Client Feature: Wendi Young Design
This year, Wendi Young Design marks thirty remarkable years as an interior design firm in Southern California. But founder and principal Wendi Young says it wasn’t the approaching milestone that drove her decision to redesign the firm’s website. “When you do something for that many years,” she says, “you start to wonder if you’re still relevant.”
Deciding it was time to reassess, she sought the help of a creative partner who would help her refresh her brand and reframe her story. She found Hanna Creative through Lucas Studio, whose new website she admired for the way it captures founder Joe Lucas’ personality and translates his design ethos into a distinctive digital presence.
“I met with several firms,” Wendi says, “but I really liked Roxanne’s focus on capturing the voice behind the work, and the intention we bring to every project we take on.”
Wendi says the process of working with Hanna Creative not only helped her rethink her brand but was an opportunity to get a fresh perspective on the practice she has so thoughtfully built over three decades. As part of the design discovery, Wendi was asked to share sites that inspired her, which she thought was fun and engaging. Some websites she found were cool and intriguing, Wendi says, but the team guided the conversation back to her target clientele, so that the choices made would reflect her personal taste and resonate with her audience. “I love that they were able to take that inspiration and translate it back to me,” she says. “The new website really captures the personality behind the practice as well as our design aesthetic.”
The site design incorporates subtle movement and nuanced color transitions that complement the studio’s rich photography — shot by the talented Karyn Millet — creating a crisp, editorial, and graceful website that reflects the sophistication of Wendi’s brand and work. That lightness extends to the firm’s new logo, a custom serif font that is a playful take on classical Roman type. One element that Wendi wanted to keep is the stylized Guinea fowl that has been her logo mark for more than twenty years and feels personal to her and her brand.
As the firm marks its 30th year with the launch of its new website, Wendi credits her continued inspiration to her clients — and to the creative process of helping them articulate what they’re striving to achieve. This client-first philosophy underpins her brand and shapes the website’s voice and visual expression.
The website and identity redesign was a collaboration that Wendi says brought subtle realizations about who she is, how she works, and what she wants to instill in the projects she takes on moving forward. “I loved the whole process because I got to know myself and my business better. I started to understand it more, in ways I hadn’t thought about.”
Photography by Karyn Millet