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Case study · Web shop · Brand

Haul & Stash.

A vintage web shop that feels like discovering something, not scrolling a catalogue. From brand and homepage to a system that lets one person run the whole shop.

Role
Founder, brand, UX/UI, build
Type
E-commerce, identity
Timeline
May to July 2026
Status
Launching soon
Haul & Stash homepage with a full-bleed photo and the line Found things worth keeping
6colour directions explored before the palette was locked
2homepage versions, with what worked and what didn't
1 systemdesigned and built in-house to automate the manual work behind every product

The challenge

Selling vintage online without the catalogue feel.

Selling vintage online means fighting commodity pricing, algorithms and the sameness of Depop and Vinted. Haul & Stash sells at most 20 pieces at a time. Scarcity is a choice here, not a problem.

And everything had to work for one person: no studio, no photographer, no budget.

Design a shop that feels like discovering something, not scrolling a catalogue.

Research

What others do, and why it doesn't fit.

  • Depop and VintedGrids full of prices, no voice of their own.
  • Big CartelTemplate feel. Fine for crafts, wrong register for curated vintage.
  • Farfetch and VestiaireLuxury and editorial, but cold and transactional.
Insight

Good editorial sites slow you down and make you look. Buying vintage should feel like that. The design had to resist efficiency on purpose.

Brand

Brand first, screens second.

Three months of brand exploration before a single product page existed. Six colour directions, a wordmark where one character does all the work, and guidelines for voice and use.

Haul & Stash brand guidelines with the headline Curated vintage, run by one person with an eye you trust
The brand guidelines: voice, logo, colour and touchpoints in one document.
HAUL & STASH wordmark on white and on midnight blue
Wordmark: widely spaced capitals with an italic ampersand.
Colour study with orange and blue at different strengths
Colour study: six directions on the same orange and blue axis.

Identity

Warm, not clinical.

Terracotta instead of bright orange. An off-white background. A classic italic for editorial moments, a calm sans for everything you need to read.

Bone
#F4F0E9
Midnight
#0E1E3A
Terra
#C45030
Sand
#E5DCCD
Stone
#A89F92

Found things worth keeping.

Cormorant Garamond · headings

To wear · To keep · Gone

DM Sans · navigation, prices, labels

Design decisions

Every choice has a reason.

  1. A full-bleed photo, text bottom left

    The homepage behaves like the opening pages of a magazine.

    WhyThe eye rests bottom left after scanning a large image. The photography gets to lead.

  2. Image 58%, products 42%

    Below the opening, a large image next to a short product list.

    Why50/50 suggests both matter equally. The image is the main element, without the list turning into a sidebar.

  3. Navigation that expresses intent

    To Wear, To Keep and To Come instead of Clothing, Objects and New.

    WhyYou choose what you want to do, not which box something sits in. To Come builds curiosity about what's next.

  4. Sold pieces stay visible

    Everything that has sold lives under Gone.

    WhyMost shops hide sold items. Here they're proof of quality and pace: honest scarcity instead of fake urgency.

Iteration

From version 2 to version 3.

Version 2 was a clean 50/50 opening: image left, text right. Beautiful, but too static for a shop.

What worked in v2

  • Clear typographic hierarchy
  • Minimal, confident navigation
  • The brand tone landed from the first screen

What didn't

  • No products visible above the fold
  • The text column felt underloaded
  • Nothing pulled you further down the page

AI in my process

A custom automation system.

No Shopify, no developer. A system I designed, built and kept testing until it ran the same way every time. Every product gets the same care, and more time goes to finding beautiful pieces.

  1. Step 1

    Photo

    Product photo edited in Bazaart and dropped into a set folder.

  2. Step 2

    Copy

    Claude drafts a product description in the brand's voice.

  3. Step 3

    Payment link

    A Stripe payment link is created per piece.

  4. Step 4

    Live

    Product, photos and link appear on the site.

The AI writes a first draft; I read and edit everything before it goes live. Every product must have a name, era, origin, condition, size and price, so no listing slips through without context.

Outcome

Where it stands.

  • A complete brand: logo, palette, typography, voice and guidelines
  • Two homepage versions, with the trade-offs documented
  • A site ready for launch, with no hosting costs
  • A custom automation system: from product photo to a complete product page with payment link, ready for review

What ongoing care does next

The newsletter popup opens by itself after 4 seconds. That gets tested: does it help, or does it annoy the visitors who want to browse calmly? Before launch: real product photography, a mobile refinement and automatically marking sold pieces.

Next project

30 Day Habit.

Contact

Want a site like this?
Let's talk.

An intro call takes fifteen minutes, no strings attached. Or just call: +31 6 46 28 62 00.

hallo@studiorttr.nl