SEPHORA CREATIVE HQ


CONCEPT :
 The concept stemmed from an ongoing passion project to build templates for recurring digital assets. Originally the template files lived on the server, but the files were not secure and were repeatedly rewritten. There was also addition information that lived beyond the template files themselves, such as character counts & legal requirements. The creative team ultimately came to the conclusion that a style guide website could solve for these challenges.

DEVELOPMENT :
The development began with researching how other departments had created resource portals. The product team worked with an agency to build a Squarespace site, so we were able to pull their template & customize for our needs. We built a site map of the content that would ultimately be housed within the website.

EXECUTION :
The execution is an ever-growing database of all information a new creative member needs to effectively work at Sephora. The content in the Creative HQ has cut down the onboarding duration by months, and the site is now being used by partners throughout the marketing organization. Even though Sephora Americas is a separate entity, the Creative HQ made its way to Sephora South East Asia, where they are now creating a version based on our site.

fig. 1

fig. 2

The initial intention was to house digital templates, but it was quickly determined that there was much more content that did not have a findable location. We built site maps (fig. 1 / fig. 2) to ensure the infrastructure we were creating could accommodate the future state of content needs.

 

fig. 3

 

We then built a framework for how each template page would be built (fig. 3). Each page starts with a template wireframe noting asset size and additional mandatories. Templates that include standardized copy include an editorial requirements table with all copy styling built in. We have added two relevant examples for visual reference, and a link to download the template files.

 

fig. 4

 

Once a good portion of digital asset templates were built, we moved on to populating additional helpful information for the creative team. This included file naming conventions (fig. 4), ADA compliance, preferred spellings, brand guidelines, process documentation, org charts, floor plans, standing meetings, and more.