Paul Mitchell

Project Overview:
Branded Microsite for the MITCH Product Line

Developed the branded microsite for John Paul Mitchell Systems' MITCH product line — designed to educate, entice, and send people to salons and beauty supply stores for product purchase.

Summary:

MITCH is John Paul Mitchell Systems' line for men — straightforward, no-nonsense product designed for guys who want results without a tutorial. The microsite's job matched the product's personality: get in, make an impression, and get the customer to a salon or beauty supply store to buy.

The challenge was translating a tactile, barbershop-adjacent brand into a digital experience that felt authentic to its male audience — useful and direct, never precious — while giving JPMS a platform to educate consumers on the product range and convert interest into store visits.

"Conlee is rare — a mix of both designer and developer with outstanding skills in both domains."
— William Wood, Director of Web Marketing, John Paul Mitchell Systems

Design & Development

Brand Voice & UX

• Challenge: Reach a male audience that typically doesn't browse beauty brand websites — and keep them engaged long enough to learn about the product range.
• Solution: Led with attitude over information. The design leaned into MITCH's irreverent, confident tone — bold typography, high-contrast visuals, and copy that spoke directly to the user without overselling. Education was built into the experience, not bolted onto it.

Product Education

• Challenge: MITCH's line spans hold levels, textures, and finishes that require some guidance to navigate — without making the site feel like a manual.
• Solution: Designed an interactive product selector that matched users to the right product based on their hair type and desired finish, reducing friction and increasing purchase confidence before they ever reached the shelf.

Salon & Retail Integration

• Challenge: MITCH is a professional brand — it lives in salons and authorized retailers, not mass-market channels. The site needed to drive physical traffic, not just generate clicks.
• Solution: Integrated a salon and beauty supply locator as a primary CTA, making "find it near you" the natural endpoint of every product page. Worked with JPMS' retail data to keep the locator accurate and fast.

Social & Brand Awareness

• Challenge: Build brand awareness and product familiarity for a line launching into a crowded men's grooming market.
• Solution: Built social sharing into product and editorial pages, and developed campaign landing pages to support JPMS' broader paid and organic marketing efforts — extending the microsite into a hub for ongoing brand activity.

Deliverables

• Full microsite — home, product range, product detail, and salon/retailer locator
• Interactive product selector tool
• Campaign landing pages for brand awareness and social integration
• Responsive build across desktop and mobile