Timeline:
12 weeks
Role:
Brand Designer / UX Designer
Industry:
Branding, App Design, Physical Product
As an endurance athlete, I've struggled to understand how my menstrual cycle affects my training, performance, and recovery — and couldn't find a single platform built to address this gap. That's why I created Stella: a cycle-aware fitness brand that enables strategic training based on your personal rhythm. This project spans brand strategy, identity design, a landing page, app design, and a physical product extension.
Most fitness platforms take a one-size-fits-all approach to training. For half the population, that ignores a major variable — the menstrual cycle, which directly affects energy, recovery, and consistency every single month.
My Approach
Instead of ignoring or working around hormonal fluctuations, Stella takes advantage of them — syncing training intensity to each cycle phase to maximize peak energy, support recovery, and keep athletes consistent toward their biggest goals.
How it Works
Stella is centered around a post-workout vibe check that allows users to record subjective data as a supplement to their objective cycle phase. This information can be transformed into insights for users to provide personal training suggestions and nutrition support, allowing users to align more with their body's unique patterns and visualize a more consistent training regime.
Stella App
Users can use the Stella app as the touchpoint for everything from cycle syncing, post-workout reflections, training plans and strategies, and fueling support.
Record how you felt
Following a workout, users are prompted to complete a "vibe check" to record how they felt during their workout.
View Trends & Insights
Data captured from vibe checks combine with users' cycle data to provide and visualize energy and performance insights over time.
Join Constellations
Constellations are virtual groups that translate to the real world communities — groups for training, discussion chats, and more.
The Vibes
The initial mood board captures the energy and audience. Once the name Stella emerged, I recreated the moodbaord to visualize the brand's star metaphor.
Visual Identity
The color palette was drawn from the refined mood board, pulled from the tones that best captured Stella's energy. Finding the right typeface meant balancing boldness with personality to create an identity that felt strong, dynamic, and confident. Lust Display landed for its confidence, with the italic L's adding movement and flow, grounded by DM Sans. Cobalt and coral fit best for their complementary bold and energizing effect for the primary color palette.
Brand Voice
The color palette was drawn from the refined mood board, pulled from the tones that best captured Stella's energy. Finding the right typeface meant balancing boldness with personality to create an identity that felt strong, dynamic, and confident. Lust Display landed for its confidence, with the italic L's adding movement and flow, grounded by DM Sans. Cobalt and coral fit best for their complementary bold and energizing effect for the primary color palette.
Stella Sticks
Stella Sticks are a cycle-synced electrolyte system to support performance and recovery throughout each cycle phase — sold directly through the app, so nutrition and training can work together in one place.
Landing Page
Stella's landing page shows how Stella is different than existing fitness platforms, shows users how the system works, highlights Stella Sticks, and invites users to join the constellation.
User Research
I interviewed three women within the target audience to understand how their cycle affects their training and whether anything currently helps them navigate it. After presenting Stella, I captured their immediate reactions.
What I heard
Community
Qual vs. Quant
Visual Resonance
Community was a priority — women are eager to train alongside others who understand their experience
The subjective focus on performance feels missing from current fitness platforms
The design approach felt intuitive and gender-considered without being overly feminine
Reflection
I interviewed three women within the target audience to understand how their cycle affects their training and whether anything currently helps them navigate it. After presenting Stella, I captured their immediate reactions.
Next Steps
