Portfolio Feature
Amy Rau Photography
For a photographer whose work feels honest, warm, and deeply personal, the brand needed to feel just as true.
Amy Rau is a family, newborn, and maternity photographer based in Oklahoma City with a gift for making photos feel honest, natural, and personal. She built her business as a film photographer, using the slower pace of film to help people feel at ease and capture moments as they naturally unfold.
Her work focuses on the beauty of everyday life — real connection, quiet details, and the little moments that make a home, family, or business feel like itself. She’s also the photographer behind my own brand photos on this website, so I knew firsthand how much care she brings to her work. As her business grew, her brand and website no longer felt aligned with the warmth and quality of her photography, so she came to me for a refreshed identity and online home.
The Project Scope
brand strategy
visual brand identity
showit template website customization
before
After
Brand Strategy
My strategy process includes local market research, audience and competitor analysis, positioning, brand voice, messaging, archetypes, and concept development.
For Amy, we focused on positioning her as a different kind of family photographer — one who uses film and a slower approach to create images that feel natural, honest, and true to real life. Less about perfect poses, and more about preserving the way your family actually feels in this season.
I identified The Creator and The Caregiver as the guiding archetypes, which led to a brand direction built around artistry, ease, and everyday beauty. That foundation shaped the messaging, visual identity, and website strategy, helping Amy feel more distinct in a crowded family photography market.
The Logo
With the strategy in place, I started sketching brand marks inspired by the mood board and concepts like growing families, natural rhythm, and togetherness. After a few rounds, we landed on a mirrored floral mark, with two tulips forming an oval shape that subtly reflects the shape of a growing womb or family.
The flowers also represent the bonds that hold a family together — individual pieces that feel connected, balanced, and part of something whole.
From there, I created a full logo system with vertical marks, badges, and a monogram, giving Amy a flexible identity that could work beautifully across her website, printed pieces, social media, and client materials.
Visual Identity
The visual identity uses deep greens, muted plum, pale blue, sage, and ivory to create a brand that feels warm, grounded, and a little nostalgic. The darker tones add depth and polish, while the lighter colors keep it soft and natural.
The typography brings a similar balance, pairing a classic serif with a clean sans serif so the brand feels artful but still easy to use across the website, guides, and printed pieces.
I also created a wallpaper-like pattern from the floral mark, adding texture and personality in a way that feels personal, home-centered, and connected to Amy’s work.
Amy Rau Photography
I had always DIY'd everything in my business and decided it was time to get serious, so that's when I hired Hayley! It was really helpful to go through the whole branding process with her to really define who my ideal client is, and what my messaging should be. I love what she did with my website and feel like it is really true to me and my business.
what they're saying:
"She designed the most beautiful brand & website for me and the whole process was so easy and seamless."
The Website
Amy’s website was customized from a Showit template, giving us a strong starting point while still allowing the final site to feel fully aligned with her new brand. I adjusted the layout, styling, typography, color palette, and image flow to better reflect the warmth and natural feel of her photography.
Beyond the visual updates, the website strategy focused on making her services feel clear and easy to navigate. We reworked the page flow to guide visitors through her approach, portfolio, session details, and inquiry process in a way that feels simple, personal, and connected to the kind of experience Amy creates for her clients.
