I was hired earlier this year to design a new website for the Tory Burch Foundation. The Tory Burch brand and aesthetic is so well-defined that the challenge with this project was keeping the foundation’s website design uniquely “its own thing,” but still very much part of the Tory Burch universe. To achieve this, I used toryburch.com as my primary influence, but used a layout more suited to a non-ecommerce website and added watercolor accents, most notably the hand-painted foundation logo that fills the background of the page. This paint effect adds a warmth and femininity that speaks to the mission of the foundation.
The Tory Burch Foundation was founded by designer Tory Burch to support and nurture women in business. Ms. Burch was quoted in Forbes as saying, “We launched our foundation two years ago to empower women through microfinance and mentorship in the United States. It’s not charity; it’s empowerment. It’s an investment in our collective futures.”
About The Tory Burch Foundation (from their website):
“Inspired by her own experience as a business owner and working mother, designer Tory Burch launched the Tory Burch Foundation (TBF) in 2009 to support the empowerment of women and families. A nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization, TBF invests in the success and sustainability of women-owned businesses through grants and microfinance for women entrepreneurs. Through mentoring opportunities, TBF provides women and girls with the information and tools needed to achieve their aspirations as entrepreneurs and leaders.” Learn more ☛
One of the ways in which the foundation supports women in business is through their mentorship programs, several of which I have been fortunate enough to attend. I’ve been in small group mentoring sessions and talked to and learned from the likes of Dylan Lauren, founder of Dylan’s Candy Bar, Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of a little company called Google, and even Tory Burch herself, and listened as Mickey Drexler, the CEO of JCrew, speak for hours about the secret of his many successes (and even some failures). I’ll write about those lessons and experiences in another post; to stay in the loop, be sure to follow me on Twitter and like my page on Facebook.
Vist the Tory Burch Foundation website ☛
