Kitakar

Beyond Lashes & Brows: A Branding Blueprint

Explore the branding journey that transformed a local studio into a thriving, sustainable, and value-driven leader in the beauty sector, demonstrating a blueprint for long-term success.


Timeline: 4-Weeks | Completion: June 2025 | Role: Brand Strategist

Emily Park is an ideal client persona for Kitakar. She is a 32-year old Marketing Manager for a tech firm and lives in Kitsilano. She has a Korean background and values natural beauty aesthetics.

Emily Park is an ideal client persona for Kitakar. She is a 32-year old Marketing Manager for a tech firm and lives in Kitsilano. She has a Korean background and values natural beauty aesthetics.

📖Context

  • Kitakar is a specialized studio in Kitsilano, enhancing natural beauty with expertly crafted lashes and brows for their clients. They focus on creating face-framing looks using customized, blended tints that perfectly complement one’s unique features and allure.

    • Operated solely by the business owner, Sonia, since 2018

    • Business and marketing done in-house

    • Offers eco-friendly products and service options

  • Emily Park: The Polished Professional

    • Age: 32

    • Location: Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC

    • Occupation: Marketing Manager at a tech firm

    About Emily

    Emily is a savvy, career-driven woman who values efficiency, quality, and looking effortlessly put-together. She lives an active, balanced life that includes early morning spin classes, navigating Vancouver's vibrant food scene, and weekend getaways to the Okanagan. She's always on the go but prides herself on maintaining a polished, professional image, even in a casual city like Vancouver.


    Needs:

    Personalized expertise and flawless results:

    • Deliver customized, natural-looking, and safe facial enhancements

    • Tailored solutions that complements their existing beauty and fits their daily routine

    Convenient and seamless experience:

    • Clients value their time

    • They want the entire process, from booking to aftercare, to be efficient, easy, and stress-free

    Safety, hygiene and product quality

    • Visible cleanliness of the studio and tools

    • Transparent information about the products used

    • Technician certifications

    • Consultations around services and testing

    Values:

    • Clear communication

    • Realistic outcomes

    • Highly skilled, certified technicians

    • Latest trends and techniques

    • Consistent quality

    • Intuitive online booking system (clear availability, reminders, policies, and aftercare instructions)

    • Assurances for safety, hygiene, and the quality of products used

    • Prioritized eye health and safety


    Emily would choose your studio because it offers:

    • Exceptional results that align with her natural, refined aesthetic.

    • Convenient online booking and efficient service.

    • Highly skilled technicians who prioritize safety and use premium products.

    • A relaxing, professional environment that feels like a mini-escape from her busy day.

    • A sustainable approach that aligns with her values.


    • Translating technical content and information into digestible and visual flows.

    • Enhance business and marketing flows into distinct streams: website, emails, and social media.

    • Developing a consistent brand identity with styled visuals elements for processes and marketing assets.

    • Optimizing online content into concise, value-driven messaging.

    • Streamlining content creation into a cohesive, multi-functional process for nurturing and connecting with clients.

    • Information Architecture

    • Define CTA Processes

    • Optimizing Visual Identity and Content

    • Streamlining Content Strategy

    • Complimentary Assets

 
Design Thinking Steps: 1-Define and prioritize high-impact products, 2-Streamline key processes and flows, and 3-Translate concepts into designs

🎯Design Thinking

  • Developing a sustainable marketing system was paramount. Our goal was to provide the business owner with a solution they could confidently manage or delegate, ensuring they could strategically balance marketing efforts with critical operational demands.

  • We integrated multiple business processes and marketing flows into a unified system that seamlessly addresses diverse client needs and touchpoints.

  • Clear objectives guided our iterative process, ensuring the efficient development of functional assets. The result: high-quality, elevated visuals and robust systems.

 

🌱Project Walkthrough

By aligning with business needs and our target audience, this project effectively prioritized core processes and refined marketing flows for lasting sustainability.

 

01—Information Architecture

Researching the brand and organizing the current business website content.

While the website had core pages and sections, we focused on enhancing the user experience through intuitive navigation, streamlined page flows, concise content, and compelling visual elements like images, icons, and graphics.


02—Define CTA Flows

Prioritize essential business processes, such as bookings and sign-ups.

To ensure vital sections stood out, we applied striking images, distinct colors, and thoughtful styling to CTA buttons. This creates a clear visual hierarchy, making user navigation both effortless and intuitive.


03—Streamlining Content Strategy

Crafting marketing content to nurture and engage clients on various platforms.

By developing content pillars around topics our ideal clients seek to inform and assure themselves, we further position the brand as professional, approachable, and empathetic.


04—Optimizing Visual Identity + Content

Content was edited and systemized with icons, colors, and styling.

With a focus on attracting our ideal clientele, the brand elements are intentionally styled with clean, refined aesthetics. All design choices were made to ensure a seamless and efficient user experience.


05—Elevated Customer Experience

Transforming the end of an appointment into a memorable experience with a complimentary aftercare kit.

Every client touchpoint, from discovering the brand to the completion a service, is further enhanced to reflect our thoughtfulness and care.


🔎Retrospective

My goal for this case study was to highlight how focusing on key flows and nurturing client relationships through value-driven content and optimizing experiences in an organized and intentional way drives a business to stand out in a competitive market where clients are not only looking for services, but also genuine connections.

Authentically engaging with clients in a purposeful and professional manner as a small business is what keeps clients loyal. A booked service can transform into a relationship or influence when positioned and marketed strategically.