Jamie Sage is a London-based visual designer and art director. His work can be found on and offline.

Objective

Our goal was to tell the story of a premium, eco-friendly sneaker brand sold directly to consumers. This involved designing the e-commerce site (FullUpCircle.com), building an online community, shaping the unboxing experience, setting a clear visual direction, and making sure everything—from packaging to social media—felt cohesive and aligned with the brand’s minimalist, high-end feel.

Approach

We started by focusing on transparency, aiming to share detailed content about how the sneakers were made—through photography, video, and storytelling. Initially, we planned to highlight the production process in depth. But when the brand owner raised concerns about highlighting manufacturing in China, we shifted the focus.

Instead, we built trust through partnerships with well-known creatives and tastemakers, including Kustaa Saksi, Catherine Yan, Peter Lampard, and Merlin Labron-Johnson. By collaborating with voices who already had the audience’s trust, we were able to communicate quality and credibility without showing the full supply chain.

Visual Direction

Working closely with the brand manager, we developed a simple visual guide to keep all imagery consistent with the brand’s clean, pared-back aesthetic. This look extended beyond the website and social media—boxing experience, in-store graphics, presentation decks and other external documents followed the same style, helping build a recognizable identity.

The E-commerce Site

We designed the site based on research into what worked well for similar brands. The homepage introduced the product and its story clearly, while the product pages gave more detail on design, benefits, and added social proof through customer reviews.

When we noticed from analytics that most visitors skipped the homepage and left the site from the collections page, we adjusted the structure—cutting back on homepage content and adding key messaging to the collections page instead. This helped make sure new visitors quickly understood what made the product special, even if they didn’t explore the full site.
Results
Through a mix of thoughtful design, clear storytelling, and strategic partnerships, we helped Fullup communicate its values and stand out as a premium brand with a sustainable focus.