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Beauty and health care

Brand design for spas and massage

Clients remember a spa by how it feels to walk in, not by the name of a treatment.

Every spa promises relaxation. Sinh Vũ gives your spa a feeling of its own, consistent from the sign to the towel, so clients remember the name and come back.

Send Sinh Vũ your briefSee this segment's pain points
A sample print set for a beauty business: service menu, booking screen, gift voucher and counter items
Quick answer01

What does a spa brand need?

Three things: a feeling of its own that stays consistent at every touchpoint, a treatment menu that is easy to understand, and visible signals of cleanliness and privacy. Without them, a spa is easily compared on price.

  1. A feeling of its own

    Scent, light, material, voice: all telling one story.

  2. A treatment menu that is easy to understand

    Clients know what each treatment does, how long it takes and who it suits.

  3. Signals of cleanliness and privacy

    Towels, rooms and process cared for where clients can see them.

Business types02

Three kinds of spa, three problems

All sell relaxation, but clients of each kind are looking for something different.

Skin care and relaxation spas

Their customersWorking women who come for a treatment series or a special occasion.

Brand challengeStand out when competitors also have nice beds, warm lighting and essential oils.

Massage and wellness hair-wash shops

Their customersClients who come in groups or alone, often, to unwind.

Brand challengeLook reputable and skilled, so clients feel safe recommending the shop to family.

Spas in hotels and resorts

Their customersGuests who book a short slot and rarely return.

Brand challengeCarry the character of the property, distinct enough that guests book during the trip.

Pain points03

Five pain points specific to spas

These are the places spas tend to lose clients that skill can't save.

Customer journey04

At which stage do spas lose the most clients?

At the Experiencing stage. The photos online are lovely, but if the waiting room is noisy, the towels are worn and the greeting is rushed, clients feel let down and don't return.

Where customers are most often lostExperiencing
Do this now
  1. Take care of the things clients touch: towels, robes, the tea cup.
  2. Write the greeting and the farewell in advance for the whole team.
  3. Keep the waiting room true to the feeling in the photos: light, scent, sound.
Touchpoints05

Five touchpoints to do first

Touchpoints are the places where clients see, touch or hear about the spa. You don't need to do everything at once. These five touchpoints create most of the feeling clients take home.

  1. Sign and entrance

    Clients decide whether to walk in.

  2. Treatment menu

    Helps clients choose right and choose less on price.

  3. Towels, robes, supplies

    What clients touch and remember longest.

  4. Map listing and Zalo booking

    Clients search on the map and message on Zalo before they come; the name, photos and greeting there are brand too.

  5. Membership card and gifts

    A reason to return that doesn't need a discount voucher.

Roadmap06

Where Sinh Vũ suggests you start

Listed in the order to do them. A newly opened spa can stop at step three; a spa chain goes all the way.

  1. Logo and Brand Identity Design

    Name, mark, color and type that carry a feeling of their own.

  2. Sales and marketing collateral design

    Treatment menu, membership card, gifts.

  3. Product and brand photography

    A photo set of the space and treatments.

  4. POSM and event booth design

    Design of the sign and branded items at the spa, with production-ready files for the workshop.

  5. Brand guidelines handbook

    When you open a branch: guidelines so every location has one feeling.

Color and type07

Four color and type sets to try first

Spa clients decide at the entrance and remember the towel long after, so the colors must be easy on the eye, look clean and keep one consistent voice across the sign, the treatment menu, the towels and the Zalo page. The type needs room to breathe and be easy to read on the treatment menu, so clients choose by need rather than by price.

The colors the industry often uses, as shown here, are estimates from working experience, not yet checked against many real brands. Use them as a reference, not a rule. Photos: Aditya Sethia, Tuccera LLC, Soheil Kmp, iKshana Productions / Unsplash.

Try it with your own name and logo
Projects08

Projects closest to spas

Sinh Vũ has not published a spa project. The two below sit closest in feeling: refined hospitality, and premium beauty that isn't clichéd.

