A new photography direction and vision for the brand had been reimagined with the completion of the Lookbook project, initiated by myself and my teammate Sean Alkire. This inspired and activated the first steps toward a complete brand refresh. The resulting brand style guide included logo guidance, updated color palettes, typography, photography, iconography, copy voice, channel visual direction, and more. The implementation of the new cohesive visual strategy improved team efficiencies and reduced creative production time.

For the first phase of the refresh, creative director Thig Gishuru, designated me to explore and select new colors to update our brand palette. We chose to keep Discovery Purple as our hero color, but evolved the core palette to include new softer tones and omit dated accents. Through extensive exploration, trend research, and market analysis, we created a new primary palette of colors that are familiar, charming, and current. To add depth and bit of whimsy, we introduced the use of gradients, pushing the palette even more. At Zulily, recognizing and supporting mom was our focus, which is why I named our brand colors with action words that empower. Internally these words evoked the brand and inspired their usage.

In addition to our core colors, I also selected a palette of seasonal colors to expedite creative planning. By creating a seasonal palette, we alleviated some of the time our designers and photo teams spent concepting by giving them predefined color guardrails while also establishing a way to visually acknowledge changing seasons and holidays.

Creative Direction: Thig Gishuru, Blanca Martinez, Sean Alkire, Becky Merrill
Designers: Zach Walker, Chloe Yeo, Madeline Minkema
Photography: Renee Fuller, Sara Roolf, AJ Ragasa, Noelani Ouchi
Copy: Sara Cardace, Chelsea Ardle
Producers: Caitlin Schooley, Ashley Townsend