Smithmade Essentials

Flagship Case Study:
Product and Brand Experience Driven by Concept

Overview

Smithmade Essentials is my product brand that focuses on concept-driven design across physical products, packaging, and brand systems within the home fragrance and personal care markets.

In this project, I served as the Creative Director and Product Concept Lead, developing seasonal themes and turning them into product collections. Each collection was built around a narrative expressed through sensory and visual systems. From initial concept through production and launch, I refined ideas to address real-world constraints, including manufacturing capabilities, cost, timelines, and performance.

Explore the Case Study

Project Scope

Brand Development
Identity, visual system, and foundational brand direction
Product Development
Concept development, collection planning, and product strategy
Packaging Design
Structural and visual packaging across soap and candles
Photography
Art direction and execution for product and lifestyle imagery
Brand Activation
Marketing, brand communication, and launch support

Work for Client Brands

Through my design studio, Kiah Smith Creative, I lead brand and web design projects for organizations and small businesses, guiding ideas from strategy through execution.

Brand Development

Gather Nourish Rise, Midwifery (Copy)

VAVID Technology Group (Copy)

Knotted Lives, Relationship Coaching (Copy)

Sleepy Mia, Content Creator (Copy)

Packaging Design

Iannucci Spirits, Wine & Cider (Copy)

Marketing & Communications Design

Yale Flipped Science Fair (Copy)

Virginia Tech, College of Science (Copy)

Morning Glory Early Learning Center (Copy)

Client Testimonials

Testimonials

Gather Nourish Rise

“Kiah is naturally inquisitive and deeply cares to fully understand her clients and their brand needs. Kiah’s intuition matched with her design mastery makes her brilliant creative and brand professional.

I was so blessed to have Kiah on my brand creation journey for Gather Nourish Rise, and I highly recommend her for anyone looking to create a unique and bold statement for their business.”

Joni Stone, Gather Nourish Rise

VAVID Technology Group

"Kiah was a joy to work with. She always made sure to fully explain each choice when it came to decision making. She is always open to feedback."

Shayla Veasley, VAVID Technology Group

Stacy Lavilla

“I couldn’t be happier in my work with Kiah. She was incredibly responsive, exhibited skill and expertise at every turn , and I always felt that her business philosophy was guided by a need to ensure that she was producing quality work that her client was happy with.”

Stacy Lavilla, Stacy Lavilla Communications

EcoDev

“The best of the best is KSC design. Kiah is attentive to details, quick to respond and very very quality orientated. 5 stars in my book.”

Scott T. Lewis, EcoDev Contest

Global Center for Professional Advancement

“Kiah Smith Creative LLC is a wonderful designer who pays attention to detail! I would recommend her design services to anyone. “

Natalia Xiomara-Chieffo, Spanish on the Green™