Vladimir Mortev —
the author, online.
A bold, atmospheric brand site for Bulgarian writer Vladimir Mortev. Cyberpunk-tinged literary fiction deserved a web presence that felt as distinctive as the work — not a generic author portfolio.
The brief.
Vladimir Mortev writes Bulgarian literary fiction with a strong cyberpunk sensibility — dense worldbuilding, dark urban atmosphere, prose that rewards close reading. He needed a web presence that could introduce him to new readers, showcase his bibliography, and feel like an extension of the world his fiction inhabits.
The brief was short: make something that feels like the books. Not a standard author portfolio with a headshot and a book grid. Something with the atmosphere of a Mortev novel — where the design itself signals what kind of writer this is before a single word is read.
Constraints
- Atmospheric, not decorative — the dark aesthetics had to serve the brand, not distract from it. The writing remains the point.
- Self-manageable — the author updates his own content; the CMS needed to be simple enough to use without training.
- Bibliography-first — books are the primary content; the structure had to make the back catalogue easy to discover.
- Multilingual potential — Bulgarian primary, with the architecture to add English pages for international publishers.
Our approach.
We started with atmosphere. The visual system uses a dark base, high-contrast typography, and carefully chosen accent colours drawn from the book covers — neon greens, electric blues, deep reds. The result is a site that immediately communicates genre and sensibility without explaining either.
The bibliography is structured as individual book pages with synopses, excerpt previews, and purchase links. Each book has a distinct visual treatment — the cover art dominates, and the surrounding design adapts to it rather than imposing a uniform template across all titles.
What we built.
Atmospheric visual identity
Dark base with high-contrast typography and neon accent system drawn from the book cover palette — genre-appropriate from the first pixel.
Cover-led book pages
Individual pages for each title with synopsis, excerpt preview, and purchase links — cover art dominant, visual treatment adapted per book.
Author-managed content
Simple, author-operated CMS for updating news, events, and bibliography without developer involvement.
International-ready architecture
Bulgarian primary language with the routing and CMS structure to add English pages for international publishers when needed.
Results.
Launched in 2022, the site gave Vladimir Mortev a digital presence that actually reflects his literary identity. Readers discovering him for the first time arrive at a site that sets expectations correctly — the atmosphere matches the work. The CMS gives him full editorial independence for announcements, events, and new releases.
The stack.
- WordPress with custom post types for books, news, and events — simple enough for the author to manage alone
- Custom design — fully bespoke visual system; no starter theme, no generic components
- Cover-adaptive layouts — book page templates that adapt their visual treatment to the cover art rather than imposing a single fixed template