Case Study: Sparkle SF
Client: Sparkle San Francisco
Included: new website design and development, in-depth SEO, social media audit, event marketing
This Spring I connected with Mia Rubie of Sparkle San Francisco to rebrand and redesign her website. Mia is the artist behind the popular @superflynails Instagram account and the owner of Sparkle SF, a nail art studio located in San Francisco’s Mission district. Sparkle SF is the top nail art destination in the SF Bay Area. It’s unlike any nail salon you’ve ever visited: modern, cozy, filled with sparkle, and the nails that come out of the place are spectacularly creative.
Mia has grown Sparkle SF organically and has an incredible work ethic - she used to moonlight as a nail artist while working full time in corporate communications. Since opening Sparkle SF in 2012 the studio has incubated nail art stars who continue to grow and innovate the nail art space. On top of managing the studio, servicing her clients, designing products for brands, teaching nail art classes, Mia also works on editorial projects and commercials for her agency Aubri Balk. If you’re curious about her nail art career journey you can learn more in this interview.
Mia built her site on Wordpress when she first started as a nail artist over a decade ago. She had a logo and palette that worked for a while but didn’t represent her brand, style or even her studio anymore in 2021. More importantly, the website needed to be updated with current web security best practices, search engine optimization, plus have functionality like event signup and e-commerce. Her new website needed to be easy to use and update, meet her needs with features and functionality, look good and work well for her tech-savvy and design-focused clientele.
I was so thrilled build a new website for Mia that would reflect her brand and have the functionality she needed to meet her goals for this next stage of her nail art journey. Over the last year while she couldn’t be in her salon space and working with clients, Mia worked with artist Deb on new artwork and a logo for the studio and that served as our artistic direction. During my visits to Sparkle SF, I picked up other design elements that would carry over to her website. The process of getting to the final design took a couple of iterations and where we ended up was different than some of the initial inspiration and art direction. I think that’s the creative process. When you go down one path, see what you don’t like you get closer to where you need to go. With each revision I felt like I trusted the process and I knew we were getting closer. Mia was a joy to work with because she was incredibly hands-on artistically, knew clearly what she liked and didn’t and was decisive. Now that the website is finalized it seems like it’s always been a part of the brand and fits like a puzzle piece. I was thrilled it was met with such amazing feedback by her team and clients. Checkout the fun video Mia made about the website launch announcement and book a nail appointment with her fabulous team of nail artists.
If something from this resonates with you, or if this sounds like something I could help you with, please feel free to reach out and book a free consultation. I’d be happy to discuss your business goals with you.
