Case study · Ecommerce
Pawtrait Society
A Victorian-era archive for the modern pet, where every commission gets a past life instead of a filtered photo.
(The Brief)
Every pet has lived before.
Pawtrait Society came to us with a simple problem: every pet portrait site looks the same. They wanted something that felt like a proper archive rather than another novelty filter, with a concept strong enough to justify a premium price and a brand built to match it.
The Challenge
The pet portrait market is crowded, and most of it looks disposable. Competitors lean on gimmicky filters and templates that don't hold up past the first purchase. Pawtrait Society needed to sit apart from all of that: museum grade, collectible, something worth commissioning rather than just generating.
The Approach
We built the entire brand around one idea: every pet has a secret past life. Twelve curated characters, from The Duelist to The Dowager, turn a simple photo into a proper commission. We handled the concept, the visual identity and the ecommerce platform that ties it all together.
(The Work)
Brand & Concept
We developed the Registry concept from the ground up, including the tone of voice and all twelve character archetypes that give the brand its identity.
Ecommerce Build
A custom store built around commissions rather than off-the-shelf products, with an upload flow designed to feel considered rather than automated.
Fulfilment & Automation
An automated pipeline routes every commission from upload through to delivery, so the front end stays simple while the backend does the heavy lifting.
(The Registry)
Meet the Twelve.
The Poet
The Explorer
The Anarchist
The Inventor
The Collector
The Dowager
The Duelist
The Exile
The Medium
The Naturalist
The Salonnière
The Last of the Line
(Visual Identity)
Ink, gold and restraint.
Pawtrait Society needed to feel handwritten by a Victorian archivist rather than generated by a machine. Every typeface and colour had to earn its place in that world, so we kept the palette small and let the portraits do the talking.
Typography
Playfair Display — Headings
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DM Sans — Body & UI
Aa123
Colour Palette
#101516
#C9A66B
#EDE6D6
#6B6459
(Social Content)
Made for the scroll.
Beyond the store, we produced a series of portrait reveal videos built specifically for social — short, vertical, and designed to stop a thumb mid-scroll.
(Next Steps)