Southern Tide
2024 - 2025
Digital Site & Style Guide Rebuild
UX Design · UI Design · Web Design · Ecommerce · Product Discovery · Component Systems
Southern Tide had a strong brand presence, but their digital storefront that hadn't kept up. To meet increasing online demand, I was brought in to rebuild the site from its foundation to redesigning their digital experience.
Lead Designer: Kira Gelbard
Senior Project Manager: Danielle Reid, Tyler Graves
VP of Development: Elena Bogdanova
The Problem
Southern Tide was seeing real online growth, but the storefront hadn't kept pace. Components varied, spacing was inconsistent, and the browsing experience broke down across key sections. The site had drifted from its own brand guidelines and that drift was compounding with every new addition.
The opportunity was to go back to the foundation and redesign the experience from there within a Shopify framework.
My Role
I joined the project and flagged early that the style guide needed to be solved before anything else. Thinking ahead, I could see that leaving it unaddressed would create compounding problems across every design decision and dev handoff down the line. I recommended a full rebuild, realigning type, color, and photography to the brand's existing guidelines so the whole storefront had a reliable foundation to build from for both dev and design.
Once this was in place, I designed and refined homepage sections, PLP, PDP enhancements, product cards, sort and filter, quick add, blog templates, footer, and more, working closely with the team and client to keep the project moving forward.
Key Design Decisions
A mega menu built for scale
Southern Tide's catalog spans multiple categories, collections, and lifestyle moments. I designed a mega menu that balances functional hierarchy with editorial intent, organized category links paired with a featured collection image that merchandises the brand while guiding the shopper. On mobile, the same structure collapses into a focused accordion that keeps navigation fast without losing depth.
Desktop mega menu with editorial imagery alongside structured category links. Mobile accordion built to match the same hierarchy in a compact, touch-friendly format.
Visual subcategories, implemented as a PLP best practice
Southern Tide's assortment is wide (with category, the range of styles, fits, and fabrications) can overwhelm. I introduced a subcategory image navigation at the top of each PLP, giving shoppers a visual entry point to refine before they even hit the grid. Less scrolling, less friction, faster path to what's relevant.
Visual subcategory navigation above the product grid. This is a best practice that reduces cognitive load and keeps shoppers moving toward the right product faster.
