How can a website for men’s hair services reflect its identity without falling for masculine clichés?
Since these services are specifically men’s hair, identifying the audience and their preferences centered on identifying familiar tropes in barber websites. These sites often reference the traditional tools and techniques used in barber shops, like shaving cream, razors, and clippers. The designs of these sites reference a rugged and classy type of masculinity, one that I knew should also be reference in my site. While I wanted the overall energy to be masculine, I also wanted to push for some design choices that would subvert the superficial qualities of manhood.
To reflect a slight deviation from traditional masculinity, I balanced bold, san-serif typography with moments of calligraphic bliss. This balance between both styles embodies some femininity but still reflects the ideals of tradition that most barber shops indulge in representing. The color palette was chosen to capture the range of natural hair colors, which was informed by my barber’s strict avoidance of working with hair dyes. This color palette also references the way calligraphic letters represent strands of hair. Lastly, the services page received a major reorganization, allowing users to understand the differences between their options through categorization and placement.
