Michelle Bennett

Case Study

Abram's Catering

A catering company needed a brand, a website, and a reason for clients to trust them before ever picking up the phone. I built all three.

CSS Winner, Nominee

Branding, Logo, UX/UI, Dev

My Role

6 Weeks

Timeline

Abram's Catering (pre launch)

Client

Mad Muse Creative (Solo)

Studio

The Project

Overview

Abram’s Catering needed more than a website. They needed a brand. With no visual identity in place, the goal was to build something from the ground up that felt polished enough to attract upscale clients while staying warm and approachable. That meant making cohesive decisions across the logo, color system, typography, layout, and front end build.

The challenge: with no brand or website, Abram’s Catering had no way to earn trust, explain their offerings, or guide visitors toward contacting them. Everything had to be built from scratch.

The Problem

What Wasn't Working

No brand foundation

Abram’s Catering had no visual identity or digital presence to establish credibility before launch.

Unclear offerings

Visitors had no quick way to understand services, event fit, or what catering options were available.

No proof of quality

Without menu previews or strong visuals, there was nothing to reassure people they were choosing a premium option.

No clear next step

There was no obvious path to request a quote or start a conversation.

Research & Discovery

The Key Insight

This wasn’t about making food look good. Catering clients decide fast. Within a few scrolls, they need to understand the offering, feel confident in the quality, and know exactly what to do next.

The Process

User Journey

01
Discover
Searches for catering or gets a referral.
02
Evaluate fit
Checks services and event types to see if it matches their needs.
03
Build confidence
Scans the menu and visuals to judge quality.
04
Take action
Requests a quote or contacts to start planning.

Design

Design Solutions

Brand Identity

PROBLEM

Abram’s Catering had no brand or visual identity to build trust at first glance

SOLUTION

Created a logo, color system, and typography, then applied it consistently across the site.

IMPACT

The business felt premium, cohesive, and credible from the first scroll.

Services & Menu Clarity

PROBLEM

Visitors could not quickly tell what was offered or whether it fit their event.

SOLUTION

Organized services and event types clearly, and designed a scannable sample menu to set expectations.

IMPACT

Reduced uncertainty and helped people decide faster before reaching out.

Navigation & Conversion

PROBLEM

There was no clear path from browsing to contacting the team for a quote.

SOLUTION

Built a clearer navigation flow and placed contact prompts at key decision points.

IMPACT

Made the next step obvious and increased confidence in taking action.

Creative Direction

Visual Strategy

Visual strategy was where the brand started to feel real. Every choice, type, color, logo, and motion had to support the same goal: make Abram’s feel polished enough for upscale events, but still warm, clear, and easy to trust.

Type System Color Palette Logo Design Motion
TYPE SYSTEM

Font Pairing

Abram’s needed typography that could do two things at once: make the brand feel polished, and make the content easy to move through. Oswald gave the site a stronger point of view right away. It feels structured, confident, and a little more elevated than a safer default would have. Open Sans handled everything underneath it. Clean, readable, and easy to scan, especially in sections like services and menu content where that mattered most.

Display · Headings

Oswald · Google Fonts · Free

700 · Hero / Page Title

Fine Dining

600 · Section Heading

Our Services

500 · Card Title

Party Trays

400 · Sub-label

Weddings & Events

Oswald's condensed structure works hard in small spaces without losing impact. It gives the site a professional, chef-driven feel without tipping into formal or unapproachable territory.

Body · UI Text

Open Sans · Google Fonts · Free

400 · Lead Paragraph

We bring restaurant-quality catering to every occasion.

400 · Body Copy

From intimate dinner parties to grand corporate events, fresh seasonal menus designed for your guests.

400 · Supporting Detail

Licensed and insured. Serving events of 10 to 1,000 guests.

700 · UI Label / Eyebrow

Fine Food Services · For All Occasions

Open Sans keeps menus, service descriptions, and contact details easy to read on any screen size. Most catering inquiries happen on mobile, so legibility at small sizes wasn't optional.

Color System

The Palette

The palette was built to feel premium, warm, and grounded. The green became the anchor. It gave the brand a fresh, established feel without slipping into something overly trendy or generic. The orange brought in warmth and appetite, which helped break up the darker tones and keep the site from feeling too stiff. Near black added contrast and structure, and white gave everything room to breathe. Together the palette made the site feel refined but still approachable.

Near Black
#0F0E14
Forest Green
#3C6228
Harvest Orange
#F0882D
White
#FFFFFF

Forest Green

Signals freshness and natural ingredients. It communicates food quality before a visitor reads a single word.

Harvest Orange

Used strategically for CTAs and service highlights. In food contexts, warm orange naturally draws the eye and drives action.

Near Black

Anchors the palette. It gives the site a premium, professional feel and makes the food photography pop against it.

Brand Identity

Logo Design

Abram’s needed a logo that felt established before the business ever launched. The goal was not to make it flashy. It was to make it feel solid, polished, and believable. I wanted it to hold its own across the site, menus, and branded materials without fighting for attention. The final mark is simple on purpose. It feels more premium, scales cleanly, and works just as well on light and dark backgrounds, which made it more flexible across the whole identity.

Abrams Catering Logo
Abrams Catering Logo on dark

The Thinking

A minimalist mark that signals craft

The chef's hat icon keeps the identity grounded in the actual service. Paired with a clean script for "Abram's" and spaced-out caps for "Catering Service," the logo reads as confident and professional without trying too hard.

Applied

Consistent across every touchpoint

Once the logo was locked in, the color system and typography followed from it. Everything on the site references back to the same visual language, so the brand feels cohesive whether someone is looking at the homepage, the menu page, or a branded apron.

Key Design Tradeoff

The Tradeoff

Interactive effects can make a site feel high end, but they can also pull attention away from what matters. I used the scroll overlap transition only once, between Services and Events, to signal a shift in content and add depth without competing with the menu, gallery, or path to contact.

The Result

The New Homepage

Abram's Catering website homepage

Outcomes

The Impact

What Changed

→ Created a complete brand system and applied it consistently across the site

→ Turned the offering into clear, scannable sections for services, events, and sample menu content

→ Made contacting the team feel straightforward, with a clear call to action and an easy path through the page

Instead of relying on aesthetics alone, the site now does the decision making work for the visitor. It answers the practical questions early and makes it easier for someone to reach out with the right expectations.