A personal brand that's as warm and lively as the author

What we did

We created a new personal brand for non-fiction author and acclaimed publisher Phillipa McGuinness. Then we delivered a website to showcase her work, including her non-fiction books, media appearances and think pieces. Everything was ready to support the launch of her new book, a cultural history of skin called Skin Deep: the inside story of our outer selves.

You only have to read Phillipa’s reviews to get a feel for her personal brand – critics call her insightful, witty, intelligent, funny, sparkling, sympathetic, candid, humane, historically literate, morally engaged… the list goes on!

The test is in translating these qualities into a visual language. We settled on a gradient system of slowly shifting colours featuring Phillipa’s trademark colours, red and green, and the accent colour purple. The effect is a visually dynamic and vibrant website that honours the author’s warmth and vitality without detracting from the intellectual fire-power of her work.

With the concept in place, we created a logical information architecture and completed all copywriting, graphic elements and web building required to launch the Squarespace website in time for the author’s new book. The website offers a subscribe feature so the author can build her own email mailing list.

We also created an email template with a professional auto-signature in the new brand identity and business cards to distribute at writers’ festivals and other events.