Project Overview
Mariva Nunes is a psychologist based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I worked with her to develop the foundation for her online presence as she considers expanding her practice to telehealth services.
Despite years of experience in her field, we were largely starting from scratch with her online presence. We collaborated closely so I could deeply understand the style and emotions she wanted her branding to convey to potential clients, in addition to her own style and preferences.
This project focused specifically on design and prototyping while discussing long-term strategy for building an online presence. This allowed us to showcase a style authentic to Mariva, while also taking into consideration key features and needs, such as contact via Whatsapp and translation capabilities.
Key skills
The design process
For Mariva’s design, we started first by discussing her needs and key emotions she wanted her brand to convey. This helped us to develop a foundational understanding of the overall style of her site and logo, while also narrowing down key features and plugins we would need to integrate.
Above all, Mariva was seeking a website that conveyed trust, calm, and serenity to her patients. She feels a deep call to psychology and wants to provide a safe, warm space for those she works with. Creating an in-person office space that felt like home was important to her, which is part of why we’ve highlighted it on the home page video. We also wanted to carry that sensation over into her online presence.
I built the prototype in WordPress using Kadence blocks. The design is simple, using a calm background and pops of color to call attention to various pieces of information. We created a handful of pages to address both Mariva’s approach, as well as common questions she receives. To maintain the sense of calm and serenity, we focused primarily on building key pillars of content, such as frequently asked questions and Mariva’s philosophy.
Beyond conveying information, it was also important to allow the website to be translated in both English and Portuguese. We used a plugin to integrate a language switcher, as well as translations for the website’s content. This will allow her to develop an international presence, while prioritizing her primary community in Brazil.
Takeaways
Note: Some of the images in the body of this post and in the gallery above may differ depending on whether they were captured in our Figma mockups or the prototype.
Because Mariva has yet to develop her online presence, this was a fun project to start from scratch. We were able to understand, collaborate, and develop a logo and style guide that extends her in-person approach to her online branding. We also were able to highlight items that were important to her, based on her experience, and integrate that into the website.
Currently, the completed design look is in our shared Figma project, as we determine the next steps to roll out Mariva’s online presence. In the meantime, we’ve collaborated using a local instance of her design, which allows her to explore, give feedback, and take time as she develops her content and voice before broadcasting to the world.
It’s been insightful to work with someone from a different industry, in addition to a different culture. I look forward to rolling out Mariva’s online presence in a way that suits her needs, timeline, and strong personal philosophies.