Above The Baar Brand & Website Design

Overview

Above The Baar specializes in fashionable satin-lined headwear made for the African-American community created by a Black woman.

Research

Company Research

Above The Baar was in operation for over one year before this rebrand. In order to learn more about the customer and the brand’s positioning in the market, I decided to complete a competitive audit as well as a customer survey.

Name	General Info/Brand Identity	Pricing	Social Media Presence	Target Market
Kin Apparel	Started by natural hair YouTuber Philomina Kane. KIN = Keep It Naturally Consumers able to relate to brand owner Multiple hoodie styles offered Sizes go up to 4X Other products available – Detangling brush, shea butter, visors/hats	$50 – $85 + Shipping Offers discount for email subscribers $10 – $15 for visors	Popular YouTuber Instagram TikTok Pinterest Facebook	Black women who wear their natural hair Ages 18 – 35 Women & Men
Grace Eleyae	Started by Grace Eleyae after discovering that her hair was being pulled out from the friction of her hair against the materials in a seat headrest during an 8 hour car ride in Ghana. Invented the “Slap” (satin lined cap) Offers an array of satin lined products (no hoodies) Featured in many notable publications and talk shows Popular amongst YouTubers	$15 – $50 Most products are ~ $30	Large Instagram following Pinterest Twitter Facebook	Geared towards all women wether they identify as having natural hair or not Ages 45 – 65
Blissy	Not the best brand story, consumers may not be able to connect with the brand. There’s little to relate to in the brand story. Brand owner(s) are not mentioned. Seems like a big box store. Focuses on 100% Mulberry Silk Sleepwear Gift sets available	$40 – $120	Everywhere on social & featured on TV/Popular Publications	Women Ages 45 – 65 Products directed towards skincare and helping keep your skin clear as opposed to being an essential for hair health
Adama Beauty Co.	Focuses more on satin lined sleepwear Not many humanlike characteristics. Very difficult to relate to as an individual consumer. Focused on healthy hair	$10 – $20	Instagram Facebook	Black Women Natural Hair Ages 18 – 25
Satin Life	Owner present in brand Started by Melissa Struggled to “tame” her hair and was inspired to start “Satin Life”	$20 – $30	Instagram Facebook	Black women who wear their natural hair Ages 18 – 35

Customer Research

Customer surveys were conducted to understand the current target audience and bridge the gap between the current and desired target audience. Below are the findings.

Top Findings

What this research shows, is that the current target audience is primarily African-American college aged females. They may not be the decision maker in the buying process but they are mostly buying the product for themselves. My belief is that this current audience will graduate into the desired audience in a few years. This information helps me to tailor the brand a bit more to the target audience that is a few years older with buyer decision power to quickly interact with the brand and purchase the product. It is not necessary to end the relationship with the current audience, but this rebrand will focus primarily on building a relationship with the desired target audience and catering to their needs.

The Re-Brand

Using the above the research, I recreated the brand’s identity. Below are the results.

User Persona

The desired persona is an established professional that is the decision maker in the buying process and has the funds to purchase quality products to enhance their current hair routine.

Messaging

Above The Baar aims to create an inclusive and informative space for Black hair. Customers should feel informed, welcomed and included when interacting and speaking with the brand.

Brand Archetype – The Sage

The Sage is about finding and then giving wisdom. They seek out information and they want to understand the process of how things are done. They love teaching and are highly intelligent. They are seekers of knowledge, not experience, and despise ignorance and being duped. In their quest for knowing, they make rational decisions and are prudent with their time and resources.

Above The Baar customers make informed purchases and are intrigued by brands that offer knowledge and resources in their field. Above The Baar uses this brand archetype when deciding how to communicate with customers and the type of content the brand puts out on their distribution channels.

Brand Mood Board

Logo, Design & Implementation

The new logo has a clean and modern appeal. It also is easy to read and recognize. The curvature in the A & B adds to the femininity of the brand. Lastly, the addition of the Raleway font gives the brand a more luxurious presence.

Colors

I decided to go with a purple color palette to speak to the femininity of the brand. Also, purple is known as the color of royalty and African-American hair is often referred to as our “crown”. Above The Baar offers a niche product and I wanted to ensure that the brand seamlessly connected fashion and hair together. In order to do so, I chose a purple color palette to tie into the idea that African-American hair is essentially the crown we wear every day.

Additionally, the supporting colors add to the more natural appeal of the conversation regarding natural hair. The supporting colors give the earthy tone that natural hair is often associated with.

Pattern

The Above The Baar pattern was created with our audience in mind. We created this to further our branding efforts on marketing assets and packaging. Our pattern consists of a line illustration depicting our customer persona surrounded by our brand’s name in our Raleway font.

Typography

Above The Baar is a brand for the established woman willing to invest in high-quality products. In order to relate to this established woman, I wanted to choose typography that would align with her lifestyle. I chose the Raleway font because of its simplicity and modern style typeface. After extensive research and font pairings, I landed on Montserrat as an accompanying font to uplift the more established and feminine presence of the brand.

Mockups

Moving Forward