MENU
PROJECT
Lei by Wehi
ROLE
Web Design, Graphic Design, Content Creation, Social Media Management
DATE
May 2023 - Present
Lei by Wehi is a small, woman-owned business based in Honolulu, Hawai’i. The owner, Kawehi, makes incredible handmade lei comprised of Native Hawaiian flora. Seeking to expand her brand, I was initially tasked with creating the website, but overtime, I took on more and more. Currently, I do social media content creation and management, graphic design, and I maintain the website.
As a native Hawaiian brand, it was really important to create a brand identity that upheld and conveyed the importance of her culture.
"Success for my business & products is having a diversified portfolio in all aspects – products I sell, services provided, community engagement, and collaborations with other local companies."
THE WEBSITE
Branding
After connecting with Kawehi to learn about and understand the brand, we set out to create a brand identity. It was established that Lei by Wehi was to be source of education, but from the perspective of a loved one, not an encyclopedia. It was to create and connect with a community of like-minded people curious on how to start or continue supporting Hawaiian culture. It was to paint an image of her love for and connection with the earth.
Lei by Wehi
Web Design | Graphic Design | Content Creation | Social Media Management
Created on SquareSpace, leibywehi.com features upcoming events, a gallery of her work, a shop page, resources, and information on the artist. Rather than presenting as an e-commerce site, we created a living portfolio with the option to purchase products.
SquareSpace is a useful tool for independent business owners but had its limitations when it came to the design. Following general UX principles, I created a user flow that gently guided visitors through the site. With a clean layout and calming color palette, the site took stress off Kawehi's plate in regards to lei orders and referring people to her work.
Discovery
Lei by Wehi was started by selling lei solely over Instagram, as her audience grew, she knew she needed to expand her brand. To establish a strong base to match this growth, we thoroughly discussed all the fine details.
It was established that Kawehi did not want her website to be a sales pitch. She wanted the site (and her brand) to invite people to stay and learn about what she was doing and how it supported Hawaiian culture. As a Native Hawaiian brand, it was really important to create a brand identity that upheld and conveyed the importance of her culture.
THE AUDIT
Lei by Wehi (LBW) was started in January 2022, and due to growing demand, leibywehi.com was created in the late spring of 2023. The website has remained fairly untouched since then, and it was time for some renovations by June 2024.
Below is the website audit shared with Kawehi. It details areas of improvement, the reasons they should be improved, and suggestions on how to improve them. The slide deck was created with Pitch.
THE WEBSITE 2.0
COMING SOON!
We are currently implementing the changes we decided on during the audit! Very excited to share!
THE CONTENT
One of the things that makes Lei by Wehi standout is her use and knowledge of Native Hawaiian flowers. As a massive part of her brand identity, creating educational content on Hawaiian history, culture, and flowers was essential to attract her target audience.
Through my own research, and Kawehi’s guidance, I created 9 informational posts for Lā Mei/Mei Day/Lei Day. The first post was on the history of Lā Mei, while the following 8 posts were on each of the major Hawaiian islands and their designated flower. The goal was to create visually appealing educational posts that people would want to share.
May Day
Lei Day
One goal for her brand was to be a source of education on Hawaiian history. Eventually, we will put up a blog, but in the meantime we decided on educational posts for her Instagram. Lei Day was the perfect opportunity as our first infographic/educational post. After thorough research and the guidance of Kawehi, I put together an informative yet interesting post that garnered a lot of attention.
The post was created on Canva using images from the Bishop Museum Archives. This was the first of a series of posts regarding Lei Day.
Other Content
On top of infographics and announcement posts, I have taken many product and event photos. She uses them on her website and on her Instagram.
UI Elements
Since it is the first thing users are seeing, UI elements should be a reflection of the brand. Considering Lei by Wehi is a brand centered around native Hawaiian flowers, the client and I decided to center the color palette around earthy tones. To adhere to contrast best practices, lighter colors were used primarily as backgrounds and darker colors were used as text.
Before choosing a font, I looked at multiple other Lei and Hawaiian brands for inspiration. Ohno Blazeface perfectly encapsulates the laid-back vibe of Hawai'i, while still being unique and readable. It is inviting and bouncy, without being too casual. Effra was used for all text besides the titles, headings, and logo. Effra is a sans-serif font that offers a clean and elegant typeface.
The logo was created on Adobe XD. I used the same typeface as the primary font for the website and overlayed it on a Ti Leaf Lei drawing. The three color ways I provided have been used in a variety of ways by the brand.
Flowers of the Islands
The Flowers of the Islands posts were a series of 8 posts containing 6 slides each. The posts were infographics about the flower that represents each of the 8 major Hawaiian islands for Lā Mei (Lei Day). Each post had information on mythology, any uses or fun facts, a quote, general information, and a works cited. I spent hours doing thorough research to create the most effective educational content before putting them together on Canva.
These were a hit and are now among the top most interacted with posts on her page. They were posted throughout the month of May and led to a 40.4% increase in post interactions compared to the previous month.
