Case Study: Royal Grounds Coffee Rebrand

Challenge: Royal Grounds Coffee is a highly rated establishment with loyal clientele, but their brand identity was inconsistent and did not reflect their high quality products. In addition, the Royal Grounds Coffee website was difficult to use and did not provide customers with vital information. My challenge was to update the coffee shop’s identity and redesign their website to provide an excellent user experience that matches the establishment’s high standards.

Strategy: I researched the Royal Grounds Coffee shop, their customer base and their competitors. I compiled user research to help me design a web experience that would best meet the needs of the Royal Grounds Coffee customer. My strategy was to let my research lead my design in hopes that the end result would be the best representation of the company, as well as an enjoyable, memorable experience for the customer.

Results: I developed an elevated brand identity that I felt better reflected the Royal Grounds brand and extended this identity to packaging, mobile and desktop website. My designs breathed new life into the beloved neighborhood coffee shop and a more cohesive identity all around. My website design reflects the company’s quality products and provides an excellent user experience. Vital information like the shop’s location, hours of operation and menu are front and center in my website design.

Case Study: Re-Fuel Email Marketing

Challenge: The Re-Fuel brand had a strong identity and social media presence, but was having trouble converting to sales. The brand needed a strong email marketing campaign to build their customer base and promote regular deals.

Strategy: I redesigned the Re-Fuel promotional emails to feature hot deals, new products and best sellers, as well as feature the brand’s high quality action sports photography. High quality product shots and clear Call-to-Action buttons would be used to convert users and increase website traffic. Matching web banners and PPC campaigns would further reach customers and encourage conversions.

Results: The final result was an updated, brand consistent email marketing campaign that spread the word about current and upcoming promotions. Open rates, click rates and conversions continue to increase. Ongoing analysis will be conducted on a regular basis to continually improve and increase product sales.

Case Study: Minnesota Workwear Apparel

Challenge: Minnesota Workwear offers a huge assortment of workwear apparel from about 30 brands. With constantly changing daily deals and a mostly online customer base, Minnesota Workwear needed a robust email marketing campaign, social media presence and user friendly website. Operating in a highly competitive market with multiple MAP pricing policies to comply with, the Minnesota Workwear site also needed ongoing web support.

Strategy: I designed a robust email marketing campaign with daily email deliveries to promote daily deals, best sellers, new products and upcoming giveaways. Working closely with the Minnesota Workwear team, I create a monthly promotion calendar that I manage with Mailchimp. Weekly analysis of email campaign performance is a vital component of maintaining a successful email marketing campaign of this size. An update to the website homepage was also needed to better promote daily deals, product categories and high quality product photography.

Results: I, along with my team at Minnesota Interactive, was able to achieve phenomenal sales results with our highly successful email marketing campaign. My redesigned emails feature the day’s deal in a clean, simple design layout and large SHOP NOW buttons. Sales continually increase month over month, with April 2017 being the company’s best month ever. My on-location photography is featured in emails as well as on social media, and continually brings in wide organic reach on Facebook. Paid ads further extend our reach and continually increase sales. Finally, my updated home page features an easy to use Mega-Menu and “paralax scrolling” layout.

Case Study: MY SISTER Organization

Challenge: The current email marketing campaign wasn’t consistent with MY SISTER’s updated brand image and needed a design refresh. Previous email marketing efforts had been successful, but not extraordinary, with slow list growth and few conversions. MY SISTER also wanted to pack more information, photography and shopable products to their emails. I would need to work closely with the Founder & CEO of MY SISTER and present several different design options to better nail down their vision.

Strategy: Working collaboratively with the MY SISTER team, I developed several layout options to help hone in on their vision. I started with a rough UX plan for each layout idea and filled in with edited photography, content, product shots, and Call to Action buttons. Once a concept was chosen, I would refine the design and continue the theme throughout the email marketing campaign. Often times the email designs would coordinate with a web banner which I also designed to further reinforce the concept and drive conversions.

Results: Ultimately, I was able to create several strong email campaigns that packed a punch. More information about the MY SISTER mission was included in the emails with careful layout design and more links to blog posts. My emails also featured new photography that stands on its own and tells more of a story than words ever could. Finally, I encouraged more conversions with product shots and large SHOP NOW buttons that led directly to the website.

Weekend Getaway: Minnesota's North Shore

Being new to Minnesota, my fiance and I love to take little weekend getaways whenever we can to explore a new part of the state. This past weekend, we headed up to Grand Marais to catch the last of the fall colors on Lake Superior. We were blown away by the beauty of the area and even enjoyed the 4 plus hour long trip from Minneapolis, stopping whenever we could to explore Duluth, the Split Rock Lighthouse and of course the ubiquitous Betty's Pies. 

We finally made it to our hotel, the Bluefin Bay Resort, around 6pm and were stunned by the beautiful view from our room. Lake Superior, in all its angry late fall tumult, was just steps outside our window. We could hardly wait for the next morning

The highlight of our trip was a climb up to the top of Carlton Peak to catch a breathtaking view of the Minnesota shoreline. This time of year, the leaves are all pretty much gone and what remains are the stark white birch trees as far as the eye can see. Design inspiration is everywhere, but I feel most inspired when out in the fresh air with my hiking boots on. 

Lake Superior at sundown

Working With Indigo

Being a full time product and graphic designer, I spend all day staring at my computer. I love my job, but sometimes I just have to go get my hands dirty. I recently got together with a friend from fashion school on my parent's farm and we tried our hand at hand dying fabric with indigo. It felt amazing to work with real fabric again! 

Most of what I know about working with natural dyes I learned at the Textile Arts Center (TAC) in Brooklyn. I enjoyed a weekend intensive with a few other women and learned about how to work with osage orange to create vibrant yellow, Cocineal to create fuscia and of course natural indigo for that ubiquitous denim blue. 

If you're looking for some local inspiration, or maybe even a fabric dying class, I'd start with Indigo and Snow.