Rebranding a Learning Academy
A Georgia-based business was looking to revitalize its brand and website presence to drive engagement, promote conversions, and fuel positive growth.
Challenge
The originally designed branding and website were not performing well and having a detrimental effect on the image that the company owner had envisioned. On the original website, traffic, conversions, and view duration were extremely low and the company was struggling to grow the business.
The audience for the business is youth through seniors, both male and female, within a 50 mile radius of the studio where lessons are held.
The original logo lacked sufficient white space, was cluttered with too many distractions, and was using a typeface that was not supporting the brand goals.
A corollary component related to the rebranding was updating all of the social media channels, physical signage, email templates, and student documents to reflect the new logo design, typography, and color palette.
Results
The owner is thrilled with the work I have done for him. His clients have made flattering comments and traffic to his website and social channels is up significantly.
Upon doing a comprehensive analysis of brand assets, the website, and the traffic patterns, I was able to recommend a strategic approach that would turn this around and start generating the appeal that would draw potential customers in.
I started with the logo by coming up with ideas that would make it unique, recognizable, scalable, and reproducible on a variety of mediums. After iterating on the design multiple times and reviewing the concepts with the owner, we arrived on a design which not only met his goals but one which elicited excitement from him.
During the creation of the logo, I developed a color palette and a typography stack that would match the attributes of the company persona and complement the branding. Subsequently, this led to the creation of several variants including an avatar, an icon in color, knockout, and monochrome versions.
Once the branding was established, I created a style guide and rules of use for the owner to ensure that the representation would remain consistent.
Lastly, I developed an entirely new website for the client using a concise funnel approach which would keep his visitors engaged and increase their time on the site.
Since launching in September of 2024, organic site traffic and view duration have nearly doubled.
81%
Organic search traffic
75%
New user acquisition
73%
View duration
Original Website
Process
Research & Analysis: I began by interviewing the owner and asking a series of questions aimed at understanding his short and long term goals, what was working and what was not. I performed a brand audit and ran a test suite on his current site to get some data on performance, SEO, and accessibility. I also analyzed his Google Analytics to get a baseline of traffic patterns, user acquisition, and device preferences. In addition, I also studied competitors within the 50 mile radius to understand how we was positioning his business in the area.
Information Architecture: Once I concluded the initial discovery and analysis, I presented my findings to the owner and we went over each point and their relative impact to his specific business goals.
Wireframing & Prototyping: I started by doing some ideation based on his demographic and the attributes he wishes to convey. Next I produced a series of possible logo designs and iterated on those based on his feedback. Once he was happy with the direction, I moved on to designing the website starting with a sitemap and reviewing the taxonomy that would support his clientele.
Usability Testing: I conducted usability tests with a small group of users including the owner, some of his business associates, friends, and family to validate the design and identify areas for improvement. Based on the feedback, I made adjustments to the designs.
Visual Design & Style Guide: I developed a branding guide for the business which includes a tone of voice, color palette, typography stack, iconography, and visual imagery in order to deliver consistency throughout all web pages and other forms of marketing and advertising.
“ Jim's website design is nothing short of legendary, and our new website is absolutely phenomenal. He made the entire process easy and was wonderful to work with, involving us in every decision, listening to our feedback, and explaining the importance of each step. ”
Ken Densmore
Owner | Loganville Guitar Lessons
Original Logo
New Logo
Conclusion
The investment made in rebranding is already showing positive outcomes and the business is expected to continue growing at a steady pace. The Loganville Guitar Lessons new branding and website design currently puts them at the top of the list against their competitors with regard to aesthetics and leading potential customers into a high conversion funnel. At the same time, the owner was able to increase prices slightly to accommodate seasonal promotions and other added benefits to his students.
This engagement demonstrates my personal commitment to each and every interaction and brand. It is not just about aesthetics, it is about producing designs and other related assets which will deliver positive outcomes and continued growth.