Brand + Website Design for Karissa Russ & Co., Wedding Photographer
Karissa Russ & Co. provides madly-in-love couples an all-inclusive experience by helping plan and document the celebration of their unique love story.
- Brand strategy
- Brand design
- Web strategy
- Web design
Karissa Russ
Karissa Russ & Co.
“Her work is out of this world and she really has a way of making what you envision come to life.
Getting Started with Branding
Karissa reached out after connecting at a women’s business retreat – she wanted her brand to be less bland and more memorable. She’s a wedding photographer who specializes in capturing those raw and real moments, and wanted more of that story to come across online.
Brand Strategy + Design
Karissa’s biggest brand strategy challenge was fully communicating all the additional work that she does with clients. For her, it’s not just about the day-of photos. Since a lot of her clients aren’t from the Las Vegas area, she steps in to help them throughout the entire wedding planning process. As a local, she knows the best spots and vendors that can help the couple design their dream wedding.
We wanted her brand to incorporate the meaning and intention she puts into each couple. I asked Karissa if there were any symbols or animals that were meaningful for her and she told me that a butterfly has significance; it was the favorite animal of a close loved one that passed away and one always shows up at every photoshoot. To incorporate that into her brand identity, I created a logo mark that blended her initials into a butterfly.
From a visual perspective, Karissa’s primary Brand Season is Summer. However, because she brings her fun and playful personality into everything she does, the very close secondary Brand Season is Spring.
Karissa’s Pinterest board was full of boho-style design, so that was the inspiration for the color palette and typography. It was also important to keep things simple, so the hand drawn logo mark, specialty font and pattern blended well with a simplified sans serif typeface.
Website Strategy + Design
Karissa’s original website functioned well and did its job. However, it was lacking in personality – both the brand’s and Karissa’s. In addition, she wanted the information displayed in a way that was easier to navigate.
The main goal of the site was to provide information on wedding photography but also showcase Karissa’s engaging and personable attitude. She wanted it to, “feel more like me!”
To bring in the boho style that Karissa loves, we added fun graphics and typography while not taking away from the information.
Because she goes so above and beyond for clients, we made sure that was communicated through the image selection and layout – putting clients first is her number one priority so we wanted that showcased throughout the site.
In addition to the design update, Karissa also wanted to focus on search engine optimization. I partnered with a local SEO specialist, Sara Walsh and she walked Karissa through a plan for ensuring her Showit website was optimized for Google.
Karissa was an absolute dream to work with and this project was so much fun. I adore working with clients who want to bring meaning and intention into their brand – it makes the end result personal and authentic. And that’s what makes a great brand! 🙂
