Reimagining the Face Painting Experience for Young-at-Heart Adults
Rebranded with adults who are young at heart in mind, resulting in tripled revenue and doubled referral rate.
Face painting is not just for kids, but adults are often hesitant about getting their face painted.
My Role
Website design,
Social media strategy,
Service design,
Graphic design
Timeline
August-November 2021
Tools Used
Figma, Squarespace
Background: Hobby to Business
I started “Lina's Face Painting” in 2016 with a simple palette that grew into a weekend venture. As a smile-maker, my mission is to build inclusive experiences to bring face painting to everyone, including those who are young-at-heart.
Challenge
The event entertainment industry primarily focuses on kids. It's rare to see adults participate. I took on the mission to reimagine the face painting experience for people of all ages, by redesigning the brand identity, website, business cards and the service experience.
Outcome
The rebrand introduced me to 22 events in 3 months, where 30 adults (and over 230 kids) were painted. As a result, the monthly revenue increased by 3x and referral rates by 2x compared to 2016 when I first started.
Discovering the Gap
What's everyone offering?
Many companies in Canada offer entertainment services and rentals for children between pre-school and elementary school. Some offerings include mascots, bubble show, bouncy castles, just to name a few.
Most businesses are family-owned
Most businesses are family-owned with 3+ employees, offering popular options such as face painting, balloon twisting and magic shows. Most entertainers are millennials, moms and dads whose children are in high-school / post-secondary.
Untapped Segment
While most services listed are not labelled for children, only children participate in them. Other age groups (parents, grand parents, siblings etc.) are often observing or taking photos for the younger ones.
Opportunity
As body painting (such as temporary tattoos, henna) are gaining popularity, there are no reason for adults not to participate. As someone with a fine arts background, I'm curious about exploring non-traditional designs for young adults and adults, who are young-at-heart. As a Gen Z myself, I'm well-positioned to connect with guests of all ages.
Validating Assumptions
What's stopping adults from getting their face painted?
To answer these questions, I spoke directly to the guests while painting them:
- What brought you to the event today?
- What grade are you going to?
- What do you want to get painted as?
- Is this your first time getting face painted?
Turns out, most of my guests were girls younger than 10. Was this a coincidence?
I wanted to get a holistic understanding of the market. Over the next 5 events, I captured the demographic. Then, I looked at how face painting services are advertised, and collected testimonials from other face painters.
Research Methodology
Hashtags
Search for trending body art hashtags on Instagram
Comparative accounts
Check out other face painters' gallery on social media
Discussion forums
Ask about others' experiences through online face painting discussions
Follow-up
Chat with guests about the designs they'd like to see.
Testimonials
"My son will happily let me paint on his arm in a non-caroon style, and anything that looks like a real tattoo."
Another face painter
"[Entertaining adults is] not my job! That's why they hire clowns and magicians."
Another face painter
"I haven't gotten one [face paint] since I was a kid!"
Mom of a 5-year-old
Findings
Older kids and parents prefer more mature, delicate and "Instagrammable" designs.
Many adults felt they were "too old", but were very interested once encouraged (by me or other parents).
Many face painters prioritize speed over engaging guests.
There seems to be an appeal...
So how might we make the face painting experience as exciting for adults as it is for kids?
New designs for adults
Include pop culture references, tattoo-like or smaller designs, and more mature themes.
Engage adults
Actively welcome and encourage adults to join by showcasing pictures of adults who have been painted.
A different branding
Updating website with a new brand voice and logo more suited and appealing to adults.
Current Customer Experience
It was crucial to first analyze each touch point in the customer journey, in order to improve the overall experience for adults.
I noticed that the booking process has the most friction. Adults who reach out to me are often wondering about the paint safety, how many hours to book, the booking process, and whether all the guests can be painted during the booked hours.
Opportunities
- Inform safety, and booking procedures through the website
- Acquire new customers through Instagram
- Easy referral through business cards
- Optimize the painting experience for efficiency
Metrics
Increased revenue
Increased referrals
Increased engagement on Instagram
A more diverse demographic
Web Design
I wanted the website to be visual-heavy, and embodying the words playful, authentic, inclusive and safe, while offering an extremely simple booking process. The gallery will consist of authentic photos of our guests with diverse backgrounds. The copywriting will emphasize "inclusion".
Wireframes
Challenges & Constraints
Unfortunately I could not implement all the designs due to technical limitations. Moreover, August to November is a peak season for face painter so it was important to get the website up quickly and tested with users.
Home Page
Service Page: Face Painting
Service Page: Tattoos
About Page
Challenges & Constraints
Despite using a Squarespace template, I was able to achieve the wireframe that I envisioned with minor UI adjustments.
Business Cards
Most customers come from word of mouth. It's important to have memorable business cards that parents want to keep & share.
Horizontal vs. Vertical
Horizontal is a familiar layout to our audience, making it easier to navigate information. Vertical layouts are more modern and attracts a younger audience.
Hybrid
The back is horizontal to help guests parse information quickly, the front is vertical to stand out from traditional face painting services. I received feedback from our clients that they prefer this design overall. A little un-ordinary and fun, but still user-friendly!
Instagram Strategy
Pictures paint a thousand words, especially when instagram is often the first touchpoint of potential customers (moms).
The business page focuses on showing diversity in age. Not just kids, but any age, gender, and occasions through unstaged, natural, genuine photos.
The Painting Experience
It's still paramount to prioritize speed. I streamlined the setup and painting process to reduce wait times and clear lines faster, improving the experience for everyone.
Results
- Events attended: 22 events in 3 months
- Total faces painted: 266, including 30 adults (11% of total)
- Revenue: 3x increase since 2016 (from $1,000 to $3,000)
- Referral Rate: 4 events out of 22 were referred by previous customers (doubling from the previous year)
- Instagram: Grew to 234 followers from 0
Next Steps
Explore partnerships
Reach out to local businesses catered to celebrating special occasions, like indoor playgrounds, climbing gym for kids. Leverage seasonal events in major cities (high foot-traffic).
Build new verticals
Add temporary tattoo and henna service. Market to adjacent event types like wedding, corporate holiday parties, school fun fairs.
Expand offering to more cities
Hire and work with face painters based in other cities. Build a team of contractors and move to a commission model.
This project was about more than just painting faces; it was about challenging assumptions and designing an inclusive experience that brought smiles to people of all ages. See more at Lina's Face Painting Website and @facepaintbylina.