Project overview

Nicolette Brycki is a professional makeup and beauty expert based in Philadelphia. Her work has been featured on nymag.com, newjerseybride.com, theknot.com, and other beauty and wedding publications.

She came to us looking for a redesigned website that felt more current, polished, and aligned with the type of clients she wanted to attract. To stay within the initial project budget, we recommended starting with a high quality website template instead of building a fully custom website from the ground up.

The challenge

Nicolette’s original website was not broken, but it no longer matched the level of her work. The design felt dated, some service content needed to be updated, and the image presentation did not fully reflect the quality of her portfolio.

The site also included a blog that had not been updated consistently. Rather than keep a section that would likely remain inactive, we recommended removing it from the new website and focusing the experience around the pages most likely to help visitors inquire and book.

Discovery

We started with a discovery meeting to understand the direction Nicolette wanted for the new site. We reviewed website templates, live websites, visual references, color directions, typography styles, and general page layouts.

She wanted the website to feel modern, clean, and elegant, with a black and white foundation and a subtle touch of pink. We also discussed her business goals. While bridal clients were still important, Nicolette wanted the site to appeal to a wider range of corporate, commercial, and beauty clients.

Website strategy

The main goal was to create a site that looked more current while staying focused on conversion. Since the project needed to stay within a tighter budget, we used a template as the base and adapted it to better match Nicolette’s brand, services, and visual direction.

This allowed us to improve the site’s presentation without spending unnecessary time on a fully custom design process.

Blog decision

We recommended removing the blog from the new website.

For Nicolette’s business, the blog was not a major driver of inquiries. It also required ongoing writing and maintenance that did not fit her current schedule. Instead of keeping an inactive section, we focused the site around her services, portfolio, credibility, and inquiry path.

Color palette and typography

Based on the notes from our discovery meeting, we presented Nicolette with eight color palette options and four typography pairings.

This gave her a clearer way to compare different directions before committing to the final look. One important decision came from her goal of attracting more corporate and commercial clients. Her first color direction leaned more bridal, while the final direction felt more balanced and client neutral.

Visual direction

The final visual direction kept the site elegant and simple without making it feel overly wedding focused. The black and white base helped the website feel clean and professional, while the softer accent color kept it connected to the beauty industry.

The typography direction gave the site a more current look while still feeling polished and appropriate for her brand.

Final outcome

The redesigned website gave Nicolette a cleaner and more modern online presence. The new site better reflected the quality of her work, removed outdated content, improved the presentation of her services, and created a more focused path for potential clients to learn about her and inquire.