Elevating Nere’s Brand Identity and Customer Journey
Nere and Strand were both running the same Shopify theme, so Nere felt indistinguishable from its parent brand. Last year we paused after presenting just the product detail page concept.
This year I led a focused three-month sprint to rebrand and rebuild every page—from home and category through to cart—infusing Nere’s bold colour palette, travel-ticket UI motifs and soft-edged geometry.
The client’s response was clear: they’d never seen a competitor execute a visual identity like this.
Client
Nere / Strand Bags
Year
2024-Current
Services
UX/UI Design
Design System
Branding & Identity Design
Contributors
Neville Ewers
Jack Nicholson
Context & Challenge
Shared platform: Nere was running on the same White&Black toned template as its parent brand Strandbags, resulting in minimal visual distinction.
Brand goals: The objective was to elevate Nere’s unique proposition of lightweight, strong and colourful hard shell luggage by weaving product hues and travel motifs into every aspect of the site.
Audience mix: The redesign needed to resonate equally with corporate B2B buyers placing bulk orders and direct to consumer shoppers browsing individual pieces.
Competitive landscape: Competitors relied on generic e-commerce templates without a travel-themed digital identity, creating an opportunity to deliver a memorable brand experience.
Nere and Strand currently share an identical Shopify theme, which creates a generic experience and offers no clear visual or functional differentiation between the two brands.
Iterations
Below are the key mock-up stages that led to our final PDP design, along with detailed notes on each exploration:
Each of these iterations surfaced valuable insights on how to balance the product’s vibrant hues with clarity and consistency. We ultimately merged the full-bleed hero from Variation A, the clean typography and spacing of the Minimal exploration, and the tactile ticket-style dividers from Variation B to achieve the final design.
Refinements through Pressure Testing
At the outset, we imported the exact product hex codes the client supplied—24 colours, into our figma palette.
Next came our colour pressure test. I built I built two parallel versions of every key component: one using the pure hex values paired with either white or black text to maximise vibrancy, and a second using 50 percent tints alongside black text only to create a softer, more accessible experience.
After reviewing the data and stakeholder feedback, the client chose to embrace the true hex values across the site. To keep colour usage consistent and maintain hierarchy, I formally defined white and black as our primary and secondary neutrals. This system ensures that hero sections, colour swatches and even our custom “flight-ticket” navigation and mini-cart elements can rely on a clear, repeatable palette without ever sacrificing legibility or brand impact.
We subjected both options to rigorous contrast checks and interactive demos. In our prototype, the full-strength colours felt undeniably on brand and brought the product palette to life, but only when we carefully paired each hue with white or black text that met WCAG AA standards. The tinted version offered a gentler visual tone, yet risked diluting the boldness that makes Nere unique.
With these pressure-tested rules in place, the final design springs to life in vivid tones that command attention while still adhering to accessibility best practices. The result is a confident, cohesive UI system that looks striking and works for every user.
Final Design Solution & Highlights
After a few iterations, we finally landed on final design
Next Steps & Outcomes
With the final designs approved by Nere’s Australian team, we’ll present a fully interactive prototype to our UK business stakeholders. The prototype will showcase micro-animations on colour swatches and “add to cart” actions, accordion reveals, ticket-style navigation transitions and hover effects. Their endorsement will pave the way for development and ensure the wider organisation fully appreciates how the new site will look and feel.
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