Introduction
Orden Beauty is a beauty salon in Swatar, Birkirkara, offering nails, pedicures, waxing, and threading services. Founded by Mae Chetcuti, a beauty professional with certifications from both the Philippines and Malta, the salon was born from a vision to bring high-quality, personalized beauty services to the local community.
When we started this project, Orden Beauty existed only as an idea. There was no brand, no visual identity, no marketing materials. Just a clear ambition and a shop space that needed everything from renovation to signage. Our brief was comprehensive: create a complete brand identity that would position Orden Beauty as a premium yet accessible salon for busy, professional women in the Birkirkara area.
The Challenge
Starting a business from scratch presents a unique challenge: everything needs to happen at once. Mae needed a brand identity before she could order signage. She needed marketing materials before she could announce her opening. She needed a cohesive visual direction before she could make decisions about interior design.
The constraints were real. Budget was limited. This was a new business with careful financial planning. Timeline was tight but flexible, running parallel to shop renovations. And perhaps most significantly, Mae was navigating the uncertainty that comes with launching a first business: Will clients come? Will the brand resonate? Will we survive?
There was also a strategic tension to resolve. Mae wanted the salon to feel luxurious and premium: an experience that makes clients feel genuinely good about themselves. But she also needed to remain competitively priced to attract local clientele. The brand had to communicate quality without intimidating potential customers with an unapproachable image.
Direction was another hurdle. With so many possibilities and inspiration sources, Mae had ideas pulling in multiple directions. Our job was to cut through the noise and align everything toward a single, cohesive vision.
Our Approach
We began with collaborative discovery sessions, discussing Mae's vision, her target customers, and the experience she wanted to create. We explored brands she admired, both local competitors and international references, extracting elements that resonated while identifying what would make Orden Beauty distinct.
Our market research examined what potential clients in the area were searching for, average pricing across local salons, and the visual landscape of existing beauty brands. We studied typical logos, color palettes, and messaging to understand the conventions, not to copy them, but to be just different enough to stand out while remaining immediately recognizable as a beauty business. We didn't want to create something so unconventional that it required explanation.
We developed mood boards exploring various directions. The process involved considerable iteration. There were many good ideas competing for attention. Through feedback and refinement, a clear principle emerged: simplicity equals premium. We needed a restrained color palette that could communicate sophistication while allowing key elements to stand out.
Beyond pure branding, we consulted on broader business decisions including pricing strategy and interior design direction. This holistic involvement ensured the brand identity would feel authentic across every customer touchpoint, from the first flyer they received to the moment they stepped inside the salon.
The Solution
The Logo
The Orden Beauty logo features an elegant silhouette of a woman's profile, her flowing hair integrated seamlessly with radiating lines that form a circular emblem. The design represents transformation and the feeling of confidence that comes from self-care. We wanted to sell not just services, but the result: a woman feeling good about herself.
The circular composition with its sunburst-like rays suggests radiance and positivity. The silhouette is detailed enough to be distinctive but simplified enough to remain recognizable at any size. Notably, we created separate versions for light and dark backgrounds. Not a simple color inversion, but carefully adjusted variants where the relationship between hair, face, and negative space works correctly in each context.
Orden Beauty Logo
We developed multiple logo configurations: vertical, horizontal, square-format, and symbol-only versions, ensuring flexibility across all applications from business cards to storefront signage.
The name itself carries meaning. "Orden" derives from founder Mae Ordeniza's maiden name, but stands alone as a word that sounds refined and memorable, a happy coincidence of personal significance and brand-appropriate tone.
Color Palette
The primary palette is monochromatic: black and white. This restraint is intentional. It reads as clean, premium, and timeless. But we introduced two accent colors to add warmth and personality:
- Sage Green Our primary brand color, visible in the logo and key applications. It communicates calm, wellness, and positivity, a visual signal of feeling good.
- Blush Pink A secondary accent that brings feminine warmth without veering into cliché. Used sparingly to highlight and complement.
Orden Beauty Color Palette
This combination (monochrome foundation with controlled color accents) allows the brand to feel sophisticated while remaining approachable and distinctly feminine.
Typography
We paired two typeface families to balance personality with readability:
- Instrument Serif for headings: A refined serif that brings classic elegance and a sense of premium quality. It signals that this isn't a budget operation.
- Montserrat for body text: A clean, modern sans-serif that ensures excellent readability across all materials. It keeps the brand feeling contemporary and accessible.
Orden Beauty Typography
The logo typography uses Kenao Sans Serif, chosen specifically for its distinctive character in the wordmark, though it's reserved exclusively for logo applications to maintain its impact.
Marketing Materials
Orden Beauty Shopfront Signage
With the core identity established, we rolled out a comprehensive suite of materials:
Business Cards: Two variants: a B2B version for networking, and a B2C version featuring appointment slots with columns for date and time, accommodating five bookings per card. Practical and on-brand.
Flyers: A launch offer flyer designed for local distribution, announcing the salon's opening and driving initial footfall.
Social Media Assets: Profile photos and cover images ensuring consistent brand presence across platforms.
Gift Vouchers: Beautifully designed vouchers that became a genuine revenue stream, allowing clients to purchase gifts for loved ones.
Signage & Storefront: We designed the exterior logo sign, window stickers, and door graphics. One window features a clever detail: a cut-out sticker frames an actual mirror mounted behind the glass, inviting passersby to check their reflection and snap a selfie tagging the salon.
Video Advertisements: Motion graphics including a 3D animated map showing routes to the salon from local landmarks like Mater Dei Hospital and the Msida skate park. Additional ads showcased service results (nail work, pedicures, facials) with compelling visuals and promotional offers.
Launch promotional videoThe Results
The brand launched to genuine enthusiasm. Clients regularly comment on the salon's atmosphere and aesthetic when they visit. The flyer campaign directly generated new bookings, with first-time clients mentioning they'd received one.
Gift vouchers proved particularly successful, with strong sales in the first months of operation. The cohesive brand presence, from online ads to storefront to interior, created immediate recognition and trust in the local community.
Most importantly, Orden Beauty didn't just survive its launch. It established itself as a legitimate, professional presence in a competitive market, with a brand identity built to scale as the business grows.
The Orden Beauty project continues with a website featuring an integrated booking system and salon management platform. (case study coming soon)
