Defining a New Sustainable Beauty Line for Digital

I designed a website for a new Unilever beauty line focused on beautiful hair and skin with a positive environmental impact. Launching a completely natural & ethical beauty product is a first in Unilever’s portfolio, so we created a digital experience that introduced the pioneering and passionate brand, while laying the groundwork for global expansion.

Our Technical Challenge

We had to create a bespoke and “startup-esque” site within a strict existing framework that Unilever uses throughout their portfolio.

I was a part of a small inter-agency team that translated brand guidelines from a purely print/packaging stance to an e-commerce and digital editorial experience. We worked across multiple timezones to complete 50 unique pages (for mobile, desktop & tablet breakpoints) in 1 month. 

To meet our deadline, we used an agile process to produce wireframes and develop an UI system in parallel. We worked closely with developers in India to push the framework further than any Unilever site, with over 47 customized elements that created a rich online experience. Unilever was so thrilled with the execution, that they encourage other brands to use it as an model framework.

Designing for E-commerce

During the design phase, my colleague and I created the visual design and UI of the website. I was mainly responsible for designing the e-com portion of the site, including Product Detail and Product Listing pages as well as building out many of the third party elements, including BazaarVoice, TurnTo, Shoppable, and Olapic. 

I directed the homepage and the editorial component system that would dictate the design of future articles. Finally, I led the design review with clients, presenting our decisions both in person and over the phone.

Expanding the Digital Brand

During content production, I single handedly oversaw a team of both freelance and in-house designers, retouchers, animators, and illustrators who produced over 300 unique site assets. As the lead creative, on the team, I hired, resourced, and managed each person, produced templated files for efficient workflow, and art-directed each piece that was created. 

I was the point person for the other agencies. This meant managing client expectations, facilitating content upload to Unilever’s Asset Bank, and maintaining daily communications in Zeplin with developers. I also coordinated with the original branding studio to produce content to be featured exclusively on the site.

Prepping for Future & Global Growth

Love Beauty & Planet will soft launch in early November, but we are continuing with localization, increasing functionality and adding new pages and editorial articles. 

To maintain the high standards set by not only the site design, but the inter-agency relationships, I worked with our 4 person in-house team to document and share our process and recommendations on how to work successfully with other agencies in the future.