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Your website should make the next step feel obvious.
That’s a big part of why a designer matters.
Here’s an interesting finding: people tend to perceive attractive interfaces as easier to use. Nielsen Norman Group calls this the aesthetic–usability effect. But visual appeal has limits when people can’t find what they need.
A designer connects that first impression to a clear experience:
→ Hierarchy that helps visitors understand your offer.
→ Navigation and calls to action that guide them forward.
→ Type, spacing and contrast that make content comfortable to read.
→ Mobile layouts designed around how people actually browse.
→ A consistent visual language that makes the website feel like your brand.
The value is in those decisions: what to show first, what to simplify, and how to help someone move from interest to action.
Building or rethinking your website? Let’s make your brand clear from the first scroll.
Research: nngroup.com/articles/aesthetic-usability-effect/
Photos: Compagnons (@sigmund) and UX Indonesia / Unsplash.
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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I just finalised a brand evolution and website migration for Virtuoso.
500+ CMS items and 150+ static pages moved from Webflow to Framer.
Alongside that, I helped shape the brand across web, campaigns, product and motion.
The impact:
• Helped shift 80% outbound to 80% inbound
• Built a clearer and more consistent brand presence
• Made a complex AI product easier to understand, trust and buy
I’ve been working with Virtuoso as their design partner on a monthly retainer, helping the brand evolve as the company grows.
500+ CMS items is not a small migration, that's the kind of project that eats weeks just in QA. What almost went wrong during the Webflow to Framer move?
For Sienna Rhodes, I designed the homepage around one idea: the portfolio should come first.
Photography clients usually want to know one thing before they read about your process, your packages, or even who you are: Do I connect with your work?
So instead of opening with a traditional introduction, the homepage leads directly into the portfolio and lets the imagery make the first impression. The supporting copy and details come later, once the work has already created that initial connection.
I’m curious where other designers and photographers land on this. Do you prefer a portfolio-first homepage, or do you think the photographer’s story should come first?
Portfolio first, every time for photography. Nobody hires off a process paragraph, they hire because one image stopped them scrolling. The story matters, but it lands harder after the work has already made the case. That start here slider does the pitch by itself.
I joined Contra just a week ago and have mostly shared the client branding work I do through Mariya Design.
But I haven't properly introduced the other branch of my practice yet:
Color Systems by Mariya.
It started from something I kept running into in brand and packaging work: a color palette can look beautiful and still be surprisingly difficult to use.
So I began building systems around color instead of collecting combinations.
Today that includes:
/49 Luxury Color Systems
Role-led color systems for branding and packaging.
/365 Cultural Color Palettes
A growing archive of color directions inspired by places, objects, materials and visual culture around the world.
/Color Systems Workbook
A free tool for turning color inspiration into a usable system.
/Color System Sales Kit
A practical tool for designers presenting and selling color direction to clients.
I'll share some of the systems, visual references and thinking behind them here over the next few weeks.
If you're a designer, brand strategist or just slightly obsessed with color, this side of my work is probably for you.
Color Systems by Mariya
mariya.design/color-systems
