06Case study / Fashion
Tom Ford Beauty
Tom Ford Beauty’s brand, kept consistent from web to print, and a clear case for accessible, elegant design within its strict guidelines.
Introduction
A case for accessible, elegant design, inside a luxury brand’s strict guidelines.
In 2023, I joined the Tom Ford Beauty team as a contract brand designer, helping keep the beauty division’s brand consistent and intact across its digital and print presence.
Tom Ford Beauty is a luxury brand with a powerful, established visual identity, and guidelines to match. My role: cohesive brand design across web, mobile, and print, while advocating for accessibility inside guidelines built for luxury first.
My work was delivered: live on the brand’s web and mobile touchpoints, and in print. It’s under NDA, so the one screen I can show is the 2023 Private Blend fragrance page.
My Role
I worked across the beauty division’s touchpoints, with internal and external teams:
- Brand designOne tone, palette, and typographic hierarchy across web, mobile, and print.
- Accessibility reviewAudits across pages and devices, pinpointing the high-risk contrast issues.
- Mobile legibilityLine weight, spacing, and background blur, explored within the brand’s rules.
- CollaborationInternal and external teams, so every asset matched, digital to print.
The Challenge
The fragrance page put Tom Ford’s Private Blend photography front and center, with white type laid over richly detailed images. Beautiful, but the contrast fell short, especially for visually impaired visitors.
The same white type, on every photograph
- Soleil Neige: about 1.5 to 1White on a pale, snowy photograph.
- Soleil Blanc: about 2.2 to 1White on a white bottle and silver.
- Lost Cherry: two backgroundsClear on the deep red. Where the name runs onto the soft pink glass, it fades.
- Jasmin Rouge: about 18 to 1The same type passes easily on a dark photograph.
Measured for this case study, on this screenshot: white type against the photograph around it. WCAG 2.1 AA asks for at least 4.5 to 1 for small text like the prices, and 3 to 1 for large type.
The art direction came first. The brand’s visual standard often puts luxury aesthetics ahead of contrast, and there was little room to depart from art-directed compositions, especially on flagship visuals. I raised the issue consistently, and argued for overlays and other alternatives.
My Approach
So I worked inside the lines, and made the case as clearly as I could:
- Audits
- Detailed audits across pages and devices, pinpointing the high-risk contrast issues.
- Proposals
- Overlays and other alternatives, raised consistently.
- Mobile
- Line weight, spacing, and background blur, explored for legibility on small screens.
- Documentation
- Reports for the design and development teams, annotated with examples and WCAG references.
I wasn’t positioned to enforce change, so I made every proposal as clear and actionable as it could be.
One voice, on every surface
With internal and external teams, I kept every brand asset, from digital to print, in the same tone, palette, and typographic hierarchy.
Pictured: Tom Ford Beauty’s own campaign photography.
The Outcome
Many of the improvements I proposed weren’t implemented during my contract: the brand’s restrictions came first. Since then, I’ve been glad to see Tom Ford Beauty begin integrating WCAG-compliant practices.
The project sharpened how I work in highly constrained, non-agile environments, where change is slow and brand fidelity is paramount, and how I collaborate inside a layered, stakeholder-heavy brand.
Learnings
- 01
Advocacy is part of the job. When larger change isn’t possible in the moment, document it clearly, and keep making the case.
- 02
Find the incremental wins. Even inside strict guidelines, there’s room to explore line weight, spacing, and blur.
- 03
Luxury and inclusion can share a page. Upholding the brand and pushing for accessibility aren’t opposites.