THE NINTH NOTE
The Ninth Note is a new up and coming custom wedding fragrance bar, that allows guests to create and take home a personalised scent.
Problems
The aim was to create a distinctive brand identity and digital experience for a new fragrance bar service that would communicate its unique sensory experience before the launch of the business.
The client established the initial business concept and target audience but had no defined brand identity, digital presence or customer facing touchpoints.
As the sole UI/UX and Brand designer, i was responsible for developing the brand ecosystem from the ground up, including the brand name, logo, visual identity, website and app concept.
A social media search revealed that the original name proposed by the client, Scent Studio, was already occupied by various different brands, therefore I proposed the name The Ninth Note as a more distinctive name with a stronger luxury positioning and greater potential for a unique digital presence.
THE NINTH NOTE
HOME
ABOUT
PRODUCTS
CONTACT
SCENT GALLERY
The Ninth Note is a custom fragrance experience designed for those unforgettable celebrations. We create interactive scent bars that invite guests to craft a personalized fragrance to take home, a meaningful keepsake that captures the beautiful emotion and memories of your special day.
Our philosophy is to bottle the moment, not just fragrance. The choices you make with us are designed to linger long after the final dance, not only as fragrance in the air but as memories held by those who shared in your celebration.
We believe fragrance has the power to capture emotion in a way nothing else can. A single note can transport us back to a fleeting glance, a heartfelt vow, or a room filled with laughter. Through scent, fleeting moments become lasting keepsakes. something that can be revisited time and time again.
Because some moments are too beautiful to leave behind.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
The Vision
Design Principles
The Ninth Note's visual identity had to be built without any product photography or existing brand assets to draw from. This limited the ability to communicate the sensory experience at the core of the brand, and created a disconnect between the product's premium positioning and its visual presence.
Visual identity lacked differentiation from competing perfume brands
Clients initially advocated for a dark colour palette, whilst luxurious using black as the primary background increases visual weight across the interface. This caused aspects like typography and call to actions to compete for attention rather than allowing the product to be the focal point.
Absence of product photography left early visuals feeling generic and disconnected from the brand's luxury positioning
AI-generated imagery closes the photography gap while preserving a cohesive, elevated aesthetic.
The Top, Middle, and Base Notes framework translates an intangible sensory experience into something legible and desirable
Structure and narrative substitute for the missing product shot as the primary driver of desirability
Luxury was still able to be conveyed through a cream and beige colour palette whilst maintaining the memorable atmosphere the brand aims to create
AFTER
AFTER
The About page communicated the brand's philosophy through a single, dense block of copy with no visual breaks. While the writing itself carried real emotional weight, the lack of rhythm made it easy for users to disengage before reaching the ideas that mattered most, particularly on mobile, where this reads as one long uninterrupted scroll.
Long, unbroken paragraphs worked against natural reading rhythm, making the page harder to skim
The strongest line in the copy "bottle the moment, not just fragrance" was buried mid-paragraph as bolded inline text, rather than given space to land
The closing sentence, meant to be an emotional payoff, sat at the tail end of a dense block where it was easy to miss entirely
Breaking the copy into shorter blocks, separated by a pull-quote and a subtle divider, supports how users scan long-form content, encouraging progressive
Elevating the key line into a true pull-quote gives the brand's core philosophy visual weight matching its emotional weight
Isolating the closing line as a standalone moment lets it do the job it was written for, rather than getting lost
Solo project . UI/UX & Brand Design . 3weeks
Defining the core experience-What should the website offer beyond simply introducing the brand?
Balancing luxury with conversion-How can maintain a premium brand experience whilst still attracting and converting new customers?
Bridging the Designer-Client gap-How can I communicate the intended brand experience when the visual assets provided by the clients are limited?
Designing across touchpoints- How can i create a consistent experience across different devices and platforms?
BEFORE
BEFORE
Unexpected growing pains and how we
overcame them:
Reducing cognitive load by stripping the interface down to only what's essential.
The Contact page uses just five input fields and one button, with no extra UI competing for attention.
