GLISSADE

GLISSADE

Sarrosi's sporting alter ego. Same obsession with quality, completely different energy. Gritty, performance-led, built for the runners, cyclists and tennis players who train like they mean it.

Glissade performance sport brand — co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade sport brand campaign — built for runners cyclists and tennis players by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural vegan anti-chafe sport balm — brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural vegan anti-chafe sport balm — brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade performance sport brand photography — built by Sarah McDonnell London
Glissade performance sport brand photography — built by Sarah McDonnell London

Defining minimalism as a tool, not just a trend, in modern branding:

Sarrosi had proven something important. Women didn't just want anti-chafe they wanted anti-chafe that felt like a brand worth owning. Beautiful, natural, something you were proud to pull out of your bag. The lifestyle space was ours. But the more we looked at who was buying Sarrosi, the more we kept seeing the same thing. Runners. Cyclists. Tennis players. Women and men who trained hard, moved fast and needed protection that could genuinely keep up. The sport category for anti-chafe was a wasteland. Functional to the point of being aggressive. Nothing that spoke to people who cared about performance and aesthetics in equal measure. Sarrosi's sporting alter ego was sitting right there, waiting to be built. So we built it.

Glissade brand pivot to Nike-style energy — brand strategy by Sarah McDonnell

We thought sport meant masculine. The sales told us otherwise. We moved fast.

Our first instinct with Glissade was to go more masculine. Sport. Performance. Grit. The kind of visual language you see across the category: dark, aggressive, all caps, built for men. We launched with that direction and we watched what happened. And what happened was that it didn't land the way we expected. So we pivoted. Fast. More Nike than masculine. Hits of neon. Energy without aggression. A brand world that felt high performance but spoke to women as well as men and immediately felt more right. More exciting. More ownable. What made that pivot possible was the way we'd designed the packaging from the start. Amazon had taught us that you need to be able to move quickly to test messaging, change imagery, read what the data is telling you and act on it without a six-month agency process. We could update the brand world, refresh the visual direction and relaunch within weeks. That speed is a superpower. Most big brands can't do it. We built Glissade specifically so we could.

Glissade sport brand identity — gritty performance-led brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural sport balm range — shea butter citrus oil Vitamin E brand by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell

Same obsession. Completely different energy. And a lesson in knowing when to move.

Glissade was Sarrosi stripped back and pushed forward. Same natural, vegan, cruelty-free DNA: shea butter, citrus oil, Vitamin E but with a completely different attitude. Grittier. More focused. Built for the runners, cyclists and tennis players who train like they mean it and expect everything they use to keep up. Together Sarrosi and Glissade covered the full spectrum of what women actually need, the gorgeous everyday product and the serious performance one. Two brands, one clear territory, a genuine point of view on a category that had been ignored by everyone who knew what good brand building actually looked like. We built Glissade to six-figure turnover with no outside investment and no safety net. When the funding conversations didn't land and the right acquisition offer didn't materialise, we wound it down on our terms. What we kept was the instinct. Knowing where to go next before anyone else does. Knowing when something isn't working and moving fast enough to fix it. That's not something you learn in a classroom. That's what Glissade gave us.

GLISSADE

Sarrosi's sporting alter ego. Same obsession with quality, completely different energy. Gritty, performance-led, built for the runners, cyclists and tennis players who train like they mean it.

Glissade performance sport brand — co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade performance sport brand — co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade sport brand campaign — built for runners cyclists and tennis players by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade sport brand campaign — built for runners cyclists and tennis players by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural vegan anti-chafe sport balm — brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural vegan anti-chafe sport balm — brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade performance sport brand photography — built by Sarah McDonnell London
Glissade performance sport brand photography — built by Sarah McDonnell London

Understanding emotional response through space, hierarchy, and visual restraint:

In digital design, space isn’t empty—it’s intentional. White space controls pacing, hierarchy builds comfort, and contrast guides attention. These elements evoke mood and build trust through unseen tension. A strong layout doesn’t just function—it speaks.

In well-crafted sites, layout becomes memory. You don’t just recall the content—you remember how it moved, how it felt, how it opened up space or leaned into density. That resonance is rarely about color or font alone—it’s how the structure carried everything with intention.

When every pixel plays its part, and every part respects the whole, we begin to build sites that don’t just function—they resonate. They linger. They become signatures. Not by shouting, but by speaking in rhythm, with quiet clarity and deep precision.

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Glissade brand pivot to Nike-style energy — brand strategy by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade brand pivot to Nike-style energy — brand strategy by Sarah McDonnell

Creating interaction that feels intuitive, considered, and emotionally aligned:

When motion, structure, and design align, users don’t think—they feel. That’s the sweet spot where layout becomes a bridge. Interfaces should communicate tone as much as task. Even the simplest detail—a button’s curve or a heading’s weight—can influence how someone feels.

Modular components give structure, but it’s the unexpected breaks—the asymmetry, the shift in rhythm, the quiet gesture—that introduce character. That’s where emotion sneaks in. That’s where the layout becomes a story, not just a scaffold. It’s in the relationship between repetition and surprise, clarity and contrast, that visual tension thrives.

We often think of layouts as fixed, but the best ones are elastic. They stretch to fit diverse narratives, but never lose coherence. They allow variation without losing voice. When a layout becomes too stiff, it feels soulless. When it becomes too loose, it loses trust. The sweet spot lies in the in-between. That edge—that living edge—is where the work breathes.

Know more about this through Akihiko Blogs.

Glissade sport brand identity — gritty performance-led brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade sport brand identity — gritty performance-led brand built by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural sport balm range — shea butter citrus oil Vitamin E brand by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade natural sport balm range — shea butter citrus oil Vitamin E brand by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell
Glissade built to six-figure turnover — performance brand co-founded by Sarah McDonnell

Balancing order and creativity for expressive user interfaces:

They aren’t rigid templates or chaotic experiments—they’re frameworks that breathe, adapt, and respond. A layout, when designed with intent, doesn’t just hold content—it elevates it. It becomes the unseen rhythm of the page, guiding the user’s eye with balance, restraint, and just enough tension to keep things alive.

A smart layout doesn’t impose itself. It listens. It bends where it needs to. It adjusts for type, for image, for tone. It creates systems that can scale but still feel personal. A great layout doesn’t flatten expression—it preserves soul. It knows when to hold back and when to surprise. That balance is the mark of a thoughtful designer.

Find more insights on Akihiko Blogs.

WHO I WORK WITH...

working with

01

Global Brands

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Startups & VCs

03

Agencies

Global Brands

Startups & VCs

Agencies