ALACHROMA began as a collaboration with Alannah Larson, an independent hair artist whose color work was far more developed than the words she had for it. She had an established practice, but she had no name that described what she did.
I coined one: ALA, meaning “of the,” and CHROMA, meaning “color.” The name describes an artist who works of the color itself, so her identity is written into it, and every later decision about the brand can be checked against it.
The logo, the color system, the typography, the website, the social voice and the coaching all came after the name and were built from it. When someone asks Alannah what she does, she can answer with one word that is hers.
Four square films for the 2023 launch on social media: a teaser that announced the date, a second teaser, and the logo reveal in two versions. They were made to be watched with the sound on.
Ongoing since 2022
The mark system has an icon, a wordmark and a name-only version, each with a reversed version for dark grounds. The name is set in a condensed display face and everything else in a quiet sans-serif. The palette puts warm colours where you would expect cool ones, and saturated colours where you would expect pastels.
Your individuality is your masterpiece.
The brand line, and the test for every decision: does this let the person in the chair decide what beauty means to her? If it tells her which look to adopt, it gets reworked. Each campaign artwork sets the line over one of her own colour palettes.
I designed and built the site on Squarespace because she can update it herself without help, which was the main requirement. I also wrote all the copy for the site, her social media and her marketing in her voice, and we worked through it together until it sounded like her.
The site has home, about, services, education, consultation and shop pages. The tone is bold and warm at the same time.
She had the practice and took in-person payments on Square. I built the online side on the same account, so a client can go from her site to her chair without a message thread. This is the path a client takes.
She works on the hair; the system handles scheduling, reminders and records. She no longer spends evenings answering “can you fit me in Tuesday?”
Alachroma’s education program runs as Unscripted, a live event with one model, two artists, a binder of methods, and an audience. It has its own page: Unscripted.
The four-year anniversary showcase at AREA 15 in Leominster: one live session, three stylists, one night.
I made the film and the full set of graphics for it: the poster, the story and the post. The film is the centrepiece, 45 seconds cut to be watched on a phone.
Photographs by Alannah Larson. I did not take these. They were the inspiration for the brand.
Photography.
I stayed on after the launch. We meet one-on-one as often as her business needs, and she sets that schedule.
The work is turning her business goals into brand decisions, planning how to grow her audience, and advising on marketing decisions as they come up. She can also call me whenever she needs to.
My job was to help her own it sooner. I named ALACHROMA, and we built the rest together: the logo, the copy, the site and the coaching. None of that makes it my brand. Her practice is the source of the work, and the brand exists to present it. My role was to build those pieces well enough that they sound and look like her, and then to step back as she needs me less.
Vivid colour, precision cutting, shaved design. Fifteen years behind the chair. New clients start with a consultation.