Sephora
How do you makeover the most established beauty brand in the world?
Sephora is a powerhouse brand in LVMH's fleet, but its perception was drifting away from the luxury appeal of its parent company. As Design Director of Sephora, I helped to shape a new vision that delivered on their innovative spirit and led my team to help launch “Transforming Beauty,” our new vision.
Working closely with 50+ creative talents between our San Francisco and New York offices, this rebrand covered the Americas, targeting brand strategy and identity guidelines for website, retail store environments, campaign advertising, and overall creative direction.
My daily role included close collaboration, mentorship, and designing with my team in San Francisco, working with cross-functional partners, and with our executive leadership team to establish seasonal creative direction and new product launches.
The result of my time impacted a transformative customer experience for 300+ retail stores in the Americas, 50+ new product launches, 100s of photoshoots, a new digital shopping experience and a new narrative that re-invigorated Sephora’s mission for the future.
Working with my internal and external design team Tolleson Design, we defined the transformation of our overall brand expression. I led the effort that helped to distinguish a holistic Sephora retail experience, while also developing distinct product category looks for Color, Fragrance, and Skincare.
My team and I traveled across the country to visit stores for new brand implementations, product or store launch installations. Flagship stores were opportunities to bring new innovation into our stores to help elevate the customer experience. The Sephora philosophy has always encouraged customers to play and explore within the store.
Photographer: Robert Schlatter
Working with our E-comm team, every product launch required new visual treatments and related sku updates, while always looking for new ways to innovate within our design system.
One of the largest brand collaboration was with Pantone Color System. It was a comprehensive new color & make-up product line that was over a year in planning, design, and production. In true Pantone color and spirit, we launched this collaboration across the country on Color of the Year Day, celebrating the color orange, Tangerine Tango.
This pop-up store for the Pantone collaboration kicked off in Manhattan and traveled across the country to promote this new product launch.
Working closely with my design team, we always brought playfulness and personality into our product photography as part of the Sephora brand spirit. Photographer: Jason Pietra
Dare to Play
An example of the many Sephora Collection product lines, “Dare to Play” was introduced to promote bold new colors and daring yourself to explore new looks. The products, such as eye shadows and liners, foundations, transformed into unique snowflake patterns. This product was such a huge success that the product line became a permanent collection.
Director of Photography: Joe Gabriel