a child before he passed away. Over the years, Peter heard stories of Elof’s colorful personality and unconventional ways, a skilled entrepreneur who wasn’t afraid to take risks. For this project, Elof became an ideal muse—a character with enough charisma to carry a quirky story. Interestingly, Elof shares some personality traits with “Peder Pan,” Peter’s alter ego: a fantasy persona with Peter’s characteristics amplified a thousandfold.
The Fisheries Agency – An Elof Tale turned into a playful exploration of Elof’s character in a vintage cinematic style, blending my love for graphic design with the experimental potential of GenAI. Together, Peter and I brought Elof back to life, capturing a moment of Swedish nostalgia and timeless humor. Say hello to my creative friend & ideator Peder Pan at: YouTube
Creating movie posters has always fascinated me—there’s something uniquely challenging and rewarding about condensing a story into a single, powerful visual. With the rise of GenAI tools like MidJourney, Ideogram, Krea, and Magnific, I saw an opportunity to experiment with movie poster design in ways that stretched both my creative thinking and technical skills. The result? A whimsical project called “Peder Pan’s Summer Movie Festival 2024,” where I reimagined posters for movies you may (or may not) recognize. Join me in exploring how AI tools perform when tasked with capturing cinematic essence—and meet the character behind it all: Peder Pan.
Movie posters have always been one of my favorite graphic design mediums. They’re challenging, bold, and uniquely positioned to evoke emotion with a single image. There’s something compelling about distilling an entire story or feeling into one visually striking design. With new GenAI tools like MidJourney, Ideogram, Krea, and Magnific at my fingertips, I decided to explore how well these tools could handle the intricacies of movie poster design. It was a chance to test my own creativity while assessing the tools’ strengths and weaknesses for this genre—and, honestly, because it’s a lot of fun.
So, “Peder Pan’s Summer Movie Festival 2024” was born. Initially, it started as a handful of experimental outtakes, but it quickly evolved into a full-fledged project. I began creating posters for known and unknown “films,” each poster becoming its own creative challenge and exploration.
Who is Peder Pan, you ask? Peder Pan is actually an alter ego—an exaggerated version of my friend Peter Öberg, a fantasy persona he originally invented for his music video projects. Picture Peter, but with his unique characteristics amplified a thousand times over. Last year, as GenAI tools started gaining momentum, Peter and I experimented by creating some exaggerated images of “Peder Pan” and shared them on Facebook. Little did we know that this character would take on a life of its own, sparking ideas and expanding into new creative realms in our minds.
This project, “Peder Pan’s Summer Movie Festival 2024,” became a playful exploration of that character in cinematic form, merging my love for graphic design with the curious capabilities of AI. Say hello to my creative friend & ideator Peder Pan at: YouTube
