Bombshell is a chain of beauty salons based in the tri-city Capital District in Upstate New York. The salon team provides specialized color and styling techniques, focusing on individualized solutions for each client. Their goal is to ensure every client leaves feeling not just beautiful, but renewed and empowered. Ruth&Co. designed a brand identity, salon graphics, apparel, and product packaging that reflect the salon’s approach.
We began with an in-depth discovery phase, immersing ourselves in the culture and business of the salons and their retail presence. We interviewed stylists, clients, and online shoppers to learn what made both groups loyal to the salon.
We learned that the Bombshell Salon experience is not just about superficial beauty. It is about personal empowerment through beauty. Clients leave appointments with renewed confidence, believing in their beauty. It is also about every stylist feeling empowered to develop professionally, build their clientele, and use their confidence to create a successful career. This message of empowerment is the essence of the Bombshell experience and is built into the brand messaging.
Brand messaging was written to elevate the word “Bombshell” beyond describing a stunning physical appearance. A Bombshell is powerful, with energetic beauty that comes from within. It is a message of empowerment and joyful exuberance in looking and feeling beautiful.
The brand’s visual language echoes distinct details in the salon decor, including a color palette of rich magenta and gilded gold, bold wings juxtaposed among shooting stars and bright bursts of swirling linework, anchored by a wordmark set in Tre Stencil Display, a distinctive typeface that is identifiable as the Bombshell brand, even when presented independently. Leaning into these distinct elements informed a brand mark that is genuinely ownable and honors the salons’ aesthetic.
The salon’s online beauty supply store is among the largest suppliers of premium hair and beauty products in the U.S., but it lacked an in-store shopping experience for salon customers. In-store signage was designed and installed at each styling station to invite clients to shop for stylist-recommended products, connecting the salons to the online retail.
