Client Study: Future Present
Marni Wandner is the type of leader that creates her own momentum
Marni is an executive coach, health coach and strategic consultant. She started out in the music business as a triple-threat performer and ended up working behind the scenes in artist management and marketing. Marni built her own company Sneak Attack Media—a digital marketing agency in collaboration with artists, labels and brands—and ran the company for 12 years before selling it to The Syndicate, where she took a role as head of digital marketing. Suffice to say, Marni knows marketing. She understands that details are important and that drafting is a huge part of the process in getting the details right.
The Project
When Marni came to us, she was running her eponymous coaching and consulting business, working primarily with teams and individuals from the music industry and helping her clients confront and resolve issues like burnout and the fatigue and anxiety that come from working in a high-power job in a demanding industry.
Marni built her initial coaching and consulting website using Squarespace and commissioned a logo/brand designer to build a sleek homepage that featured geometrics in neutrals—navy and cream hexagons and triangles accented with thin gold lines and marble textures. When she came to us, Marni had a lot of top-level navigation options on her site, and her pages were fairly text heavy. We discussed potential organizing principles to help her audience quickly and easily self-select for a smoother user experience, and we talked about adding visual elements (photos, geometric designs) to each page to help give the eye a rest from text blocks and create negative space and visual interest on each page.
The Visuals
Our goal was to keep it simple in terms of color and shape: Marni gravitates towards neutrals, specifically black (she comes from a rock-and-roll background, after all!), so we talked through visuals that walked the line between dark, high-concept grunge and professional polish. We discussed brands that embodied this edginess from jewelry designers like Anu Tera to dark-mode skin and hair care products like Aēsop. Marni likes the clean, sturdy lines of geometrics—triangles are her favorite—so we wanted to create a few different designs using triangles to set off the text.
At first, the designs leaned a bit too grunge-forward, with heavy textures—charcoal, slate and rock—but we paired back on the variety of textures and simplified the look with a cast-iron sample and slate texture that blended well with the soft black that we added to the color palette. These textures contributed subtle visual interest without being too distracting. We kept the thin, gilded bands from Marni’s original concept, and we added brass/gold textures and worked them into the design, to add a spark of visual interest. We included a vertical spill of rectangular bars in the cast iron that move with the page scroll—a nod to a soundboard and a subtle hint of movement.
The Photoshoot
We had a ball shooting Marni’s photos—she was open to experimenting with different looks and settings, which gave us more options for selecting photos for the website. We brought out the famous Cowbird ottoman for a few shots as well as our Matthews apple box, to give a relaxed, on-set/behind-the-scenes vibe. We captured traditional headshots as well as full-body photos that gave us a several possibilities for different sections on the site. Marni wore black to match the website palette, but she brought in a few pops of color in her jewelry and fabulous cobalt nails. Since Marni provides in-person as well as virtual coaching, we staged a photo of her working with a “client” in person and also working with an imaginary client via computer. We filled out the website with a few action photos of Marni speaking at various conferences as well as some stock photos of office and music industry shots that fit with the vibe of the site.
The Challenges
Marni values the process of drafting and writing for discovery, and we often acted as a sounding board for her during this process. We went through several iterations of copy to get it just right, discussing clarity, tone and audience to make sure the overall vision aligned with the brand.
Marni’s text is comprehensive, and one of our challenges was organizing it into legible, digestible increments. On her About page, we used a vertical checkerboard format that draws the eye down the page with short paragraphs on alternating sides of the page. These moments are accented with gold lines and Marni’s signature triangles in various iterations. We offset important information, such as Marni’s key services, with textured bars to create a clear division and visual classification. We also used accordion menus to help categorize and manage large amounts of text. We added jump links at the top of Marni’s Services page to help potential clients navigate easily through the options.
We had in-depth discussions about the possible client paths through the website and the best way to classify information. We ended up with four top-level navigation items to keep the process straightforward. Because Marni’s offerings are services (rather than products), we suggested the FAQ page to help further elucidate her services and to elaborate on some of the broader questions she gets about the difference between coaching and consulting.
Another challenge we encountered was pivoting to a new brand name. Originally, Marni decided not to change the company name, but early in the process, with so much transformation already afoot, she chose to rename her company Future Present. Marni’s services speak to clients who need help navigating their way through difficulty in their personal or professional lives where burnout, sleeplessness and pressure keep them captive in a stressful cycle. The brand name invokes the future as a positive, accessible destination, rather than a landscape laced with anxiety and dread. It also serves as a departure point—to reach this ideal future, one must begin to take stock of their situation and learn to stay grounded in the present. We recommended using the H1 copy on the homepage to establish a connection between the company name and the ethos behind the brand.
Conclusion
Marni’s journey from artist and music executive to coach and consultant is one grounded in transformation, and our work together reflected that same spirit. With Future Present, we helped distill her vision into a digital experience that feels grounded, purposeful and alive with potential. The site balances edge and elegance—black and brass, text and negative space, clarity and curiosity—mirroring the contrasts that are evident in Marni’s work. By refining the structure, enhancing visual storytelling and aligning the tone of every detail, we created a brand and website that not only communicates what Marni does, but also how she does it—with depth, intention and an unwavering commitment to growth.
Check out our work for Future Present here.