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Comb Direct

NDA Recreation

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Supplier & Commerce

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Introduction

Originally a trial one-week prerequisite part of a job application in late 2021/ early 2022, an agency requested a full rebranding, re-titling/naming, and website refresh as a home page visual deliverable for a well-known distributor for the hair & salon industry professionals.

  1. Branding Identity
    including Titling & Naming ideations, (2022)

  2. Website Concept Design
    High-fidelity prototyping with Atomic Principle Design System in Figma®. (2022).

  3. As additional incentives within this 2025 Case Study revisit :

    1. Brief re-auditing on the current 2025 website (across two sighted iterations early and late July 2025)

    2. Revised visualization plus partial build demonstration in Shopify®.*

* Regretfully, due to the Shopify's Trial Plan expiry that has elapsed, the store's URL is currently inaccessible. Please contact me for a confidential Figma® Prototype showcase.

Problem Statement

A well known & respected supplier to the hair & salon industry requested website redesign, re-brand/re-title proposition, and refined e-commerce experience to reflect the 50*-long year proud history.

Predominantly a B2B model, the company requested a customer-centric/customer-friendly front-facing ecommerce to be present at its home page.

*Previously the original brief was erroneously advised as twenty-five years of history, as opposed to fifty / "50" (evidence on this initial brief available upon confidential request). Hence here throughout this 2025 Case Study, fiftty (50) is used for factual consistency.

AI / Automation / Generative content usage

The only deliverables I had to resort to using generative tools in order to overcome parametric limitations of Shopify® were the following:

  1. Custom Blog Posts Collection
    For context, many Shopify default themes offer unique / proprietary set parameters including features not congruent with others, e.g., the ability to show Posts collections on any stand-alone pages, and/or adding pictures to mega menus, to name a few; without resorting to additional plugins. Here, I prompted (within Sidekick®) a custom blog posts collection viewer at the home page with an array of options including adjustable layouts between carousels and/or grid before many other editable specifics.

  2. Blog articles
    Since this is a very large e-commerce site comprising hundreds of products and many dozens of thought-leaderships content pieces, I had to rely on the built-in generative writing(s) to portray the required amount of literatures.

  3. Custom Breadcrumbs
    At the time of this writing, implementing a breadcrumb involved some coding proficiency which impairs the timeliness delivery. Hence, in this instance, and given Shopify's many limitations in its native offering, a custom Block was generated with various options to assist and may potentially be of use for other projects.

Full Video Case Study

A twenty-five minute fully narrated, edited and cut (FCPX) Case study video presentation is provided below. Here I outlined the history of the original briefing (late 2021/2022) before then the 2025 personal revisit (redux) and upskilling initiative.

Demographics

  • (B2B) Males and female ~ existing industry professionals in the hair & salon industries.

  • (B2B) Business owners and/or contractors in the industry.

  • (End clientele / front facing audience) Male and female, median income, already fashion and grooming-conscious segment.

  • 20-45 years of age.

Mr. Michelo Rossi

Archetype ~ “The Jet Setter”

  • 32 Years old

  • Perth, Western Australia

  • Chief Clients Liason

Introvert

Extrovert

Analytical

Creative

Busy

Time Rich

Messy

Organized

Independent

Team Player

Safe

Risky

Background

Born in WA but raised by his ethnic roots of Southern Europe, Michelo spent much of his childhood firstly in the eastern states before settling in Perth Western Australia where he gained his bachelor plus honors in Management. Now a well-travelled clients liaison chief for a multinational life insurance firm; he considers himself well-travelled, jet-setting from one city to another.

He frequented numerous barbers locally and internationally, mingling with the famous and the expensive ~ albeit his experiences returned with mixed successes and disappointments, possibly given by his very specific and esoteric standards.

Given his executive & seniority level as clients liaison at a multi-national firm, he demands grooming, wellbeing and appearances for an impeccable and lasting impressions amidst all client interactions; both prospective and/or existing.

Background

Born in WA but raised by his ethnic roots of Southern Europe, Michelo spent much of his childhood firstly in the eastern states before settling in Perth Western Australia where he gained his bachelor plus honors in Management. Now a well-travelled clients liaison chief for a multinational life insurance firm; he considers himself well-travelled, jet-setting from one city to another.

He frequented numerous barbers locally and internationally, mingling with the famous and the expensive ~ albeit his experiences returned with mixed successes and disappointments, possibly given by his very specific and esoteric standards.

Given his executive & seniority level as clients liaison at a multi-national firm, he demands grooming, wellbeing and appearances for an impeccable and lasting impressions amidst all client interactions; both prospective and/or existing.

