Island Thyme

Mobile-first Shopify redesign for a handmade skincare brand

The Challenge

Ten years after our first project together, Island Thyme came back to reimagine their site for a new chapter of growth. From their farm on Orcas Island, they grow many of the botanicals for their skincare line and distill their own essential oils, handcrafting in small batches for nearly 20 years. That depth of craft is a huge part of what makes the brand memorable, but their website was no longer telling that story well. The challenge was to modernize Island Thyme’s website for a wider audience. That meant replacing a clunky manual sample selection process, creating better ways to reward customers who restock frequently, and building a shopping experience that could appeal to both loyal fans and new visitors.

Our Approach

We helped Island Thyme create a more polished, mobile-friendly shopping experience while keeping the warmth and character that longtime customers love. The redesign brought in a vintage botanical feel, made sampling and shopping much easier, and created more space for storytelling about the farm, the ingredients, and the people behind the brand. It added ways to reward loyal customers through Subscribe & Save options, which also helped the Island Thyme team increase repeat business. New customers can quickly connect with Island Thyme’s story, while returning customers can easily restock their favorite body care products.

Our Roles

Visit the website

Animated view of the Island Thyme website homepage, featuring botanical imagery, product storytelling, and mobile-friendly shopping designed by Aeolidia. — A refreshed homepage brings together Island Thyme’s botanical point of view, product discovery, and brand story so new visitors can quickly understand what makes the line special. It’s designed to make jumping into shopping feel effortless, especially on mobile.

23%

Revenue increase

19%

Increase in orders

Increase in order value

Website image showcasing Island Thyme’s farm, botanical ingredients, and the hands-on care behind each product. — Storytelling throughout the site highlights the farm, the ingredients, and the hands-on process behind the products, helping customers connect with the quality and care behind every formula.

Screenshot of Island Thyme’s updated sample program, designed to make it easy for customers to browse and select product samples as part of the shopping experience. — We rebuilt their sample program to feel like a natural part of shopping, making it much easier for customers to explore the line without having to manually enter selections. While loyal customers would work around the old site’s idiosyncrasies, this was a barrier for anyone new to the brand. Now it’s easy, familiar shopping.

New purchasing options, like “Subscribe & Save” and “Buy More, Save More,” help loyal customers keep their favorite products on hand or stock up when they need more. At the same time, these features support Island Thyme’s growth by bringing in more predictable recurring revenue and boosting average order value.

Collection of updated hand drawn icons rooted in vintage botanical heritage.

This is the second time Aeolidia has worked with Island Thyme. We initially helped them with rebranding and migrating to Shopify in 2016. You can read about that project here.

For this update, designer Christine Hughes revisited their brand system, which is rooted in botanical heritage. She helped refine some existing logo marks and create new hand-drawn icons to expand on the logo and branding from our initial project together.