P of simplicity
Name
Contact Number
Date Inquiry
Message
SEND MESSAGE
Guiding the eye to the most important element first, before revealing supporting detail.
The homepage stacks logo → tagline → single call-to-action along a center axis, letting the brand register before asking anything of the user.
Visual hierarchy
THE NINTH NOTE
HOME
ABOUT
PRODUCTS
CONTACT
SCENT GALLERY
THE NINTH NOTE
“The finishing note to your love story.”
Using repeatable patterns so users don't have to relearn the interface page to page.
All four fragrances follow the same Top/Middle/Base note layout, so users can compare scents using one learned pattern instead of four different ones.
P of consistency
Creating visual balance to convey harmony and intentional craft.
The Composition page mirrors two overlapping circles with four elemental icons arranged in balanced pairs, echoing the sense of balance central to how a fragrance itself is composed.
P of symmetry
TOP
MIDDLE
BASE
amber
warm spicy
vanilla
powdery
sweet
floral
Golden Vow
TOP
MIDDLE
BASE
citrus
fruity
rose
sweet
herbal
spicy
Summer Breeze
TOP
MIDDLE
BASE
powdery
floral
citrus
green
fresh spicy
fresh
The Spark
TOP
MIDDLE
BASE
amber
powdery
jasmine
fresh
woody
cinnamon
White Veil
TOP
MIDDLE
BASE
amber
vanilla
floral
earthy
sandalwood
woody
Black Tie
Top Notes
Middle Notes
The introduction to a fragrance’s journey bringing immediate character
The heart of the experience rich with soul and emotion
A fragrance is not remembered by a single note but by the harmony they create together.
THE NINTH NOTE
BOTTLE THE MOMENT
PRIMARY LOGO
IX
ORIGINAL COLOUR PALETTE
ORIGINAL ICONS
ORIGINAL APPLICATION EXAMPLES
Designing for a Brand That Doesn’t Yet Exist
Creating a digital experience for a pre-launch business reinforced that UX extends beyond interfaces. It required balancing business objectives, user expectations and brand storytelling simultaneously, ensuring the experience could evolve as the business grows.
Authenticity Builds Trust
With no product photography available, I relied on AI generated imagery to communicate the brand vision. While effective for an early stage concept, replacing these with professional photography would strengthen credibility and better reflect the luxury positioning.
Validate Assumptions with Users-
Interactions such as the Composition and TNN Library pages were designed from informed assumptions rather than validated user behaviour. Given more time, I would conduct usability testing to ensure these concepts are immediately understood by first-time visitors.
Project takeaways
From Blank Slate to Digital Presence
Building The Ninth Note's identity from scratch meant confronting a distinct set of problems:
Objectives
“The finishing note to your love story.”
THE NINTH NOTE
PRIMARY LOGO
UPDATED COLOUR PALETTE
UPDATED ICONS
UPDATED APPLICATION EXAMPLES
Home
Working through The Ninth Note shifted how I think about ambiguity in a brief. When there's no product to photograph and no existing system to lean on, the instinct to reach for decoration fades — what's left is structure: breaking an abstract experience into something legible, giving it hierarchy, making it scannable. That way of thinking now shapes how I approach any problem that doesn't come with a clear visual answer already attached.
Closing Thoughts
THE NINTH NOTE
HOME
ABOUT
PRODUCTS
CONTACT
SCENT GALLERY
OUR PHILOSOPHY
The Vision
The Ninth Note is a custom fragrance experience designed for those unforgettable celebrations. We create interactive scent bars that invite guests to craft a personalized fragrance to take home.
"Our philosophy is to bottle the moment, not just fragrance."
The choices you make with us are designed to linger long after the final dance — not only as fragrance in the air, but as memories held by those who shared in your celebration.
We believe fragrance has the power to capture emotion in a way nothing else can. A single note can transport us back to a fleeting glance, a heartfelt vow, or a room filled with laughter.
Because some moments are too beautiful to leave
behind.
Context
THE NINTH NOTE
SCENT GALLERY
PRODUCTS
“The finishing note to your love story.”
ABOUT
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The Ninth Note
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