Creating a Sophisticated Brand Identity for Morris Lare Interiors

Sector: Interior Design

Challenge: Longtime friends and interior designers Alicia Morris and Jillian Lare joined efforts in 2021 to establish Morris Lare Interior Design in Des Moines, Iowa. The team hired me to develop their new logo and brand guidelines for Morris Lare. As an interior design enthusiast myself, I was delighted to work with Alicia and Jillian. Our challenge was to define their brand attributes, customer personas, and business goals to create a brand that blended the styles of both designers and stood out from their competitors.

My Role: Brand Strategy and Design, Workshop Facilitation

Collaborators: Alicia Morris and Jillian Lare (Co-Founders, Morris Lare Interiors)

Timeline: 2 months (2021)

Deliverables: Brand strategy, logo design, brand guidelines, stylescape exploration

Executive Summary

I led the brand development for Morris Lare Interiors, a new interior design firm in Des Moines, Iowa. Through strategic workshops with the co-founders, I defined brand attributes that balanced approachable warmth with luxury positioning, created customer personas, and developed three visual direction concepts. The final brand identity successfully merged both designers' aesthetic preferences while establishing a distinctive presence in the competitive interior design market. The collaborative process resulted in a timeless brand that reflects their coastal-inspired, client-focused approach.

Workshop-Driven Brand Development

I facilitated a one-hour workshop with Alicia and Jillian to brainstorm Morris Lare's brand attributes and mission. Using a framework I developed for brand strategy work, we explored six key dimensions:

  • Culture: Defining the brand.

  • Customer: Defining the user.

  • Voice: The brand’s tone when communicating with the user.

  • Feeling: How a user feels after having interacted with the brand.

  • Impact: The effect the brand or service has on the users’ lives.

  • X-Factor: What makes the brand unique

Brand Attribute keywords.

Final Brand Attributes

  • Culture: Approachable, luxurious, timeless, natural, grateful, and collaborative

  • Feeling: Positive, calm, supported, and belonging

  • X-Factor: Coastal style, kindness, 20 years of combined experience

  • Customer: Kind, busy, trusting

  • Voice: Thoughtful, poised, accessible, human, honest

  • Impact: Comfort, beauty, time

Target Personas

Together we built client personas based on their experiences and assumptions. These helped us better understand their target audience and informed all design decisions throughout the brand development process.

Client persona example.

Stylescape Exploration and Refinement

After the workshop, I took the brand attributes, persona information, and design inspiration to craft three distinct stylescapes. A stylescape is a design presentation method that communicates visual direction through carefully curated mood boards combining imagery, typography, color, and texture.

Concept A: Timeless Warmth

Concept B: Clean Coastal

Concepts C: Organic Sophistication

Jillian and Alicia each responded to different elements from each of these concepts. I was able to combine their favorite aspects of each direction into a refined final concept that honored both of their design sensibilities while maintaining visual cohesion.

Final Stylescapes

Brand Guidelines

Outcomes: Collaborative Design and Client Partnership

It's not often that you get another designer as a client. This project was so enjoyable to work on because Jillian and Alicia had a clear vision, provided specific direction, and gave actionable feedback on the work. Because they believe so strongly in the client experience, it inspired me to go above and beyond with our strategy sessions and design concepts.

Project Outcomes:

  • Created a distinctive brand identity that successfully merged two designers' aesthetic preferences into a cohesive visual system

  • Established brand positioning that balances approachable warmth with luxury, differentiating Morris Lare from competitors in the Des Moines market

  • Delivered comprehensive brand guidelines that provide clear direction for all future brand applications

  • Developed a flexible visual system that reflects their coastal-inspired, natural aesthetic while feeling timeless and sophisticated

Client Collaboration:

Working with design-savvy clients allowed for more nuanced conversations about brand strategy and visual direction. Their ability to articulate preferences and provide detailed feedback accelerated the design process and resulted in a stronger final outcome. The collaborative workshop approach fostered shared ownership of the brand strategy, ensuring the final identity authentically represented their vision.

Key Learnings:

Overall, the Morris Lare project was one of my favorites. The brand feels timeless yet modern, the clients were exceptional, and I learned a lot about the interior design industry through our collaboration. This project reinforced the value of thorough brand strategy work before jumping into design execution. By investing time upfront to understand their business goals, target customers, and unique positioning, we created a foundation that clarified and made all subsequent design decisions more purposeful.

If I were to approach this differently, I would have documented the decision-making process more thoroughly to create a case study on how to work effectively with design professionals as clients. Their feedback and collaborative approach could serve as a model for ideal client partnerships.