Welcome, Amanda
Hi Amanda,
We're so excited to get started on the Hemp Haven website refresh.
The goal of this project isn't just to redesign pages. It's to build a clearer, more structured online shopping experience that actually communicates the quality, comfort, craftsmanship and personality behind the brand you've spent the last four years pouring yourself into.
This Hub is your single home for everything we'll be building over the next four weeks — the plan, the brand work, your own words read back to you, the scope, and the shared folder where it all lives. You can come here any time to remember what's happening, what's coming, what we need from you, and where to put things.
You don't need to have everything organised before we begin. The Start Here checklist in the shared folder will guide you. The goal is progress, not perfection.
With warmth and excitement,
What we're building toward
- Clarity for first-time visitors
- Homepage guidance and structure
- Customer confidence and trust
- Navigation and shopping flow
- Communication of comfort, movement and craftsmanship
- Emotional storytelling and authenticity
So customers quickly understand why the shoes feel different, who they're for, how they fit into their lifestyle, and why they can trust the brand.
Your three words
Project at a glance
How to use this Hub
- 02 Brand — the full brand identity: palette, typography, elements, photography direction.
- 03 Amanda's words — your founder story and questionnaire answers.
- 04 4-week plan — day-by-day breakdown of every week.
- 05 Scope & risks — what's in, what's out, the dates you own, what could derail us.
- 06 Shared folder — links to the 7-folder Google Drive structure where assets live.
The Hemp Haven brand
Better for your feet. Better for the planet.
Comfortable. Unique. Feel-good. A warm, grounding Australian lifestyle brand built around natural materials, slow living and thoughtful craftsmanship.
Colour palette
Typography
Brand elements
Photography direction
Brand feel
Hemp Haven is warm, grounding and comforting. It celebrates natural materials, slow living and thoughtful craftsmanship with a uniquely Australian soul.
Key words
Featured product range
Imagery direction
- Real lifestyle photos — markets, makers' hands, customers, travel
- Shoemaking process: cutting, shaping, last-pulling, hammering
- Shoe flexibility: bent/folded, sole bend, fabric texture
- Soft natural lighting, organic textures, muted earthy tones
- Wim Hof + Nic Cester photos (permission first)
- AI-generated imagery (explicitly flagged)
- Ultra spiritual or ethereal imagery
- Anything synthetic or overly polished
- "Perfect eco" clichés
- Stereotypically hippie or stereotypically Australian
Voice signature
Amanda signs off as "love, Amanda (your sole mate)" — warm, playful, personal. We'll bring that energy where it fits.
Messaging
- Lead phrase: "Better for your feet. Better for the planet."
- AU lifestyle designer brand first; eco woven through
- Honest about the hemp/cotton blend with poly lining — never "100% natural"
- SEED Mob mentioned subtly, never performative. Vegan-friendly badge near trust elements
- Grounding mentioned subtly. No therapeutic claims
- Use Wim Hof's quote subtly: "I love your shoes. They are made with love."
Source of truth
Direct from her questionnaire on 16 May 2026. When in doubt, come back here.
Founder story
Amanda bought The Hemp Haven from a friend around four years ago, after twenty years running creative market-based businesses — handmade clothing, bliss balls, vintage lampshade restorations, renovated vintage caravans.
The original founder created the brand after struggling to find soft, comfortable shoes for kids, starting with wide toe box hemp shoes. Customers begged her not to close — to sell instead. Amanda took it over and simplified to footwear only.
She's a single mum. Not building an empire. Building a sustainable, balanced life for her and her daughter, doing work she genuinely loves.
The five customer truths
Customer reactions when trying on
"Oh my god, they are soooooo comfortable!!" Followed by "a hug for your feet." Customers call friends over.
Hesitations before buying
Durability — "how long will they last?" "Can they handle getting wet?" Reassurance: hemp is strong, 2–3+ years, machine washable, 8 years of refinement.
Misconceptions
- Soft = not durable (false)
- "100% natural" (false — blend with poly lining)
- Comfortable = unstylish (false — both)
Ideal customer
Core: 40–70, comfort-focused, practical-but-stylish. Strong with middle-aged + older men at markets. Wellbeing/foot-health/barefoot-curious. Vegan-friendly.
Online vs market customers
Most online buyers are returning market customers. Sizing confidence is the #1 online conversion barrier.
