Designing for Beauty
Why dedicate a whole page to my background in beauty?
I’ve found my career circle around to involved the industry time and time again. Clean beauty is a category I’m passionate about, advocating for consumer education around the ingredients we’re putting on our skin.
My work within the beauty industry began in art school while working on the floor of Neiman Marcus as a makeup artist for Lancome. The promise that came packaged with each product pulled me in but it was witnessing the confidence wash over customers’ faces as they tried a new shade or cream that ignited something inside me. It’s here I began to developed a deep understanding of what consumers wanted and expected from their products.
Designing in-house for Fresh Cosmetics (2004 to 2008) was my first glimpse into the potential of plant-based ingredients and their purpose. In this role, I helped shape everything from compelling in-store experiences to strategy and design for an expanding e-commerce division. Learning under the wing of creative director and co-founder, Alina Roytberg, and having the opportunity to design for every element of a consumer goods company quickly instilled in me a very holistic mindset towards branding. The role not only changed the trajectory of my career but also grew my love for creating beautiful experiences, both at the shelf and in the daily routines of consumers.
Packaging Design for Fresh
It’s through this lens that I was compelled to reach further as a designer. In 2008, I opened my creative studio, JSGD, expanding to a diverse roster of clients, which included a few in the beauty world. In 2013, I connected with Tara Foley to bring her brand, Follain, to life online, resulting in a multi-year creative partnership that spanned packaging design, web design, digital strategy, and brand development.
Art directing and styling for Follain
Brand Development and Packaging Design for Follain
Digital Strategy and Photography for Follain
Under my creative direction, JSGD worked with many of the brands Follain carried, and beyond, deepening my insight into the world of clean beauty. Embracing the missions behind the founders, I’ve seen in this category’s potential to truly disrupt the traditional beauty industry and change the world for the better.
Always front of mind is the ever-evolving consumer needs I learned to look for on the beauty department floor, and the holistic approach to branding I both developed at Fresh and refined over a decade running JSGD. My goal is to continue creating brand experiences that tell a story and resonate on a personal level—but also connect consumers with ingredients and alchemy that are rooted in the earth and deep within ourselves.
I believe it’s our role as a community to educate the consumer and urge brands to be more diligent when it comes to ingredients and sources — I’ll continue to build and support those who do so.
Have an idea for a project in the wellness space? Let’s connect.
