5 Branding Lessons From The New Wuthering Heights Adaptation
There’s a new Wuthering Heights adaptation coming in February 2026, and it’s already stirring debate. The director says this interpretation of the film is how she remembers experiencing the story at 14 which is more of a teen fanfic loosely inspired by the book. This explains the exaggerations and fantastical elements in the trailer.
Photo by Loren Cutler via Unsplash
One of the biggest changes from the book, that many adaptations have ignored, is Heathcliff being white or white passing. In the book, he is referred to in different ways as a person of color.
This is why he is the perennial outcast and why the central conflict, and the whole plot, in the book is connected to racism. For a deep dive on this topic, Everyone Should Read did a great episode on Wuthering Heights.
Why are people having such strong reactions?
The costumes, character changes, and whole plot points are so different from the original that it's a basically a different story. People are freaking out online because their expectations are thwarted.
The expectations of consistency and accuracy to the Wuthering Heights book are being ignored.
While this can be an intriguing choice, like "Romeo + Juliet" from 1996 being in a more modern setting with different costumes while keeping everything else the same, changing everything about a story people already know and love is upsetting.
Here are 5 branding lessons inspired by what the latest Wuthering Heights adaptation could’ve done differently.
Brand Consistency Is King
People are reacting to this new adaptation in various ways but many are leaning critical or negative. When you make sweeping changes to a widely read story, people are going to be upset. Even though we’ve already had half a dozen different adaptations of this story by now.
The branding lesson is to stick with what makes your brand unique. For Wuthering Heights, it’s the setting, tone, and atmosphere.
A moody, gothic romance or horror, depending on your interpretation, filled with isolation, yearning, violence, and betrayal. Throwing that all out the window feels disingenuous. Updating a classic story makes sense but there needs to be a through line connecting to the source material.
Make your brand cohesive and consistent. Brand consistency is more memorable than changing your brand colors every 3 months.
Your Ideal Clients Need Clarity
The marketing campaign and the slow leak of information like pictures of the costumes was confusing to the intended audience. I think this was done on purpose to get people talking and complaining without providing an explanation until less than a month until the release date.
When people are confused they will either continue to speculate and spiral or just throw up their hands in disgust and ignore any new information about the movie. This is similar to when someone lands on your website and they want to know what you do. You have a small window of time before people scroll away.
The website lesson is to make sure people understand what you do when they land on your homepage. It should be the first thing they see. Don’t make them scroll or click first.
Wuthering Heights inspired layered image design made by Redesignia
Start With a Mood Board To Build Without Chaos
Mood boards are my bread and butter. I love them and they are the first step to any new brand or website I start working on. Without that focus, my brain with literally descend into chaos just grabbing every pretty picture, font or color I like and the results usually aren’t great!
I can only imagine how chaotic the mood board, if there is one, for the new Wuthering Heights adaptation is. The costumes, while gorgeous, all seem so random when looked at together. They don’t make sense for the time period or location found in the book.
The problem with having beautiful visuals that don’t tie into the plot is the story begins to feel shallow. I'm a sucker for costumes, gorgeous cinematography, and drama. While this makes the trailer intriguing it’s hard to tell if this will lead to a cohesive movie adaptation.
If you're just starting out with branding or want a brand refresh make sure to start with a mood board. I've got tons of mood board resources just for this reason!
Be Ruthlessly Picky
This seems to be the crux of the issue with this new adaptation. No one cut anything out. They just green lit every idea. Unfortunately, this makes the movie look like a bright, funky music video instead of a classic piece of literature that many of us read in English class.
Throwing a bunch of different ideas and time periods together to see what sticks sounds fun in theory but looks horrible in practice. It might turn out great, anything is possible, but it might also turn out just as disjointed and chaotic as the stills with the costumes imply.
Another important factor in the mood board and branding process is saying no to design elements that don’t serve you. If you want your brand to be inspired by bright colors and the indie sleaze aesthetic then beige, red, and navy blue don’t make sense for your brand colors.
Be picky about what you want to include in your branding and web design. It's fun to try and throw everything you love together but it's usually a bit too chaotic.
Your Website As An Adaptation of Your Brand
Think of your website as the screen adaptation of your refined, inner creative world.
An unfocused adaptation is confusing and overwhelming. This makes the right people leave.
While an intentional adaptation feels immersive and intentional. The story and choices make sense. The audience stays to learn more.
Your website doesn’t need to contain everything. It needs to clearly represent what you offer.
Design Support For Your Business
If your brand feels more stormy chaos than intentional gothic masterpiece, my branding and web design tools are built to help you create cohesion without losing personality. Start with the mood board challenge or keep reading the Redesignia blog.
