New light for an icon of Ticino wellness
Client
Year
2022
Sector
Wellness / SPA
Services
- Rebranding
- Web Design
- Market strategy
Challenge
GothicSauna is a family micro-business with 30 years of history and a signature logo by photographer and artist Christian Tagliavini. The original website — unchanged since 2012 — no longer reflected the quality of the spa experience:
- a non-responsive layout and outdated technology;
- disorganised content and unclear offers;
- a visual identity overshadowed by dated photographs and an inconsistent palette.
The challenge was to rejuvenate the brand while keeping the historic logo intact, and at the same time give the client a sales and storytelling tool suitable for an international audience.
Audit & Insight
- Mapping the services (sauna, whirlpool, special rooms, circuits, events).
- Target customer analysis
- Funnel-based UX architecture
Strategy
Logo redesign
The logotype represents a historic brand and remains untouched, but we proposed a redesign of the structure, tagline and palette rules for a modern, minimalist design with a strong gold/black personality, firmly reinforcing the historic identity conveyed by the logo.
UX & Web Design
- Homepage with a hero video presenting and summarising the style and spaces using Agi Simoes’ photographs.
- Multilingual development IT/EN
- Fully responsive
Art Direction
To showcase the spaces, style and atmosphere, the website was enriched by the outstanding work of photographer Agi Simoes, who creatively conveyed the energy running through Gothicsauna’s different spaces.
Photographer
Agi Simoes
Special features
The homepage opens with an impactful video, using urban-style motion to convey the “right” energy to visitors immediately.
Results
12-month results
| KPI | Before (2022) | After redesign (2024) | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly users | 1100 | 2309 | +110% |
| Organic Google traffic | 920 | 1935 | +110% |
| Average engagement time | 0 : 46 min | 1 : 36 min | +52 s |
| Returning visitors/month | 112 | 288 | +157% |
Credits
Photography © Agi Simoes
Web & brand strategy © Domenico Amodeo
"My small business was a little like a carriage standing still on the tracks: Domenico hooked it up to a locomotive. As well as his technical expertise and design skills, he is a frank adviser who encourages you to improve your internal organisation too. The result: a step up in the quality of the brand and how our offer is perceived, not just aesthetically but in quality and operations as well."
by myself.