Background

Born in WA but raised by his ethnic roots of Southern Europe, Michelo spent much of his childhood firstly in the eastern states before settling in Perth Western Australia where he gained his bachelor plus honors in Management. Now a well-travelled clients liaison chief for a multinational life insurance firm; he considers himself well-travelled, jet-setting from one city to another.

He frequented numerous barbers locally and internationally, mingling with the famous and the expensive ~ albeit his experiences returned with mixed successes and disappointments, possibly given by his very specific and esoteric standards.

Given his executive & seniority level as clients liaison at a multi-national firm, he demands grooming, wellbeing and appearances for an impeccable and lasting impressions amidst all client interactions; both prospective and/or existing.

Industry & Interests

Industry & Interests

Industry & Interests

Needs & Goals

Needs & Goals

Needs & Goals

Motivations

Motivations

Motivations

Pain Points & Frustrations

Pain Points & Frustrations

Pain Points & Frustrations

Auditing

The brief auditing revealed accessibility and design decisions that could have been optimized, on top of addressing the general accessibility on the colour scheming.

Naming and titling brainstorming soon began after the audit.

Having examined options then shortlisted to just a few ~ Comb.Direct was chosen for both simplicity and utility as the intended domain URL. Interestingly, the domain name was in actuality, available at the time of project's timeline (late 2021/early 2022).

Research, Moodboarding & Stylescaping

General brainstorming on both existing fiction and non fictional ideas were sought, eventually forming a branding Stylescaping encompassing colour scheming and general design decisions; reflecting more on the conservative side of the long, fifty 50-years of servitude for the hair & salon industry.

Naming Decisions Design and brandmark based on Letterforms C and D

The Concept name(s) "Comb" and "Direct" were considered as they immediately hint the company's long history for delivering and supplying for the hair and salon industry. As well, combining them together conveniently forms the desired URL/domain name.

Hence, in light of these connotations symbolic visualizations on tools the trade (the comb, and the razor) were explored in their most minimal presentation.

Further, integrating the letterforms C and D also stems as an idea to retrospect the company's initials (C)omb (D)irect.

The Shopify® prototype - customisation & indicative content migration.

As major incentive in this 2025 Case Study is a fully (on-brand) build on the pre-set theme Atelier. Spanning throughout two and half months development as part of upskilling, including battle testing limitations, constraints as well as frequent technical / troubleshooting enquiries.

Identical to Wordpress® decentralized ecosystem of plugin(s), over-reliance may encumber the entire process from reaching towards MVP/Minimum Viable Product. Hence for timely deliverability in mind but also as added challenge ~ only very few, select external plug ins (on top fo those that came pre-installed natively with the stock theme Atelier) were allowed.

Nevertheless as stated earlier, the limitations within each stock themes themselves cannot be understated. The use of Custom AI generated block to display curated blog articles, and basic breadcrumbs all with adjustable layout parameters; soon became necessary.

Further incentives includes a hero video banner. Using various free to use public footages, these were cut/edited with Apple® Final Cut Pro X to promote vibrancy and emotive story-telling.

Deliverables

"Comb.Direct" as proposed title for both the company name and domain URL. Synergy between letterform/s C, D to coincide and signify tools of the trade (the hair clip and taper). Earthy colour scheme commemorating proud and long-standing 50 years of servitude. And - after much functional analysis of Shopify's native offerings inbetween three (3) stock themes ~ a fully-on-brand and tailored build made possible with much needed brand story-telling.

Deliverables

"Comb.Direct" as proposed title for both the company name and domain URL. Synergy between letterform/s C, D to coincide and signify tools of the trade (the hair clip and taper). Earthy colour scheme commemorating proud and long-standing 50 years of servitude. And - after much functional analysis of Shopify's native offerings inbetween three (3) stock themes ~ a fully-on-brand and tailored build made possible with much needed brand story-telling.


Post Project Outcome / Criterias

I humbly disclose that at the time of industry conduct of this NDA project ~ any or all impact statements were strictly forbidden for me to query and/or simply unobtainable. The following criterias below are therefore what I would raise soon after a Project surpasses their service period; akin to hypothetical "Retrospective"


1

General Analytics / Screen engagement duration

Often necessitating separate expertise, SEO and Analytics insight here includes (depending on scope and scale) ~ general evaluation on the following but certainly not limited to ~ # of visitors both unique and recurring, enquiries received (form inputs), geography and psychographics. Also among the more noteworthy metrics ~ “dwell” or “linger” time(s) inbetween unique visits to help determine overall engagement.

