As Senior Design Director at hair color disruptor Madison Reed for nearly three years, I built up a talented team of graphic designers in order to drive a demanding omnichannel business model. My first task was to develop a new Brand Book from scratch in order to update the company’s branding. Within three months this work was complete, with a full complement of high-level presentation decks, templates, and other foundational design structures in place to allow not only seamless company branding, but also to champion the work of my team as a methodical expression of design thinking.

As a rapidly expanding business in the omnichannel space, Madison Reed’s mission driven leadership sought to unify teams both at headquarters, remotely and in the field - at their Hair Color Bar brick and mortar stores. A critical part of this was the attention to detail in branding both client-facing and internal team-facing designs. You can read the full PDF version of the Brand Book here.

Color on demand

Madison Reed has opened over 80 Hair Color Bars in the last couple of years, and each one is a prime expression of the brand. My team worked diligently to design the interior space and update signage and branding regularly at a fast pace. With multiple Hair Color Bars opening each month across the USA, this took dedication.

Content developer

Photography was an area where I was able to bring great value. Taking product photography in house, I created hundreds of images saving tens of thousands in our budget each year. I also partnered with photographers and production companies to plan and execute high budget shoots and develop key photography for the brand.

Ulta, Target, Amazon and other wholesale channels are a core part of the business. My team and I worked closely with our channel partners to produce seasonal campaigns and vast quantities of core assets on very tight deadlines.

With up to a dozen emails produced weekly my team developed Figma libraries allowing agile design and production. Facebook, Instagram and other social outlets brought their own unique styles, and the development of a social-specific section of the brand book helped internal and multiple third party teams to express the Madison Reed brand visually.

What color next?

Product and packaging were also a key part of my job, with short lead times to launch a norm. My time spent at press checks with a dedicated colorist brought a new appreciation for the subtleties of hair color and hair color terminology, a demanding look at how print products perform in various lighting conditions, and a strong relationship withg the printers who partnered with me to drive excellence through every run.