Xtava
Amazon first brand identity and packaging for a high performing haircare brand. I led an ecommerce first refresh across packaging, photography, and PDP content, creating a benefit led visual language built for fast browsing, quick understanding, and high SKU growth across tools, treatments, and styling products.
Year
2019
Role
Art Director
The Challenge
Xtava competed in a crowded Amazon category where shoppers decide in seconds. The brand needed a packaging and PDP approach that could keep pace with frequent launches while making benefits instantly clear and the lineup easy to shop.
Designed for the Amazon Shelf
On Amazon, the search results are the shelf. Products compete at thumbnail size, side by side with dozens of lookalikes, often on mobile. The Xtava experience was designed to stand out through clear hierarchy, high contrast, and benefit led storytelling that stays readable in seconds.
Conversion-first Content Systems
Instead of treating PDP images like standalone ads, I designed each gallery as a guided sequence. Every frame answered the next shopper question, pairing benefit messaging with visual proof so customers could understand the product quickly and feel confident choosing the right item.
A Repeatable PDP System
To support the Styling Squad launch, I built a PDP gallery template that could be rolled out across every SKU. The structure standardized key frames like hero, benefits, texture, application, and results, while allowing each product to lead with its own promise. This kept the full line consistent and made new launches faster to produce.
A New Digital Foundation
With the logo remaining unchanged, the refresh focused on everything around it. I built new brand guidelines, expanded the color palette while preserving Xtava’s signature gold, and introduced custom illustration to make the identity feel more modern and approachable for a millennial audience. The updated website translated that visual language into a clearer, more product led shopping experience.
A Functional Color System
To keep Xtava recognizable, we retained the brand’s signature gold, then refined it. We introduced a lighter gold as the primary tone and reserved the original darker gold as an accent for hierarchy and premium cues.
From there, I developed a color system tied to product benefits (volumize, restore, hydrate, define, clarify, nourish, shine, protect). This made it easier for customers to navigate the line while creating a consistent visual thread across packaging and digital.
Illustration Built for Digital
To modernize Xtava’s voice and create a more approachable experience, I developed a custom illustration style used across both digital and packaging touchpoints.
The system was integrated into a custom hair quiz, helping customers identify their hair type and styling goals while capturing quiz data and email signups for retention marketing.
Impact
Xtava’s refresh gave the brand a cohesive foundation across packaging, PDP content, and web, designed to perform in a crowded Amazon marketplace while speaking to a wider range of hair types and textures.
Over the course of the rebrand, I led creative across 21 product launches and produced a library of content that included lifestyle photography and 12 hair tutorials featuring diverse talent with different textures and lengths. I led casting and direction for those tutorials and oversaw lifestyle shoots that anchored the refreshed visual identity.
The work culminated in the launch of Xtava Styling Squad, a new line supported by a custom hair quiz for personalized recommendations and designed to extend the refreshed brand experience. Beyond packaging and PDP, I also developed CRM email templates and a social content system to carry the identity consistently across retention and day to day marketing.
Xtava continues to be a recognizable presence on Amazon and has been featured by outlets including The Today Show, Bustle, Refinery29, and Nylon.