A Bold Look for a New Brand
Founded in 1978, CityGear is a leading apparel and footwear retailer, offering the latest styles from Nike, Jordan, Adidas, and other major brands. In early 2024, the brand launched a digital refresh to strengthen its presence at the intersection of sneaker and streetwear culture.
Over three months, I led a team of four designers to reskin and reimagine core experiences in the CityGear app, aligning it with the brand refresh. I managed design planning and timelines, led the design of onboarding and the homepage, and collaborated with PMs and Engineering to drive execution and deliverables.
Role:
Design Lead
What I Did:
App Redesign
iOS & Android
Design Leadership
the challenge
Our team was tasked with translating the new brand direction into a cohesive visual language for the app, enhancing visual merchandising, and designing for a CMS integration on the home page.
visual direction
We first collaborated with our clients to translate the new brand direction into a cohesive visual language for iOS and Android.
Brand direction
The new brand direction infused the visual language with streetwear and sneaker culture, using raw, gritty, and layered treatments. This came to life through bold black, red accents, and aggressive visuals.
App Visual Language
With a condensed timeline, branding and app development advanced in parallel. To bridge the gap, we led clients through visual design syncs, using style tiles to explore how the new branding would translate digitally.
Final Visual Direction
In design sessions, we collaborated with clients to define a visual direction featuring a bold all-caps typeface, high-contrast black-and-white sections, and red accents for calls to action.
onboading experience
From the moment users downloaded the app, we made a strong brand statement and clearly conveyed the app’s value.
We created a branded splash animation that embodied the raw, authentic energy of the new positioning while highlighting featured brands.
home tab strategy
The home tab was a central touchpoint for brand expression, visual merchandising, and a CMS-powered content strategy.
Throughout the homepage, we integrated CMS content blocks between product carousels, featuring strong, full-bleed imagery to enhance visual merchandising.
Recognizing the impact of social proof and trend adoption, we created an engaging 'shop the look' experience, leveraging local trends from neighborhood CityGear Instagram accounts.
Design System
Early on, I identified the need for a design system to streamline style updates and future-proof the app's architecture. I aligned with Engineering and Product to initiate the work and set the strategic direction for the team.
Process & Outcomes
In the first few weeks of the project, I conducted in-depth research to understand the client relationship, their working style, what had been sold in, the existing feature set, and any technical constraints—while also identifying opportunities for improvement.
From there, I structured the design timeline to establish a clear cadence, ensuring alignment with the client and partner agencies while keeping engineering milestones on track. The app successfully launched in Fall 2024.
The Team:
Design: Nate Baker, Lulu Tang, Wei Wang, Ericka Henderson
Product: Jack Hatchett, Gracie Wang
Lead Engineer: Vikas Karambalkar
