Gina Haines is an award-winning Author, Educator, Speaker, Happiness Coach & Artist… Plus my #1 go to Guru!

She guides women home to themselves, helping them find greater joy, empowerment, purpose and meaning - so they can confidently and courageously live with authenticity and happiness.

How incredible is that?!

Ok so full disclosure, Gina is my mum, but I’ve been working as her company Creative Director for almost 10 years now (man time flies!) And together we’ve worked on some amazing projects, so I thought I’d share an inside look at the design process for them.

Our work journey began when Gina left her academic career (as an award-winning University lecturer), to chase her dreams, write a book, start an online TV show and raise the level of joy and happiness in the world. 

I’d completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts a few years earlier and Gina approached me to design her now award-winning (actually multi-award-winning!) book You-phoria: The Art of Authenticity, and to film and edit her online TV show Gina Happiness TV. 

The brief Part #1

CREATE A UNIQUE CUSTOM BOOK DESIGN

My aim : Design a book as an immersive self-development experience that would look darn gorgeous in the process! One that would illuminate curiosity and joy, inspire wonder and hope, and ignite your senses as you engage, explore and create your way to a happier and more fulfilling life!

MEET ‘YOU-PHORIA : THE ART OF AUTHENTICITY’

It was not intended to be an ordinary book or design by any standards. 

With a mirror embedded in the cover in the shape of an eye, the reader is immediately pulled into the space of self-reflection the book invites.

This was Gina’s idea and a total key element in the book’s overall concept. Now we lovingly describe it as ‘a reflective guide to inner happiness’ 😉

Throughout the pages, I wove Gina’s incredible intuitive artworks and used her playful and curious personality to inspire many of the design decisions.

Since it was published in 2018, You-phoria: The Art of Authenticity has won:

• Silver at the Nautilus Book Awards

• Bronze at the Living Now Book Awards (Evergreen Medal) 

• Finalist in the Best Book Awards

• Finalist in the International Book Awards

• And changed many lives in the process!

Not only was it a privilege to work with Gina bringing this incredible book to life, but I really am so proud of the outcome, it’s such a uniquely stunning book and one I’m really proud to have in my collection. It’s also just a straight up incredible book - Gina is so talented and worth every one of her many awards!

The brief part #2

FILM & EDIT AN ONLINE TV SHOW

The next facet in our journey together was Gina’s Online TV show, Gina Happiness TV.

Together we interviewed people who love their work, searching for the keys to how who you are effects what you do and how you can access that information in a way that will help you find more happiness in your work (and life).

We met so many incredible people through this experience and I loved every minute of it. It was such a privilege to be involved and to be present for these remarkably honest and conscious conversations.

If you’ve caught any of the episodes and enjoyed them, we have a shared dream we’re bubbling away at in the pipelines which will blow your socks off… so keep your eyes peeled!

The brief part #3

FULL REBRAND & SQUARESPACE WEBSITE REDESIGN

Skip forward a few years and several other projects in between and it was time for a full rebrand, plus a full redesign on Gina’s website.

This would also require:

• Fresh brand photography

• A marketing makeover

• All new copywriting

• Full integration of Gina’s courses

• A clear and inspiring strategy to move us forward.

THE OLD SITE BEFORE THE REDESIGN:

Gina felt she’d outgrown her old website and it no longer represented her and her business, so the timing was perfect!

We started with our brand discovery phase - Getting crystal clear on how we wanted the new branding to feel, who we wanted it to connect with and why. What our goals and vision was and the values that were driving us forward. We established key colours and elements we’d build the brand around, and from all of this we decided to start with a brand photography shoot.

We knew we wanted site visitors to really get a sense of Gina and what working with her really feels like when they visited the site. 

We wanted to capture:

• her effervescent personality

• joy

• humour

• playfulness

• passion

• curiosity for life

• Weave in an element of her grounded and intuitive wisdom

• her creativity

• intelligence

• credibility. 

Gina is someone who expresses herself with the whole spectrum of colour available so her incredible colourful outfits and earrings were key to the images.

Also, no matter where the photos were, we wanted there to be natural elements in them - plants, the ocean, a river etc. It needed to feel atmospheric, alive, fresh and uplifting. But also like a really great time!

We strategically selected some of Gina’s favourite places so the photos would feel inspired, honest, authentic and natural - plus they would match the intended palette we had in mind.

We had so much fun that day! And the photos continue to make me smile. I know Gina extremely well and I really believe we captured her authentic essence.

Next up, the new website…

What a beast! In the best way possible. This really is a website that has it all:

• Blog

• Digital Products

• Physical Products

• TV show

• Online courses and student login portal

• Client bookings

• Multi long form sales pages

• Multiple opt in downloads

• The ability to book and purchase tickets to events

• Multiple third party integrations and more!

One of the things I really loved from this project (and this is a bit nerdy I’ll be honest with you) is that EVERYTHING is on Squarespace (with the exception only of Gina’s email marketing platform and live events). This made it such a dream to design, meant we could fully brand and customise every inch of design and experience, and it also made it such a dream for Gina moving forward. One platform to monitor, update, edit - one integrated customer experience (cue the singing angel noises!)

Shifting her courses across to Squarespace (from teachable) was such a huge instigator in taking the leap to rebrand and we honestly haven’t looked back.

Take a look at the transformation and see what you think!

Here’s a more in depth sneak peak at some of the pages…

But how did Gina feel about it all once we were done? I’ll hand the mic. over to her…

The brief part #4

We also worked together on Gina’s social marketing, weaving the new brand essence through her feed to pull forward that resonant feeling and scale her growth.

You can see that here or @gina_haines on instagram:

Conclusions & celebrations

Since completing our most recent projects together, Gina has gone on to obtain certification as a Happy for No Reason coach, as well as winning Happiness Coach of the Year 2024 award plus Best Personal Development Course Provider NZ 2023!! 🥳

I am so excited for her and very proud to celebrate her wins with her too.

I highly recommend checking out Gina’s work, she’s hands down the most intelligent, beautiful, wise and compassionate person I have ever had the joy of meeting and she really is spectacularly gifted as an educator and coach (and author and artist and speaker, gosh the list goes on!) Just take my word for it and check her out!

I’d love to know what you think of the new branding and design!

Ballantyne x.

Curious about your own transformation?

If you’re curious about your own transformation by accessing my unique creative scope, depth, & skills to help get you luminous & unstoppable with branding & design that truly serves you. I can’t wait to show you exactly what I mean!

Let’s unleash the power of your authentic essence in your branding and make your business irresistible!

Together we’ll create the abundance magnet you’re proud to welcome your dream clients to - a site that really represents the heart of you and your business. Curious to know more?

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