Two hikers carrying backpacks and equipment trek up a grassy hillside surrounded by trees, under a partly cloudy sky.

Solum

Brand Strategy
Copywriting
Art Direction
AI Photography Editing
Web Design
Social Media Management
Social Media Strategy

2025

Thomas Bogle, founder and CEO of Solum, contacted me to transform the Solum brand story visually and verbally. My goal was to give the brand a “cool factor”, appealing to designers and product teams within well known footwear brands.

The Challenge

Solum, like many next-gen materials, needed to simplify its communications without making its technology seem too simplistic. The founders’ love of nature also needed to be woven in, given its relatability to the end consumer.

The Insight

Solum was communicating too many “whys” at once, leading to a lack of focus in their messaging and content. Visually, the website was tailored to sport & hiking brands, potentially limiting the markets we could tap into.

The Solution

We honed in on two key values: high performance and drop-in integration. The sustainability aspect is competitive, but Solum’s technical abilities set it apart. We found ways to weave in stories of nature, regeneration, and the impact of every step we take.

My Process

Slides from a presentation about Solum, focusing on sustainability in footwear, copy audit, visual audit, and benchmarking of Liquidplant by Von Holzausen. The slides contain text, images, and diagrams related to eco-friendly materials, product innovation, and brand visualization.

Brand Audit

A multi-page digital infographic about Solum, a biocircular additive for outsoles, emphasizing sustainability, microplastic shedding reduction, and natural ingredients, with sections on materials, performance, and environmental impact.

Lo-Res Buildout

Screenshots of two website design concepts, each with a main photo of children jumping, a yellow and dark mode background respectively, and style sheets showing color palettes and typography details.

Styling & Development

Close-up of people wearing sneakers walking on a brick pavement, carrying bags and a glass container with plants and papers.
An infographic with six sections, each with an icon and description. The sections include Plug-and-Play Compatibility, Plant-Powered Performance, Pollution Reduction, Biocircular, Scalable & Reliable, and Reducing Fossil Impact. Icons depict an electrical plug, a plant, an arrow in water, a recycling symbol, a connected network, and a factory emitting smoke.

Communicating Solum’s values through easy-to-read snippets & iconography conveys the high-level technical aspects of Verdura, Solum’s hero product.

Close-up of a person's legs and feet running on a dirt trail, wearing black running shoes, yellow socks, and yellow shorts, with the word 'Dig in.' overlaid.

Everything Solum creates comes from the soil, and can return to the soil at the end of its useful life. It was important to connect our photography and copy to the ground where everything began.

A slide showing the importance of environmentally friendly ingredients in recycling. It features pictures of oil, honeycomb, wheat, and tree sap, with a background of a dense, green mossy forest. The text emphasizes using nutrient-derived and biobased ingredients that align with nature's cycles.
Graphic with white text on black background that reads 'Materials made from the ground up.' and features red painted streaks or brush strokes.

The Site

I designed the Solum website, featuring a carbon emission calculator developed by Brayden Templeton. This feature allows brands to explore the impact they could potentially have at different levels of Verdura implementations.

The Results

Website Traffic

Peers in the next-gen material and footwear industries have noticed the updated website, noting its clarity and new visuals. Solum has also achieved 1,400 unique visitors in the 5 months since launching.

Add to the hype and see solumtread.com for yourself!

Social Metrics

We brought the Solum LinkedIn page back to life to better connect with footwear designers, agriculturists, and material innovators. Our engagement rate is exactly where it should be, sitting at an average of 8.6%.

Business Development

We honed in on two key values of Solum’s proprietary tech: high performance and drop-in integration. The sustainability aspect is competitive, but Solum’s technical abilities set it apart. Solum has won 4 development contracts, two investors, and two new manufacturing partners.

Next case study