The Palatines

The Palatines shoes was founded in 2007 as a high end leather shoe brand, made in Los Angeles. They were feminine dancer-like shoes for the chic and minimalist alike. 

The look and feel of the photography needed to reflect the craftsmanship and quality of the shoes. I acted as Art Director and Designer to revamp the brand to a higher level quality.

We discussed the owner’s challenges as a small business, the types of processes she would be able to afford to continue and work with and what she currently liked about her brand. I also reviewed brands at her same price-point to see what was working better from the outside consumer point of view.

The brand from the start was strong with editorial, but lacking in quality in eCommerce product photography. If she wanted to grow her brand at the direct to consumer level, that would be the first improvement to make.

The original images, shown below, were shot at odd angles and with no lighting considerations. I updated her site-wide photography so that the shoes were shot on pure white to showcase the product more clearly. With such high-end work, the simpler and more direct/clear you can be, the better.

eCommerce Photography, before

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eCommerce Photography, after

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Next up, a UX refresh.

The original site had its challenges as well. I reviewed the user interface and layout with several focus groups. People clicked around the site and we reviewed what issues they had and how easily information was conveyed, then shopped.

There were inconsistencies across the board, as well as the worst one—the “ shop” button was buried. The crux of the site.

I migrated her site to a more user-friendly eCommerce platform, and tailored and skinned a theme to work with her brand and needs. The result was a clean and clear site that was highly shoppable.

The next season she launched and sold multiple shoes the same day as the launch—a first in the history of her brand.