Fefe's Indoor Play

Sophisticated Playfulness

Web Design | Children's Entertainment | 2025

The Challenge

Fefe's Indoor Play needed their first website to enable online bookings and establish market presence—but with an unusual constraint. The client insisted on a single-color palette (warm terracotta, HEX #D38E5A) and sophisticated aesthetic, rejecting the bright, chaotic visuals typical of children's entertainment brands.

The core tension: How do you communicate fun and playfulness for a kids' venue while maintaining elevated, restrained design?

Mockup of the website on laptop and mobile device

The Problem

No digital presence — A new business with limited discoverability

Dual-audience complexity — Kids want to see the fun; parents need logistics, pricing, and booking capability

Brand vision vs. category norms — Client's sophisticated aesthetic ran counter to every competitor's approach

Business Objectives

Establish professional digital presence to build credibility and discoverability

  • Enable 24/7 online booking to reduce friction and increase conversions

  • Differentiate from competitors through elevated, sophisticated visual identity

  • Serve dual audiences (children and parents) through strategic content organization

  • Honor client's single-color brand vision while communicating playfulness

My Role

Lead designer with 1558 Brand Agency, responsible for research and visual design system. Collaborated with project manager and developer.

    • Competitive Analysis revealed indoor play centers universally use bright multi-color palettes, cartoon aesthetics, and high-energy chaos. This creates a differentiation opportunity—but also risk if restraint reads as "not fun."

    • Cross-Category Inspiration proved more valuable. I studied high-end children's clothing brands and boho furniture sites, finding that sophisticated palettes and organic illustration can communicate warmth and playfulness without visual chaos.

    • Strategic Insight: Use photography and hand-drawn organic elements to carry the energy that color typically provides.

    • Single-Color System — Embraced the constraint as differentiator. Created hierarchy through tonal variations, generous white space, and texture rather than additional hues.

    • Organic Illustrations — Hand-drawn botanicals became the playfulness layer, adding warmth and whimsy while maintaining sophistication.

    • Photography as Energy Source — With color removed as an energy tool, action photography of kids playing carried the emotional weight of communicating excitement.

    • First-ever digital presence established

    • 24/7 online booking capability launched

    • Distinctive brand differentiation in category dominated by visual chaos

    • Client vision successfully realized within strict constraints

What I Learned

Constraints force better design thinking than unlimited options. Cross-category research surfaces solutions competitors miss. Photography can do more heavy lifting than expected when color isn't available. Dual audiences need distinct pathways, not compromise solutions.

Methods: Competitive analysis • Cross-category research • Mood boarding • High-fidelity wireframing • Photography art direction

Tools: Figma

Key Constraint: Single-color palette with organic illustration accents