1

General Analytics / Screen engagement duration

Often necessitating separate expertise, SEO and Analytics insight here includes (depending on scope and scale) ~ general evaluation on the following but certainly not limited to ~ # of visitors both unique and recurring, enquiries received (form inputs), geography and psychographics. Also among the more noteworthy metrics ~ “dwell” or “linger” time(s) inbetween unique visits to help determine overall engagement.

1

General Analytics / Screen engagement duration

Often necessitating separate expertise, SEO and Analytics insight here includes (depending on scope and scale) ~ general evaluation on the following but certainly not limited to ~ # of visitors both unique and recurring, enquiries received (form inputs), geography and psychographics. Also among the more noteworthy metrics ~ “dwell” or “linger” time(s) inbetween unique visits to help determine overall engagement.

2

(General reception) Product Launch sentiments especially social media.

Overall branding and/or general impacts from or out of the basis of commentary(s) received if any, on Social media Channels to foresee greater and more authentic reach amidst relative networks.

2

(General reception) Product Launch sentiments especially social media.

Overall branding and/or general impacts from or out of the basis of commentary(s) received if any, on Social media Channels to foresee greater and more authentic reach amidst relative networks.

2

(General reception) Product Launch sentiments especially social media.

Overall branding and/or general impacts from or out of the basis of commentary(s) received if any, on Social media Channels to foresee greater and more authentic reach amidst relative networks.

3

Functional retrospective on the tech solutions

Regarding the CMS or platform’s ease of use, GUI / UX accessibility, and features both native and/or customary (eg. integrative workability). This also include me querying sentiments surrounding tech support received (either as official help repository and/or community forum channels).

3

Functional retrospective on the tech solutions

Regarding the CMS or platform’s ease of use, GUI / UX accessibility, and features both native and/or customary (eg. integrative workability). This also include me querying sentiments surrounding tech support received (either as official help repository and/or community forum channels).

3

Functional retrospective on the tech solutions

Regarding the CMS or platform’s ease of use, GUI / UX accessibility, and features both native and/or customary (eg. integrative workability). This also include me querying sentiments surrounding tech support received (either as official help repository and/or community forum channels).

4

Financial retrospective on the technology platforms / solutions + prospective on future states.

I make enquiries to assess financial impacts on the tech and/or the solutions delivered. Here I also aim to facilitate dialogues surrounding future requirements and/or states of the project, if needed.

4

Financial retrospective on the technology platforms / solutions + prospective on future states.

I make enquiries to assess financial impacts on the tech and/or the solutions delivered. Here I also aim to facilitate dialogues surrounding future requirements and/or states of the project, if needed.

4

Financial retrospective on the technology platforms / solutions + prospective on future states.

I make enquiries to assess financial impacts on the tech and/or the solutions delivered. Here I also aim to facilitate dialogues surrounding future requirements and/or states of the project, if needed.

About this Case Study

Unless otherwise explicitly specified - all artworks, including naming, titling, sample content-writing including this Case study, and the entire front-end development ~ have not been resorted through Automation, Artificial Intelligence, or generative tools.

All hours expended on each NDA re-creation(s) were conducted out of limited, personal and voluntary capacity on top of / during full time tenure.

2025 AW / Andrewwiguna.com / nutritional-humility.me. Originally a CSS-customised Squarespace® 7.0 ("York" Theme) instance (2008-2021). Manually Front-end re-developed with YCode (2023), then Framer 2025. Please note: this is an indicative, work-in-progress pilot Framer build prototype. (NDA Re-Creation) refers to mandatory identity alterations amongst concept projects, to disclose relevant industry and career track-records. All works and showcase, including manual (re)development of this website were NOT assisted with Artificial intelligence and/or generative tools.

2025 AW / Andrewwiguna.com / nutritional-humility.me. Originally a CSS-customised Squarespace® 7.0 ("York" Theme) instance (2008-2021). Manually Front-end re-developed with YCode (2023), then Framer 2025. Please note: this is an indicative, work-in-progress pilot Framer build prototype. (NDA Re-Creation) refers to mandatory identity alterations amongst concept projects, to disclose relevant industry and career track-records. All works and showcase, including manual (re)development of this website were NOT assisted with Artificial intelligence and/or generative tools.

2025 AW / Andrewwiguna.com / nutritional-humility.me. Originally a CSS-customised Squarespace® 7.0 ("York" Theme) instance (2008-2021). Manually Front-end re-developed with YCode (2023), then Framer 2025. Please note: this is an indicative, work-in-progress pilot Framer build prototype. (NDA Re-Creation) refers to mandatory identity alterations amongst concept projects, to disclose relevant industry and career track-records. All works and showcase, including manual (re)development of this website were NOT assisted with Artificial intelligence and/or generative tools.