AMY BRUNI - MERCH TO DIE FOR
To Die For Branding & Product Development for Amy Bruni About Amy Amy Bruni is a paranormal investigator, author, and television personality best known as the co-star and executive producer...
To Die For
Branding & Product Development
for Amy Bruni
About Amy
Amy Bruni is a paranormal investigator, author, and television personality best known as the co-star and executive producer of Kindred Spirits on Travel Channel and Discovery+. With more than 20 years of experience exploring haunted locations, she’s built a career rooted in curiosity, compassion, and a deep respect for history. Amy is also the founder of Strange Escapes, a boutique travel company that hosts paranormal events at legendary locations across the country, and the author of Life with the Afterlife. Most recently, she released her cookbook Food to Die For: Recipes & Ghost Stories from America’s Most Haunted Hotels, blending her love of storytelling, history, and hospitality.
A Haunted Weekend at Pennhurst, Asylum
In 2024 I attended the annual Pennhurst Paranormal Convention—yes, inside the actual Pennhurst Asylum in Pennsylvania. I went mainly to support our clients, Project Fear, who had told me how wild this event was, and they weren’t kidding. After the usual travel chaos (two hours in line for a rental car, then a drive an hour outside of Philly), I finally arrived—and this convention was unlike anything I’d ever experienced.
I’ve been to Comic Con, so I’m no stranger to subcultures, but this was a very specific kind of spooky. Between aisles of artisan booths selling creepy-cool goods and running into paranormal investigators I’d watched for years, it was surreal. The wildest part? Everywhere I looked, people were wearing Project Fear merch. Out of about 3,500+ attendees, I’d guess one in five had something we’d printed. I wasn’t there to hustle new business, but our work was literally walking the asylum grounds for us.
After first day of exploring, I finally got in line to meet one of my favorite investigators, Amy Bruni. When it was my turn, I kept it simple, I handed her my card, told her I loved what she does, and said if she ever needed help with merchandise, I’d be honored to work with her.
Needless to say, I was floored when Amy actually reached out. Before long, my partner, Bailey, and I were diving in headfirst, developing branding and products for her that were, quite literally, to die for.
Food To Die For
Amy had just launched her brilliant and beautiful cookbook, Food to Die For: Recipes & Ghost Stories from America’s Most Haunted Hotels, which gave us the perfect jumping-off point. The book not only showcased her love of storytelling but also her personal sense of style, elegant, a little mysterious, and distinctly her. It became our north star for building out a brand identity and product line that felt authentic to Amy from the very start.
Branding To Die For
For Amy Bruni’s brand identity, Bailey, set out to create a look that feels timeless, sophisticated, and unmistakably her. The core logo draws inspiration from a Modernized Victorian/Art Nouveau style, giving it both elegance and a contemporary edge. This design becomes the centerpiece across packaging, print, and digital applications, with alternate logo treatments available for flexibility while preserving the integrity of the primary mark.
The color palette builds a rich and distinctive tone for the brand, swapping out traditional black and white for Charcoal Black, Bone White, and London Fog Grey. Jewel-toned accents—like Burgundy Cosmos, Cardinal Red, Eggplant Purple, Hunter Green, Indigo Dye Blue, and Antique Gold, add boldness and depth, with reds emphasized for their striking presence.
Supporting brand elements lean into a “found object” aesthetic, reminiscent of antique books, vintage libraries, and forgotten treasures. These include ornate frames, monograms, floral motifs, and pattern work that lend a sense of discovery and history. Used sparingly and intentionally, they add richness without overwhelming the design.
Altogether, the branding package gives Amy a cohesive identity that merges heritage with modern sensibility, one that feels both curated and approachable, while resonating with her audience’s love of mystery, history, and sophistication.
Merch to Die For
Once the branding was in place, we rolled it out across a collection of products that felt true to Amy’s world, sophisticated, mysterious, and just a little spooky. For the apparel, I leaned heavily on pigment-wash garments. Not only did they naturally complement the rich jewel tones we’d established in the brand palette, but they also carried that “found” aesthetic we wanted, like something unearthed at an estate sale, a hidden gem pulled from the back of a closet.
Love & Grief
Beyond the core branding elements, I also introduced original artwork that translated beautifully to merchandise. One of my favorites is the Love & Grief design, inspired by Amy’s respect for death and her thoughtful approach on Kindred Spirits. While rewatching episodes, the concept came to me: instead of death being frightening, what if it was kind, gentle, even beautiful? I pictured death as a friend arriving with a bouquet of flowers, ready to walk you into the next stage of existence.
Histophile: A Lover Of History
Amy’s reverence for research and history also inspired the Histophile pullover and dad hat. I first sketched the idea after sitting in on one of her talks at the New Jersey Paraunity Convention, where her passion for uncovering the past really struck me. That same love of preservation shaped the Support Your Local Historical Society tee, with proceeds going to a historical society of Amy’s choosing.
And last but not least: the To Die For items. It’s such an incredible three-word phrase—sexy, spooky, and so perfectly Amy, that I knew it belonged on a pullover.
Merch Should Feel Like You
At the heart of great merchandise is more than just design, it’s capturing the essence of a person and translating it into something their audience actually wants to wear. With Amy, that meant honoring the career she’s spent years cultivating and weaving her voice, style, and values into every product. One of the biggest compliments I’ve ever received came just before launch, when Amy told me:
"I am so obsessed with these. This whole line. Honestly, I don’t know that I’ve ever made merch that I would wear myself. "
That, to me, in my career that was the best compliment she could have given me. That, is what merchandise should be about. Yes, the goal is to sell, but when you’re creating for someone with a following, fans don't want to just buying a logo, they’re buying a piece of that person. And if the merch doesn’t feel authentic enough for the creator to wear themselves, why would anyone else?
That’s what we pride ourselves on at Star Cadet: building merchandise that doesn’t just sell, but truly feels like an extension of the person behind it.
Thanks so much for reading!
Go check out Amy's cookbook or you can purchase these amazing items at the link below!
- Rachel Rogers
shop amy's merch to die for