A lot of what you're seeing in modern branding—especially from tech companies, startups, and luxury brands—is a blend of 3D modeling, procedural design, realistic rendering, and compositing. The workflow often involves several specialized tools rather than a single program.
Here's how it's typically done.
1. Modeling the objects
This is where designers create the actual 3D shapes.
Popular software:
- Blender (free, incredibly popular)
- Cinema 4D (a favorite among motion designers)
- Autodesk Maya (common in film and animation)
- Houdini (used for procedural effects and complex simulations)
At this stage they're building:
- Abstract blobs
- Floating geometric forms
- Product mockups
- Packaging
- Characters
- Typography
2. Adding materials
The plain gray models get realistic surfaces.
Designers create materials like:
- Frosted glass
- Chrome
- Plastic
- Fabric
- Ceramic
- Rubber
- Liquid metal
These materials determine how light reflects and refracts.
3. Lighting the scene
This is where much of the premium look comes from.
Artists place virtual lights just like in a photography studio:
- Large softboxes
- Rim lights
- Colored accent lights
- HDRI environment lighting
Good lighting often matters more than highly detailed models.
4. Rendering
The computer calculates the final image by simulating light.
Common render engines include:
- Cycles
- OctaneRender
- Redshift
- Arnold
This process can take anywhere from seconds to hours depending on quality.
5. Post-processing
The rendered image is polished afterward.
Typical software:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe After Effects
- Figma (for integrating into layouts)
Artists may adjust:
- Color grading
- Glow
- Bloom
- Grain
- Lens effects
- Shadows
- Contrast
Where the "magic" comes from
Many trendy brand visuals use combinations of:
- Soft translucent glass
- Metallic gradients
- Depth of field (camera blur)
- Volumetric lighting
- Subsurface scattering (light passing through materials)
- Procedural textures
- Realistic reflections
This creates the polished, "Apple-like" aesthetic seen across many modern websites.
Motion graphics
If the visuals move, designers often animate them in:
- Cinema 4D
- Blender
- Houdini
Common animations include:
- Floating objects
- Morphing shapes
- Liquid simulations
- Cloth simulations
- Camera fly-throughs
- Product reveals
AI is becoming part of the workflow
Many designers now combine traditional 3D tools with AI for:
- Concept exploration
- Texture generation
- Background creation
- Image upscaling
- Rapid variations
The final hero image is still frequently refined in dedicated 3D software because it offers precise control over geometry, lighting, and camera settings.
A typical professional workflow
A designer creating a homepage hero image might use:
- Model the object in Blender
- Create realistic glass and metal materials
- Set up studio lighting
- Render with Cycles or OctaneRender
- Polish in Photoshop
- Place into a web layout in Figma
- Animate subtle movement with After Effects or export directly from the 3D software
If you're just getting started
The most accessible and capable tool is Blender. It's free, has a large community, and supports modeling, sculpting, animation, simulations, compositing, and rendering all in one application. Many of the high-end abstract 3D visuals you see in contemporary branding can be created entirely within Blender. Once you're comfortable with it, learning a dedicated render engine like OctaneRender or Redshift can help you achieve even faster workflows and different visual styles.
