Responses by ET Studio.

Background: For brand designer and art director Paolo Vendramini, we designed this website as a clear, intentional digital space that reflects his identity. Rather than functioning as a traditional portfolio, the site conveys his design philosophy: a practice rooted in reduction, clarity and narrative coherence. The white space becomes an active element that structures meaning rather than merely decorating it.

The target audience includes brands, creative teams, studios and professionals seeking a designer who approaches identity work with precision, restraint and conceptual depth. The website aims to give them an immediate understanding of Vendramini’s method and visual language.

Design core: The core of the site lies in its essential visual language. The design embraces minimalism not as an aesthetic trend but as a narrative tool. The layout is clean, the grid is rigorous and the typography is measured, all contributing to a feeling of order and intention. Generous white space shapes rhythm and focus, supporting the work instead of completing it. The project pages follow a consistent modular structure that highlights each case study without overwhelming the viewer. Subtle transitions and restrained interactions give fluidity to the experience while maintaining a sense of calm precision. Overall, the site communicates an identity that is thoughtful, disciplined and coherent.

Favorite details: One of the aspects we’re most proud of is the balance between simplicity and personality. The site remains visually quiet, yet it carries a strong presence—proof that essentiality can still communicate character.

The use of white space as a storytelling device is another key strength: it connects, frames and gives weight to the content.

We’re also proud of the consistency between identity and interface. Every decision reflects Vendramini’s design values, creating a seamless relationship between what he does and how he presents himself. The final result feels both technical and poetic, which is exactly the balance we aimed to achieve.

Challenges: Determining the exact degree of reduction. Creating an essential experience without making it feel empty required carefully controlling the hierarchy, spacing and content selection. Each element needed to justify its presence, which meant constant refinement and iteration. Balancing clarity, personality and usability within such a minimal framework demanded precision and restraint.

New lessons: This project reinforced the value of designing with intention and reminded us how powerful white space can be when it’s treated as part of the narrative. It also deepened our understanding of modular content structures and how they can support both clarity and flexibility. Working closely on identity and digital experience simultaneously strengthened our ability to maintain coherence across different media.

Navigation structure: We built the navigation to be immediate and transparent, with only a few sections, no distractions and a linear path that guides the user from the work to the person to the contact. The goal was to remove friction and make orientation worthless.

Special navigational features: The site uses subtle interaction cues—smooth transitions, gentle scrolling prompts and clean project sequencing—to guide exploration without overwhelming the experience. The navigation feels invisible but supportive, letting the content be the primary focus.

Technology: The front end is powered by Nuxt, whose server-side rendering capabilities improve page load speed and SEO while its modular architecture enables efficient management of the application’s structure. The integration with Strapi via its API ensures a smooth, dynamic user experience, particularly for the content-driven elements of the site.

The project utilizes Strapi as its headless CMS, which provides a flexible, scalable back-end solution. Strapi’s API-first architecture allows for seamless content management while decoupling the back end from the front end, enabling smooth integration with Nuxt.

To bring the site to life, we used GSAP to manage animations and transitions. GSAP gave us granular control over the animations, enabling complex visual effects and microinteractions throughout the site. Smooth, engaging transitions enhance the overall visual appeal without compromising performance. And, for a seamless browsing experience, we implemented Lenis to handle smooth scrolling.