The Mae Salon
Bringing elegance to an organic, natural hair salon
Brand Strategy / Brand Design / Web Design + Development / Print Design / Marketing Strategy / creative Direction — Indianapolis, Indiana
Since working with us, The Mae has grown by 56.83%, hitting over a million dollars in revenue— all within one year of their re-brand. In 2022, they were recognized as a Top 200 Salon in the US, one of the most prestigious awards in the industry. We are so proud of their growth, and honored to have played a role in helping them get there!
Brand Evolution
Where The Mae Began…
The Mae is a bohemian hair salon near Butler University in Indianapolis that focuses on elevating natural beauty through soft, organic styles. They opened the doors five years ago and recently hit the best two days to date! Now, they came to us, with many of the growing pains behind them. They were ready to take their visual branding and aesthetic to the next level and better represent the bohemian, lived in, but high-end work of their stylists that draw clients from all around the city.
Where The Mae Is Headed…
What stands out about The Mae isn’t just the quality of their work or their talent. It’s the way they make their clients feel. It’s a whole experience to have your hair cut there and it’s about so much more than the final product. The visuals needed to match that mood: it’s a culture, not just a service. The Mae offers the perfect blend of relaxation and luxury, giving their clients a moment that is just all theirs: it’s refreshing and restful. The site should communicate the same thing: your stylist is there for you.
Brand Keywords
Organic — Confident — Mindful — Effortless — Relaxed
Target Audience
Liv, 38, is a stay-at-home mom with school-aged kids. They have some free time on their hands, but not as much as they expected to have when their kids went back to school. They are continually surprised at how much motherhood is a full-time job and are always looking for pockets of time that are strictly theirs. They’re from Indianapolis and don’t mind splurging on an experience they love. They work out a lot (or mean to) and usually show up to their appointment wearing Lululemon. They are trendy and want a stylist who will help them feel young, beautiful, and natural.
Visual Rationale
Women often have a hard time replicating the same style on their hair that they get leaving the salon. The Mae wants to make that easy for them. They want to give people a lived-in kind of beauty, one that feels natural and not achieved. And that’s exactly what we wanted their logo to look like to. Something effortless but striking. The letters in “Mae” were crafted from scratch, representing the personal approach. The edges on the M and the A represent the idea that beauty is two things: who you are inside and how you present yourself to the world.
Brand Values
Beauty — Rest — Encouragement
In Their Words
“Lydia and her team has elevated our brand more than we ever could have dreamed! Her help has given us the digital footprint that we've been looking for to match the vision of where we see the business going. Not only is it beautiful, but it’s made marketing so much easier because we have quality brand standards that reflect our vision. We have many people working with social media content at any given time and it makes communication effortless for our team. The expectation is clear because it's spelled out so clearly. We trust Lydia’s expertise, her standards and her creative eye. She knows how to bring your brand to life as a top-notch, stand out company.”
If you’ve made it this deep into our site, you probably already know that collaboration is our favorite. This project was a team effort with the help of Amber Ladd on Squarespace website development.