Background
A few years ago, a friend of mine lamented that he could no longer buy his favorite brand of sneakers in San Francisco. He contacted the shoemaker and convinced them to allow us to sell their sneakers in the US on one condition: We had to sell them in batches to ensure that the order quantities were worthwhile for both parties.
Problem
While the shoemakers are exceptional artisans, they weren’t at all focused on the online shopping experience, and they didn’t have a sense for how to market the brand to customers in the US.
Solution
First, we came up with a US-based name for the company — principle. Then I spent weeks developing a look and feel for the brand, exploring typography, color, photography, and more.
I took photos of all of the sneakers, and built the entire online shopping experience using a Framer and Shopify integration. Most of this was new to me, but I wanted to push myself to try something I’d never done before.
Within just a few months, we had a live storefront where we’re currently collecting early access sign-ups. Once we reach a set number of sign-ups, we’ll open the store for a limited time, giving first dibs to those who signed up early.
principle is very much an experiment, but it’s one that has taught me more about visual design, e-commerce, and running a business than I could have ever imagined. It’s also a reminder that a brand and a web experience never really stop evolving.