This Month in Music: February Vibes

The Best In Brand Style: Warby Parker

Hey there young designers — and non-designers who have to design things anyway! — there's a tool in your back pocket I bet you didn't realize you have. It's like loose change in your couch; there's a lot more than you thought there was and you sit on it all the time. When you find it though, it feels like finding $20 in those jeans you haven't worn in months!

We can learn a great deal about good design simply by studying the brands that express their style excellently. Today, let's take a look at Warby Parker.

Website
What makes Warby Parker's website excellent design?

You know what they sell right away. The name "Warby Parker" doesn't give away much. But once you hit the home page, it's immediately clear that this company is at least about fashion, if not specifically glasses. The glasses piece becomes clear once the text is read. What's the first word in the navigation after all?

Clear direction. How does Warby Parker want their audience to engage with them? By shopping their selection of glasses. How do we know this? Most of the buttons on the home page direct there.

No option overload. Their priorities are clear: (1) Shop the selection (2) Shop our limited edition selection (3) Home Try-On* (4) Visit a Store* (5) New Special* (6) Charitable Giving Program

*Not pictured

Simplicity. White space is one of the designer's greatest tools. This website is clean and clear and simple and features excellent, appealing photography. The eye is easily and strategically drawn to the engagement goals — in almost every section a simple button is a part of that.

There's still more. The footer provides a ton of ways to connect further, in addition to what you might typically put there – address, phone, email. How might you beef your footer up to fit your brand?

Front of the Home Page

Front of the Home Page

Lower Section of the Home Page

Lower Section of the Home Page

Footer on the Home Page

Footer on the Home Page

Social Media
What makes Warby Parker's social media style excellent?

Consistency. WP has a recognizable style. They clearly focus on upper-body shots rather than full-body photos and they have a simple, airy sort of aesthetic.

Variety. They play a lot with the fashion, background, and angles of their images. They utilize images without people, like styled shots of glasses on different surfaces.

They also drop some video here and there in all their social media streams. Their videos usually don't specifically feature their glasses!

Playful Engagement. You might see an image of a #WarbyBlue house posted, or a fun .gif of someone playing with their glasses in a "Friday mood." WP finds creative ways to tie a variety of post types to their brand.

Behind the Scenes. WP also uses social media to take their audience behind the scenes in a way their website doesn't. You can get a look at store in a certain city or learn more about their partners in a beautifully done video.

A note on social media engagement by platform. WP has over 83.1K followers on Twitter and their tweets seem to get under 25 hearts and retweets on average. FB engagement tends to be under 100. Instagram is clearly their niche platform. Engagement there is easily in the thousands.

That wraps up the first installment of "Best in Design Style!" What did you learn from Warby Parker, maybe that I didn't even mention? Comment below!

Want to recommend a brand for a design style study? Comment below!

Getting From Where I Am To Who I Want To Be

Have you ever felt super amped about the direction your life is going, only to suddenly feel overwhelmed, sluggish and discouraged about the length of the road ahead?

I have to admit this is the reason today's post is coming in so late. The month of January was exhilarating in many ways. I'd left my old job. I began nannying. I landed my first substantial freelance gigs — two websites — and I fielded a handful of inquiries on new work. I also launched an online shop of educational birth infographics, completely unexpectedly. This little hobby of mine suddenly became a brand of its own, gaining 100 followers on Instagram in about two weeks, and getting visited by over 1000 people in its first few days!

None of that even touches on this blog. Originally, I'd intended to blog solely about design and best practices in branding. But as my heart was pulled and stretched and ached with every new headline, and through many difficult conversations I saw and overheard online or otherwise — I found myself posting about the politics around us — even if from a somewhat brand-centric perspective.

So now I find myself wondering something I've wondered before, "What am I doing?"

And I find myself answering in the same way I've answered over and over again.

"I don't really know."

Not expecting that? Well me neither. I always want to be able to articulate exactly what my plan is. But I'm just not able to. And honestly, I think this is something to embrace. I have no idea where I'll be in a year, let alone the direction of my community, my city, my country.

So rather than focus on a plan that could easily become upended in a moment, I focus on knowing the person that will have to weather and be blessed to enjoy whatever unexpected things are ahead.

And who do I want to be?

Someone who loves her work and does her work excellently.

Someone whose work creates meaningful change in families and communities.

Someone who lives simply, that she may be able to give more.

Someone who doesn't make decisions based upon fear.

Someone who laughs a lot and doesn't run herself ragged.

Someone who would rather cry for others than not know their needs and be content.

Someone who thinks a great deal before she speaks.

Someone who learns for more than her own knowledge.

Someone with more hope and faith and optimism than the world can justify.

Someone who embraces challenge, always pursuing growth.

You know, it's so funny. Because right now as I type, the 6-year-old child I nanny is lying beside his 4-month-old brother on the floor, and he's just said to the baby, "I like you. You're awesome."

And I'm smiling, laughing only to myself (because who would disturb a moment like this with out-loud sound?), because that's it right there. He loves his brother, not for anything his brother has done or could plan to do, but because of who he is.

We tend to lose that as we grow older, for each other and ourselves. As for me, I'm hanging on; I'm trying not to. I have to hold on to who I want to be and just take it day by day, getting there.

How about for you? Who do you want to be? How do you process this journey?