Dr. Norman Hering, PsyD · Design review
You picked a direction, so this version of the deck is no longer a menu. Slide 3 is the one to read: it shows the rebuilt homepage with your name, your photograph and your quotes, and lists what still needs your answer. Slides 4 and 5 keep the other two directions on file.
The chosen direction, rebuilt with your real content in it. Read it as a working draft you can react to, not a proposal to accept or reject.
Not the live site yet. The contact form is still a demo, the rates are still “ask me”, and About, Services and Contact have not been rebuilt. Those are the next pieces of work.
The decision, recorded
In your September 21 note you said Sabi Sanctuary was the one, and asked for three things: “Dr.” in front of your name, and the photos and quotes from your current site. All three are in the updated mockup on slide 3.
Slides 4 and 5 are kept for reference — the other two directions stay exactly as they were.
Reference
Kept for context. The table shows what actually changed between the three original comps.
| Direction | Working title | What to notice | Type & layout feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tactile Organic | Sabi Sanctuary | Warm linen canvas, soft serif, gently uneven corners — like a well-worn, calm room. | Newsreader serif + Source Sans; left-aligned, quiet, organic radii. |
| Mid-Century Contemplative | Chromatic Stillness | Parchment with an arched hero tile and crisp geometry — structured, composed, deliberate. | Fraunces serif + Plus Jakarta Sans; two-column hero, geometric radii. |
| Coastal Botanical | Biophilic Horizon | Mist-white, pill-shaped everything, centered and airy — open, breathable, calm. | Outfit sans + DM Sans; centered layout, pill radii. |
What stayed constant — and what didn’t
Across the three comps, the headline, story, service cards, fees and form were identical; only the visual language changed. Sabi Sanctuary has since moved ahead of the other two: it now carries your real portrait, your quotes, and content pulled from your current site. Slides 4 and 5 remain as they were drawn.
Direction 1 · Tactile Organic
Warm, grounded, gently imperfect.
linen · matcha · persimmon · ink
Iteration 06a — rebuilt from your notes.
Four things worth a look
The portrait: it is the photo from your current About page, cropped tighter than it appears there. Is this the one you want, or is there a newer portrait you prefer?
The quotes: I used the two lines already on your site — Lao Tzu on the home page, the Buddha line on Services. If there is a third that matters to you, tell me and it will go in.
Fees: the mockup says “ask me about current rates” because no number was ever given. If you want a figure on the page, that is a one-line change.
Policy wording I drafted, not lifted: to make the fees section read like a real page I wrote “50 minutes, usually weekly,” a sliding scale, a Good Faith Estimate, teletherapy across California, and in-person by arrangement in San Rafael. None of those came from your site or your note. Correct anything that isn’t how you actually work.
Direction 2 · Mid-Century Contemplative
Composed, structured, quietly confident.
parchment · ochre · lapis · espresso
This is the most structured and composed of the three. The dial here is architecture and precision — it reads as intentional and considered, with a single memorable shape anchoring the page.
Feedback prompts
Gut check: does this structured, mid-century feel read as confident and grounded — or too formal?
Layout: the arched hero tile is the signature. Does it feel distinctive, or distracting?
Type: the serif here is crisper and more high-contrast. Does that feel more or less like you than the softer serif?
Audience test: does this feel clear and welcoming to your core client, or a touch too designed?
Direction 3 · Coastal Botanical
Open, airy, breathable.
mist · sea glass · sage · marine
This is the lightest and most open of the three. The dial here is breath and calm — it reads as clean and modern, with the least visual weight of the three.
Feedback prompts
Gut check: does this clean, airy feel read as calm and modern — or too plain and generic?
Type: there’s no serif here at all. Does the all-sans look feel lighter, or does it lose warmth?
Layout: the centered, open layout breathes a lot. Does it feel spacious, or too sparse?
Audience test: does this feel clear and welcoming to your core client, or a touch too clinical?
Side by side
It’s common to like one direction’s navigation, another’s type, and a third’s color. This table lets you mix and match at the level of individual elements.
| Element | Sabi Sanctuary | Chromatic Stillness | Biophilic Horizon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hero layout | Left-aligned, single column | Two-column with arch tile | Centered, airy |
| Headline type | Newsreader serif (soft) | Fraunces serif (crisp) | Outfit sans (light) |
| Body type | Source Sans 3 | Plus Jakarta Sans | DM Sans |
| Ground color | Warm linen #F4EFEA | Parchment #FAF7EE | Mist white #F7F8F7 |
| Accent color | Matcha green + persimmon | Ochre + lapis blue | Sea-glass teal + sage |
| Corner shape | Organic, uneven | Geometric, sharp | Pill, fully rounded |
| Motion feel | Fluid, gentle | Crisp, lateral | Slow, breath-like |
A note on the living background
The 05 series carried a GPU-rendered wash that drifted as you scrolled, powered by a 3D library that added 1.3 MB of JavaScript to every page load. In 06a I replaced it with a hand-built gradient and a fine linen grain. The softness is the same, and the background still breathes very slowly — but it is now 26 seconds of CSS on one element instead of 1.3 MB of JavaScript, so it renders even if the script never runs. Both versions respect a request to reduce motion. If you want the scroll-reactive version back, it is a small addition to the new ground rather than a swap.
Next steps
Sabi Sanctuary is the direction. The remaining work is content and wiring, not visual exploration — plus the scope and pricing summary you asked for.
1 · You confirm
The four open questions on slide 3. Answer them and the mockup stops being a mockup.
2 · I build
About, Services and Contact get the same treatment as the homepage, and the contact form is wired to your inbox instead of a demo.
3 · Then move
The cost estimate you asked about on September 21 goes out with this deck, before anything gets built.
Your current site is crawlable — there is a sitemap and a robots file — but it gives search engines and messaging apps almost nothing to work with: no meta descriptions on any page, no H1 heading, no image shown when a link is texted to someone, and the only phone number a visitor could call lives in your email signature rather than on the site. The new design will look better. It can also be found, and called. That is separate work, and it belongs in the estimate.