Brand Design – Dionne Design Studio

Ferguson Human Resource Solutions

Sarah Sullivan — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:37:45 +0000

Ferguson Human Resource Solutions

Ferguson HR Solutions is a full-service HR consulting firm and division of Ferguson Digital, offering tiered HR support to business owners from foundational resources through comprehensive strategic guidance.

Before any design work began, we developed a comprehensive set of website goals and recommendations covering tone, photography direction, typography, content structure, and call-to-action strategy. The central recommendation was a single scrollable homepage built around a narrative journey rather than a service list, with calls to action placed throughout to meet visitors wherever they were in the decision-making process. Photography direction called for warm, people-focused imagery that reflected the firm’s inclusive values, specifically avoiding the cold corporate aesthetic common in the HR space.

We presented two distinct visual design directions, each with a clear strategic rationale. The first emphasized warmth and approachability through rounded elements and softer visual cues, suited to clients who want a supportive partner. The strategic content structure and color palette, developed collaboratively with the client. After the client selected their direction, the full site was built and launched in Squarespace within two weeks.

The result is a website that meets potential clients in their moment of uncertainty about HR and immediately communicates both the firm’s expertise and its people-first values.

Services

Web strategy and design: the strategy centered on a single scrollable, narrative-driven homepage (rather than a service-list structure) with calls to action placed throughout the visitor’s decision journey. We Built on Squarespace so the client can update and maintain the site independently, without needing a developer for routine changes or content updates.
Copywriting: Using client materials, industry research, and AI-assisted drafting, we wrote copy that speaks to both experienced HR buyers and first-time clients.
Visual identity: While the client hadn’t budgeted for a full brand design, I helped them to developed a visual style — color palette, typography, iconography, and photography — to reflect the firm’s people-first values.

“Sarah created a beautiful, professional website that perfectly captures my brand. Working with her was an absolute pleasure. She listened carefully to my vision, addressed every concern, and offered creative solutions that elevated the final result. I highly recommend her services and am grateful for the wonderful collaboration.”

The Back Room

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 09 Sep 2025 13:56:24 +0000

The Back Room

The Back Room is a live, online event and a community forum where authors and readers connect in an intimate, conversational setting.

The brand design draws inspiration from the speakeasy era, with saturated colors, dramatic mood, and fonts/iconography that nod to Art Deco without slipping into cliché. This creates a distinctive, memorable atmosphere that reflects the event’s exclusive, behind-the-scenes feel.

The Back Room website was designed to be both visually striking and effortless to navigate. It carries through the brand’s saturated color palette in a way that feels bold but never heavy, creating an inviting atmosphere. The site also includes a custom registration system with an integrated “add-to-calendar” feature, ensuring a seamless experience for participants from sign-up to event day.

In 2026, The Back Room launched After Hours at the Back Room, a private Substack with author profiles and event recaps, book recommendations, and exclusive author video interviews. We created a sub brand for this new venture which played off the original palette and added new visual identity elements and social media templates.

Services

Email marketing: Designed and created branded email campaigns, including seasonal announcements and event reminders.
Social media content: Created platform-specific graphics and posts for event announcements, season kick-offs, and day-of reminders. To keep the feed engaging and on-brand, I also curated and shared vintage images of Old Hollywood stars reading, reinforcing the event’s speakeasy-inspired aesthetic.
Event graphics & video: Developed custom graphics and waiting room videos for each event. These elements extended the brand experience into the live event itself, setting the tone for participants from the moment they log in.
Technical event management: Oversaw the production of each Zoom event, including highlighting speakers on screen, creating and managing breakout rooms, and smoothly moving authors between sessions. This ensures the technology supports, rather than distracts from, the intimate, conversational atmosphere
Substack management: Wrote and published book recommendation roundups and author profiles for substack along with creating social media graphics.

Protea Landscaping

Sarah Sullivan — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 01:58:17 +0000

Protea Landscaping

New England landscaping company, Protea Landscaping, wanted a fresh, modern brand to re-launch their business.

We built the logo around the titular protea flower, landing on an illustration that was both bold and delicate. The flower is embedded in every logo variation from seals to badges.

