Overview A school rebrand of Ulta Beauty.
The final
The grad show wall.
Ulta Beauty Rebrand
- Project
- School rebrand project
Challenge
Ulta is loved for its range and its salon, but its loud orange says deal, and Target owns the same red.
Approach
Three ideas, Open, Edited and Enduring: a hairline wordmark whose U curls into a hook, on Ink and Porcelain with one warm accent.
Part 01 · Weeks 1–2
Listen
01Week 1 · Visual audit
Who Ulta is today
Six competitors, one finding: everyone owns a colour, and Ulta shares red with Target.
02Week 2 · Brand foundation
One sentence to design against
Goal, values, three personas, and one sentence to test every drawing against.
Turn Ulta from the place you go for a deal into the place you go to belong, without losing a single customer it has today.
Part 02 · Weeks 3–7
Draw
03Week 3 · Shape + typeface
Hand first, then fifty wordmarks
Hand sketches first. One shape kept coming back: the hook.
04Weeks 3–7 · Logo rounds
Four months under the red pen
My Illustrator screens in date order, from heavy blocks to the hairline Enduring Edge.
Nov 21 2025 An open A with a crossbar, Beauty tucked under the L
Part 03 · Weeks 5–10
Build
05Weeks 5–6 · LogoDev 2 + 3
One family, four uses
Hero, hero + beauty, stacked, and the shortform hook. One solid colour at a time.
06Week 5 · Patterns
The wordmark at mixed scales
The wordmark at mixed sizes, some upside down, so a bag still reads as Ulta.
07Weeks 6–8 · Typographic behaviour
A classic voice and a clear one
Didot speaks, Inter works. One line changes one word for every service.
08Week 9 · Colour
70 · 20 · 10
Mostly Porcelain and Ink. Ulta’s orange stays, as a highlight, not a shout.
09Week 9 · Graphic device + photography
The Hook
The hook crops, frames and signs. Photos: real skin, soft light, one bold detail.
10Week 10 · Animation
Four seconds: draw the hook, set the word
Storyboarded first: the U rises, the letters set, the swash lands last.
Part 04 · Weeks 5–12
Launch
11Weeks 5, 8 + 11 · Campaign
Every Kind of Beautiful × Get Hooked
Six poster directions before the final three, then a billboard and a bus shelter.
Six poster explorations · scroll →
12Weeks 11–12 · Applications
Everything people touch
Bags, packaging, cards, uniforms, the salon menu, and my own merch.
13Week 12 · Website, app + social
ulta.com, the app, and the feed
A campaign-led site, the hook as the app icon, the same word game on social.
credits
- design
- Shuvo Miah
- class
- Communication Design 4 · Identity Systems, ArtCenter College of Design
- typefaces
- Didot, Inter
- note
- A student rebrand. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Ulta Beauty.