Case Study: Samantha Ray Writing
Samantha Ray is a former client of mine who came back for another project when she decided to make a career shift to focus on her work as a writer. The ask was to create a visual identity that communicated Sam’s “why” as she provides women with refreshingly encouraging content amidst the grit of life. The additional ask was to organize her wealth of writing content into an easy to navigate, visually stunning website.
Research & Brand Strategy_
The final brand strategy deck
Sam’s voice strikes a balance between joy and depth, grit and light. She holds the lighter things in life in one hand, and the hard things in the other, wisely communicating that the two are not mutually exclusive. The appropriate visual language for her likewise needed to balance the artifice of beauty and the realness of authenticity. The design direction included an earthy, grounded color palette, a bookish typeface, and hand-painted elements to provide a sense of human connection that is a theme in Sam’s writing work.
Logo & Brand Identity_
After two rounds of refinement, we landed on a final logo comprised of an elegant, academic serif set in a quirky layout to add a subtle shade of humor and joy. Samantha goes by Sam to her friends and family, so separating “Sam” out from her full name added a touch of informality to keep the brand from feeling stuffy or overly serious.
Information Architecture & Wireframes_
Sam’s website needed to organize a large amount of content, primarily in the form of large blocks of text. To make sure the site was user-friendly, we worked together to create a plan to both effectively and beautifully display Sam’s writing in the simplest way possible.
Wireframe for her services page.
Web Design_
After we were both happy with the information architecture, I moved on to designing the final website, incorporating the breadth of the visual vocabulary established in the brand identity.
Results_
Sam’s new brand and website have helped her land new copywriting clients and cultivate an engaged readership who eagerly awaits her next piece.