To balance the femininity of the floral element, the typography of the business name was made bold and modern.

And the vibrant color palette was based around the dark pink of the protea, as well as the variations of green of the seasons.

The brand will be used on truck signage, uniforms, business cards, and some fun promotional items like tote bags and thermoses, as well as the website (coming soon).

Loyal + Sage Photography

Sarah Sullivan — Fri, 24 Jan 2025 20:07:42 +0000

Loyal + Sage Photography

Maternity and lifestyle photographer Loyal + Sage needed a brand identity to market themselves online and on social media.

The wordmark combines a bold san serif and a delicate serif to demonstrate the edginess and softness of the photography style which uses a lot of black and white and film portraiture.

We developed social media templates and a digital pricing sheet to share with clients.

Muskrat Lodge Writer’s Retreat

Sarah Sullivan — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 02:57:57 +0000

Muskrat Lodge Writers Retreat

Muskrat Lodge is a multi-day retreat hosted by best-selling author Karen Dionne and a rotating group of guest instructors. Attendees receive guidance and support for their work and are able to relax in a peaceful setting, free of distraction and filled with inspiration.

The brand uses a soothing palette of sage green, pale blue, and soft gold that reflects the peaceful nature of the environment. The typography of the logo is classic with the fun twist of nestled letter forms. palette ⁠We also created several badge logos using the name as well as the tagline “Where words flow like water.” Nature illustrations of muskrats, pine cones, and a heron, all emblematic of the retreat location, are used throughout the brand collateral and website.

We also built a full suite of social media templates which they can use to announce their retreat sessions and build excitement.

The Muskrat Lodge website features a detailed retreat program, information about the instructors, accommodations, and registration logistics. It even has an informative private attendees page for each retreat where authors can upload their manuscript.

Deer Cove Beach Resort

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 22:49:37 +0000

Deer Cove Beach

Deer Cove Beach is a family owned resort in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They wanted a refreshed website with a colorful palette and a beautiful, functional website.

The brand uses a stylized deer mascot in various formations: full logo, round seal, and badge style which are reminiscent of vintage Boy Scout badges. The palette of teal, green, and yellow reflects the active, fun environment to appeal to a new generation of visitors.

The website is built in Squarespace, making it easy to update and uses automated booking software and highlights the cabins, activities, history, and environment.

Lynay Smith Consulting

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 21:45:02 +0000

Lynay Smith Consulting

Lynay Smith in an independent marketing consultant and her business hinges on building relationships, so her name had to be front-and-center in her brand design.

We took the letters of her first name to form an icon that would be used as the touchstone for her brand. It is the centerpiece of her logo and the icon and its inverse can also be used as graphic elements throughout her website and marketing materials, consistently representing her brand across all client touch points.

Loyal Creatives

Sarah Sullivan — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 02:47:00 +0000

Loyal Creatives

Loyal Creatives is a Boston-based photography studio specializing in brand and editorial photography.

Because Loyal Creatives is run by my husband, I just started designing a logo for him as he launched his business and thankfully he liked it!

I expanded on the initial logo concept, giving him several logo variations, all using the double letter motif.

The brand palette is black and white so as not to compete with the bold, saturated tones of his photos. The brand also uses graphic boxes and lines throughout.

Samantha Falk Communications

Sarah Sullivan — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 22:40:43 +0000

Samantha Falk Communications

Former broadcast journalist, Samantha Falk launched her own communications company but needed a brand and website which reflected the years of experience she brought to her clients.

We designed this brand with a classic font and thoughtful elements to make it special and memorable.

The Samantha Falk website was built on Squarespace and used a marble background to denote luxury and stability.

Sea Salt Studio

Sarah Sullivan — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 21:46:50 +0000

Sea Salt Studio

Sea Salt Studio, a custom airbrush tanning studio in Anacortes, Washington wanted a brand identity which evoked summer with a slightly retro, 70s vibe.

I created a customized logo to create a dreamy feel but anchored it with a san serif font, accented with stylized diamonds.⁠

The palette is warm orange and cool green which feels right at home in the Pacific Northwest.⁠

I also created a logo variation, submark, a diamond pattern, and a whole suite of social media templates customizable in Canva.⁠