LE Hospitality, a home that knows how to bow
Serviced apartment
2020

LE Hospitality, a home that knows how to bow

LE Hospitality is a serviced apartment for Japanese guests living in Hanoi, a place where hospitality is measured by the things a guest has not yet asked for. Sinh Vũ built the positioning…

View case

The spirit of welcome in a place to stay, built into a system of imagery and printed pieces.

Callidora, beauty from the root
Skincare cosmetics

Callidora, beauty from the root

Callidora, a skincare cosmetics brand, had Sinh Vũ build a feminine, premium identity system that keeps its promise of beauty from healthy skin from the very first glance.

View case

Feminine, premium beauty without being clichéd, in a skin care brand.

Free tools09

Check it yourself, right now

Free, no sign-up, right in your browser in a few minutes. Each tool points to one concrete thing to fix first.

Start hereTouchpoint map for this business modelFor spas and massage, customers most often drop off at the Experiencing stage. The map opens with this business model so you can rate the five touchpoints to fix first.
  1. 1Noticing
  2. 2Checking
  3. 3Asking
  4. 4Experiencingmost drop-offs
  5. 5Returning
Open the map
Check each touchpoint
Touchpoint: Sign and entranceSee your logo on bags, signs and moreDrop in your logo. The tool picks colors from it and places your brand on 49 items: business cards, signs, uniforms, vans, packaging, screens. Download an A4 brand book.Open the tool Touchpoint: Treatment menu · Membership card and giftsCheck a file before printingUpload a PDF and see its color mode, image resolution at print size, bleed and embedded fonts, before it goes to the printer.Open the tool See all the toolsMore tools for logos, packaging, print files and websites.Open the set
Further reading10

More on spas and massage

Perspectives

Professional identity: the key to pricing higher-value treatment coursesAnalyzing why beauty establishments with professional identities price their services higher while customers still…Read A single spa expanding into a chain: the standardization challenge before expansionOpening a second location is not about doubling revenue but about doubling brand risk. This article outlines what…Read Customers pay for results, but return for the space.Customers come for the results, but return for the space. This article illustrates how the physical environment…Read

Expertise

Choose display materials: durable in the right placesMDF wood, acrylic, or metal? A guide to help you choose display materials based on customer interaction levels and…Read Choose signage materials: durable first, attractive second.Guide to selecting sign materials based on installation environment and actual lifespan, avoiding common mistakes…Read The brand voice toolkit helps decide what to write.The brand voice is not a style of decoration. It is a tool that helps writers quickly choose: serious or humorous…Read

The principles behind it

  1. 2.01The category sets the visual rules more than individual personality does; to be different you must know which rules are the entry ticket and which are mere habit.
  2. 2.02A difference is real only when buyers can see it in one glance at a real point of sale, not on a positioning comparison chart.
  3. 2.03Map the category rules with photographs of products where they are actually sold, then mark what they have in common.
Read the chapter: Reading the market and category rules
FAQ11

Frequently asked questions

At a minimum: positioning, logo, color, type and the things clients see first: sign, treatment menu, post template. If you plan to open a chain, you also need brand guidelines.

Name them for what the treatment does for the client (relaxing the neck and shoulders, restoring skin moisture) instead of generic names. A clear name helps clients choose faster and trust more.

Arrange it by client need, with each treatment stating what is done, how long it takes and who it suits. When clients understand it, they choose less on price.

Real photos of the rooms and the staff, neat uniforms, treatment names that say plainly what they do, and consistency from the sign to the posts. The service names on the sign and in posts should match the registered line of business; you should ask the local regulator which paperwork is needed before printing the sign.

It should have a name and feeling of its own, but within the hotel's system. Guests book quickly, so the service menu and imagery must speak clearly right in the room and at the front desk.

Nearby segments12

Nearby segments in this industry

Aesthetic clinics and laser treatment roomsLicense, doctor in charge, equipment and process presented clearly.Explore this segment Nail and lash studiosPrecision and cleanliness you can see.Explore this segment Meditation and mental wellnessEvery touchpoint is light, slow and discreet.Explore this segment Industry pageAll of beauty and health careClients book with their eyes before they book with their hands.Back to the industry page

Tell Sinh Vũ about your spa

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