The decision
Hanwen chose C, the mix, on 14 November 2026. C is now the homepage, and the guide gives its rules. A and B stay on this page as a record. The review by Xing is open.
What the test was
Culture Blender does branding and brand marketing. It is not a production house for fashion pictures. Thus the question is not which page looks more like kontakt. The question is which page lets a brand studio show its thinking, its words and the brands of its clients.
The three pages use the same line, the same services, the same two form studies and the same contact text. Only the direction is different. B and C are almost the same page, so show only B and C to see the difference.
Eight points to compare
| A, frosted glass | B, silent page | C, the mix | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A frame for client brands | The glass, the aqua and the large headlines stay on each page. A client identity must compete with them. | Stronger. The page has no colour and no material. Each client brand keeps its own look. | Almost as neutral as B. The glass has no colour of its own. It takes its colour from the work behind it. |
| Memory after five seconds | Stronger. A visitor remembers the glass. No studio in your reference set looks like this. | Many studios use a white page and a small grotesque. The form, the line and the work must give the recognition. | Between A and B. The ring mark and the frost header give a visitor one thing to remember. |
| Words and thinking | Large headlines carry the voice. A visitor reads the point of view quickly. | One large line, then quiet text. A project gives the question, the idea and the result in three lines. The discipline shows, but the personality is smaller. | The same as B. One plate puts the voice line on frosted glass. |
| With no client work today | Stronger. The page looks complete, because the interface is the content. | System plates show the name, the voice and the colours. But two plates are empty until you make the photographs. | The same gaps as B. The ring mark is a working drawing, and it is not a final logo. |
| Social media, decks and print | Glass is a screen effect. A post, a deck or a print needs a new design each time. | Stronger. Two ratios, one type size and a credit line go to a grid, a deck and a print without change. | The rules of B, and the ring mark as a profile picture. A frost pane goes to a post as a picture. |
| Distance to your references | Far. The page reads as a technology product or a 3D studio. | Stronger. Near kontakt and near the campaign pictures of Our Legacy, Stüssy and Miu Miu. | Near, with one detail that the references do not have. |
| How it ages | Glass effects are a strong trend now. They can look old in two years. | Slow to age. But the page looks like a template if the content is weak. | The glass is small. It can leave later, and the page does not need a new design. |
| Cost to keep | Four style files. Each new page needs new layout decisions. | Stronger. One style file. A new project is a credit sheet and a set of plates. | Two style files, and one more rule to keep: glass in three places only. |
Three quick tests
- Show each page to a person for five seconds. Ask what the studio does and what they remember.
- Open the three pages on your phones. Use the phone button above first, then real phones.
- Think of one brand that you want as a client. Put its logo and one picture in each page, in your head. See which page gets out of the way.
What C does
C keeps the silent page of B as the frame. The glass of A comes back as a signature, in three places only.
- The header is a sheet of clear frost. It shows no colour on white paper. It takes colour when a picture goes behind it.
- The form is a small ring next to the name. This is the mark of the studio.
- One plate puts the voice line on a frost pane, with the form behind it.
The panes are square cut. They have no rounded corner and no shadow. If glass appears in a fourth place, C starts to become A again.
Working draft for Hanwen and Xing, 14 November 2026. The rules of C are in the guide.