Sara Hinojosa

Luxury boutique retailer Stanley Korshak hired me to reimagine their online presence, and all brand marketing. I redesigned the brand website, along with migrating it to the Shopify platform from a custom platform. This included working on the site architecture, UX, UI and with the merchandising team, who I managed.

The previous design was outdated, clunky, and did not reflect the level of products or service Stanley Korshak is known for. By redesigning all visual aspects of the brand and implementing marketing strategies around ad spend, customer flows, and email marketing, we saw an increase of gross demand by 40% and an increase of net sales by 60% to $1.8M.

Tetra Pak, the 11.5 billion dollar global cpg packaging giant was the The ask: elevating Tetra Pak’s name and capabilities in North America, specifically in the United States.

The Swiss brand is well known in the rest of the world, but its expertise and brand recognition in the United States was lacking. We developed an educational and lead-building campaign centered around their 5 core capabilities: Co-manufacturing, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Brand Messaging, Customer Innovation Center and Mult-Channel Solution expertise.

The campaign included animated native and display ads, targeting a C-suite level audience in the cpg space. I led discover sessions with the client along with persona development, directed the design and UI team on the creation of the ads, landing page and gated specialty lead-generated pages. Also created white pages on specific industry topics to build trust as experts in this space.

At Mentor Creative Group, I managed the Starbucks B2B account. Through relationship cultivation, personal attention and high-level design I secured more of the B2B marketing, leading to a 25% increase in business for the agency. Upon leaving Mentor, we had submitted a proposal and were being highly considered for a full revamp and re-platform of the B2B site: Starbuckscardb2b.com.

Here are some examples of the work done for the client. I provided both creative direction and design for the B2B site as well as banner ad campaigns.

Tory Burch further expanded into accessories with Swiss made watches. This packaging was developed to marry the hallmarks of the Tory Burch brand with the tactile experience expected from a Swiss watch brand.

A small drawer was designed to hold the substantial warranty and instruction booklet. A small 'note from Tory' card was added as an unexpected personal touch.

There is an applied, embossed, and foiled logo on the outer lid, while the interior watch box has a metal medallion inset into the lid and gold framing.

MICHELE launched a new watch collection, the Sidney. (As is it happens, I was also the creative director overseeing the product design for this collection). The Sidney needed accompanying collateral assets and storytelling tools. The launch was teased on social and emails before going live on MICHELE.com. A point-of-sale brochure was designed for use by luxury retailers and independent jewelry stores.

Brand overhaul for private offices and coworking space company, WorkSuites (previously Meridian Business Centers). Extensive branding scope included logo, brand voice, brand guidelines and standards deck for all web and print, redesign and execution of web and mobile presence, photo and video shoot direction and execution including styling and casting, outdoor signage, direct mail, social media posts and videos, copywriting, marketing collateral and stationary suite.

Brochures and catalogs created seasonally to showcase new product stories. I designed the books as well as styled and propped each product feature.

Site design, including an design refresh in 2017 that included a modular email template. The design refresh focused around an increase of white space, simplification of content, new fonts and a bright, optimistic red for headline information.

MICHELE entered the smartwatch market with a Hybrid Smartwatch—a watch that looks like a traditional piece, but with smart functionality. This luxe sport watch launched with the intention of attracting a new, younger and more active customer to MICHELE.

A brochure was designed introducing the collection. The intent was to highlight the casual sport aesthetic in conjunction with it's functionality of goal tracking, notifications, music control, selfie taking, and automatic time zone adjustment for travelers. The layout was centered around the a dynamic, fluid shot of the watch, communicating energy and elevation of a smartwatch. The shot was also designed to highlight the alligator strap, backed with silicone in a contrasting color and pattern.

The brand partnered with social influencers to tell stories of functionality. Their content was used on MICHELE.com, social and emails.

I was one of the creative directors overseeing the design of this watch. The objective was to pair MICHELE’s luxury point-of-view with a classic sport aesthetic.

MICHELE launched handbags in the fall of 2009. This hangtag was developed to incude touches of the brand's hallmark red color, as well as a pull out card the afforded a storytelling opportunity. The accompanying care card and authenticity card were housed in an embossed envelope inside each bag.

In addition to a core collection of watches, MICHELE also produces limited edition styles. The watch packaging developed to accompany this collection was based on the existing packaging, but elevated through paper choice, a gloss varnish,  and metallic foil print. The red color was kept as a the interior of the sleeve color, reinforcing the bold feminine nature of the brand.

For years at MICHELE, there were no employed stylists or photo art directors—each art director handled their own jobs. Here is a collection of shots I concepted, directed and many of which I styled on set with our in-house photography team.

In my freelance work I have also enjoyed fashion styling in addition to creative direction. These are a few shots, created as editorial content for DAPPER magazine.

Cosmo Prof is a hair and beauty brand for hair stylists, barbers, and aestheticians. The website contained an unengaging landing page for continuing education classes and events available to the stylists. The page was difficult to find, navigate, and search. Direct competitors had richer experiences and content and Cosmo Prof desired to lean into their brand promise of being an ally to and resource to their customers.
The ask:
• Develop a brand around the education content area of the business.
• Create an engaging experience for our customers, including content for brand-owned shows and events, vendor classes, and blog articles.
• Create a resource library that stylists could filter and search to find relevant classes and information.
• Develop a 360 campaign to launch the new experience.

Deliverables:
Cosmo Prof Institute naming and positioning
Landing Page, Events Page, Classes Page
Marketing campaign across CRM, physical stores, social, and paid media

I designed, directed, and partnered with our C-suite team, UX, copy, and development, owning the scope and execution of this project.

Creative direction for the startup of a regional mens luxury lifestyle magazine. Work includes the development of the logo, masthead, and overall design structure, fashion and trend content creation, managing a junior designer, and concepting, styling and directing photoshoots.

Print and digital design for Zodiac, a mens Swiss timepiece brand geared towards the committed adventurer and watch collector.

I partnered with Fred Castleberry on the creative design of his blog, Unabashedly Prep and created the logotype, header, graphic elements and app icon.

A digital lookbook for the menswear brand Norman Hilton in partnership with photographer Fred Castleberry.