What excites her
- Less reliance on weekend markets
- True barefoot footwear — barefoot espadrilles + wide-toe leather boots
- Educating about foot health and natural movement
- Reaching the global barefoot community online
- Future Wim Hof collaboration (his artwork printed on fabric)
Her #1 outsource ask
12-month success vision
- Steady organic online sales growth
- Repeat customers (2nd / 3rd / 4th purchases)
- Less reliance on markets
- Consistent, streamlined online experience
- Organic marketing + newsletters + brand awareness — not heavy paid ads
Four weeks, week by week
Week 1 — Mon 18 to Fri 22 May
Discovery, brand direction & strategy
- Mon — Launch meeting. Customer journey mapping. Shopify code. Men's/Women's nav decision.
- Tue — Brand direction. Voice mini-guide. Font pairing recs. Shopify audit.
- Wed — Announcement banner copy. Canva palette. Navigation map.
- Thu — Homepage wireframe v1. Asset inventory. Wim Hof + Nic Cester permission.
- Fri — Amanda reviews nav, wireframe, brand direction, fonts.
Week 2 — Mon 25 to Fri 29 May
Homepage design, storytelling, visual assets
- Mon — Hero/CRO banner. Favicon.
- Tue — Feature graphics with arrows. Founder story. Wim Hof + Nic Cester section. Testimonials.
- Wed — Handmade-in-Thailand. SEED Mob (subtle). Vegan + durability. Lems sketch visuals. Collection imagery (Mens, Womens, Sandals).
- Thu — Collection imagery (Barefoot, Clogs, Sale). Announcement banner. Email capture. Best sellers + collection sections. Compile homepage v1.
- Fri — Amanda reviews homepage v1.
Week 3 — Mon 1 to Fri 5 June
Best seller product optimisation
- Mon — Apply W2 feedback. Product imagery: Denim Low Top + Natural Slip-On.
- Tue — Product imagery: Hemp Flynn Slide + Natural Grounding Low Top.
- Wed — Product imagery: Olive Wide Toe Box. Flexibility asset. Copy: Denim + Slip-On.
- Thu — Copy: Flynn + Grounding + Olive. Sizing reassurance. Internal QA.
- Fri — Amanda reviews 5 product pages package.
Week 4 — Mon 8 to Fri 12 June
Final integration & launch
- Mon — Apply W3 feedback. Finalise nav structure. Final hero + announcement.
- Tue — Finalise trust sections + feature graphics. Best sellers. Product pages + sizing module.
- Wed — Email capture + favicon. Upload collection images. Desktop review.
- Thu — Cross-browser review. Loom walkthrough.
- Fri — Handover meeting. Retro. Phase 2 proposal.
The 5 best seller products
The 6 collections
The rules of the road
- Homepage refresh (hero, banner, favicon, trust, email capture, shopping)
- 5-item nav with M/W under Shop
- Feature graphics with arrows
- Lems-style sketch visuals
- 6 collection images
- 15 product images (3 × 5 best sellers)
- 5 SEO+CRO product descriptions
- Sizing reassurance module
- Brand voice mini-guide + font pairing recs
- Loom handover walkthrough
- Full website rebuild
- Custom coding or new app integrations
- Email automation, flows, pop-ups, campaigns
- Full SEO, ongoing SEO, Google Ads
- Shopify ↔ Square inventory sync
- Products beyond agreed scope
- Logo redesign or new versions
- Additional photography / videography
- More than 2 revisions per item
What we need from Amanda
Top risks
Phase 2 — when she's ready
- Online marketing — email, newsletters, strategy. Her #1 ask
- Email re-activation flow for the 500-person list
- SEO content expansion + Google Ads
- Storytelling blog (Wim Hof, Nic Cester, market customers)
- Shopify ↔ Square inventory sync
- Future products: barefoot espadrilles + wide-toe leather boots
- Logo refinement when she's ready
The shared folder
One Google Drive folder, 7 sub-folders, organised by the Start Here checklist. Drop files anywhere — we'll sort and tag as we go.
The 7 folders
How to upload
- Open the shared Drive folder using the link above
- Drag files into the relevant numbered sub-folder
- You can add as you go — no need to upload everything at once
- If you're not sure which folder a file belongs in, drop it into 02_Strategy + planning and we'll sort it
- The "Amanda — Start here" PDF inside the parent folder walks through exactly what to upload where