Hi Speed Horns
HI SPEED HORNS
MUSIC SERVICES
WEBSITE REFRESH
01 PROJECT SUMMARY
The work was already credible. The website was not carrying the same weight.
Ron Blake’s career spans decades of professional arranging, recording and performance. The refresh focused on giving that body of work a cleaner digital frame, so musicians, producers and collaborators could understand the offer, trust the experience and move toward contact without wading through a dated presentation.
02 PROBLEM
A flat website was underselling a career with serious range.
The existing site made Ron’s expertise feel smaller than it was. Visual hierarchy was weak, key proof points competed for attention, and the page did not immediately connect his professional credibility with the service being offered. For a client-facing music business, that gap mattered: first impressions had to sound as polished as the work itself.
03 MY ROLE
This was less about adding features and more about making the right things impossible to miss.
I refreshed the visual direction and page hierarchy, clarified how the offer, process, biography and discography should be presented, and shaped the site into a more coherent professional showcase. The aim was a stronger client-facing presence without turning a straightforward portfolio site into an over-engineered product.
04 OUTCOMES
The shift was from “personal website” to “credible professional touchpoint”.
Stronger presence A more contemporary presentation that better matches Ron’s professional standing. | Clearer proof Experience, collaborations and discography became easier to scan and trust. | Better client signal The site now works harder as a first-contact surface for artists and producers. |
05 INTENT
The site did not need to perform louder. It needed to conduct attention better.
The design intent was to help visitors answer three questions quickly: Who is Ron? Why should I trust him? How does working with Hi Speed Horns actually work? That meant putting professional proof, service clarity and process visibility ahead of decorative complexity.
06 CHALLENGES
The strongest content was already there, but it was buried in the same visual register as everything else.
• Balance personality and polish without making a musician’s site feel corporate or sterile.
• Surface a long, impressive career without creating an exhausting wall of credits.
• Explain a remote recording service clearly enough for artists to understand the workflow before reaching out.
• Keep the refreshed experience straightforward enough to maintain over time.
07 APPROACH
I treated credibility as an information-design problem, not just a styling exercise.
I reorganised the experience around clearer content priorities: service proposition first, trust signals close behind, then process, biography and proof of work. The visual refresh used stronger scale, spacing and section contrast so visitors could skim at speed while still finding deeper detail when they wanted it.
08 KEY WORK / SOLUTIONS
The website became a sequence of confidence-building moments rather than one long page of information.
01 A stronger opening act
The refreshed top section leads with the service, Ron’s specialist craft and immediate credibility. Current messaging such as Grammy-winning horn arrangements, remote recording and major artist collaborations turns the hero into a practical trust signal rather than a generic welcome mat.
Live-site reference view: service proposition + credibility cues.
02 A process artists can understand before they enquire
The “How It’s Done” flow converts an unfamiliar remote recording service into a simple sequence: discuss the project, send the track, record the horns, review a rough mix and receive clean stems. That reduces uncertainty and makes the service feel tangible.
Live-site reference view: the service workflow translated into a simple client journey.
03 A discography that does the credibility work
The site’s strongest proof is the body of work itself. By giving discography and recognisable collaborations more structure, the redesign turns names, awards and credits into evidence rather than trivia. Visitors can scan the range from Lady Gaga and The Rolling Stones to Elton John, Dr. Dre and Ziggy Marley, while still seeing independent-artist accessibility in the core service offer.
Live-site reference view: selected discography and award signals, reconstructed from the current site.
04 Simpler hierarchy, more personality
Rather than introduce layers of interaction, I used visual rhythm to separate the offer, process, biography, credits and FAQ. The result gives the long-form page more pacing, helping each section feel intentional while preserving the directness of a musician-led service business.
09 TRANSFORMATION
The redesign changed what the website communicates before a visitor reads every word.
BEFORE | AFTER |
Dated, visually flat presentation | More contemporary, credible showcase |
10 LEARNINGS
Hierarchy can be the feature When the offer is simple, sharper sequencing and emphasis can create more value than adding new functionality. | Proof needs curation A long career becomes persuasive when the strongest signals are surfaced and grouped, not merely listed. | Maintenance is part of UX For a solo professional, a design only works long-term if the content can stay current without constant redesign. |
