Essential Zen YogaA warm, welcoming yoga studio located in Aurora, OH that embraces authenticity and community through their unique offerings.
Overview
EssentialZen Yoga Studio is a warm, welcoming yoga studio located in Aurora, OH that embraces authenticity and community through their unique offerings. This company sought to improve their website based on negative feedback from clients. The improvements included imagery, presentation of pricing and memberships, navigational issues, and brand identity.
My Role
Redesigned EssentialZen Yoga Studio’s website to effectively communicate their mission. This included improving informational hierarchy, user experience, visual identity, body copy, imagery, branding, and overall presentation of the studio’s services.
Platform: Wix
Focus: Web Design • UX/UI • Branding • Content Strategy • Responsive Design • Accessibility • Client Collaboration
01 – Website Audit & Redesign
The existing website had several opportunities for improvement, including navigation, pricing and membership presentation, imagery, content hierarchy, accessibility, and brand consistency.
I reviewed each page to identify usability issues and reorganize information around the needs of both existing students and potential new clients. This gave me a foundation for creating a more intuitive, welcoming, and smooth website experience.
02 – Homepage & Navigation
The Homepage was redesigned to establish a stronger visual hierarchy and immediately communicate the studio’s personality.
I introduced the tagline “Real Vibes. Warm Community. Exceptional Teachers.” to reinforce the studio’s brand positioning, while refining headings, body copy, buttons, and navigation.
One usability issue identified during the redesign was that clients had difficulty finding the sign-in/register option. I addressed this by making it available both within the main page and in the primary navigation, where users would expect to find it.
03 – Pricing & Membership Experience
The Pricing page required the most significant restructuring and collaboration with the studio owner.
I redesigned the presentation of memberships using brand colors, shapes, and iconography to make the options easier to scan and compare. I also reorganized membership offerings based on the owner’s business needs.
For the hero imagery, I considered feedback that new students could feel intimidated when beginning a new exercise program. Rather than using another image of someone performing yoga, I selected calming imagery focused on yoga props to create a more approachable and welcoming first impression.
I also created a gift certificate graphic, which the owner chose to use for both online and as a printed piece for the studio.
04 – New Client Experience
The New Client page was redesigned to make the information easier to understand and more welcoming to first-time visitors.
I improved heading hierarchy, text contrast, copy structure and imagery, selecting a more relatable image of a new student entering the studio with her yoga mat.
The goal was to reduce potential anxiety around trying a new studio and create a more approachable first impression for prospective clients.
05 – Classes, Contact & Teachers
I carried the updated visual system across additional pages to create a consistent experience throughout the site. For the Classes page, I reorganized the content and call to actions, updated the hero imagery, and added an email signup form. The Contact page received improved information hierarchy, iconography, social links, and email signup functionality.
For the Teachers page, I continued the updated hero-image treatment and incorporated the studio’s new tagline into the introductory content.
All redesigned pages were developed with mobile responsiveness and visual consistency in mind.
06 – Additional Brand & Marketing Elements
Beyond the core website redesign, I created supporting elements including:
Email newsletter signup
Gift certificate graphic
Updated brand messaging
Page-specific hero imagery
Iconography and call to actions
Supporting navigation elements
This allowed the website to function as part of a larger brand and marketing experience, rather than simply as a collection of redesigned pages.
Key Takeaways
This project strengthened my ability to balance user needs, business goals, brand identity, and client feedback within a real-world website redesign.
Working directly with the studio owner also gave me experience translating feedback and business needs into practical design decisions. I learned that effective web design isn’t simply about creating visually appealing pages – it requires thoughtful organization of content, intentional imagery, accessible design, and a consistent experience across devices.
I continue to support EssentialZen Yoga with website updates and improvements as their needs evolve.