Works/Marlow & Co.

A century-old furniture maker gets an identity with as much craft as its chairs

Client: Marlow & Co.
Industry: Furniture · Retail
Services: Brand strategy, Visual identity, Packaging
Year: 2024
Timeline: 10 weeks

About project

Marlow & Co. is a fourth-generation furniture maker with three showrooms and a mark that had been redrawn so many times nobody could say which one was right. Visuolab drew a single identity that holds in a design-store window and on the side of a delivery van without reading as two different companies.

62%more direct traffic in six months

3showrooms rolled out in one season

18press features in the first year

How it went

Four phases, one team throughout

Step #1
Discovery
2 weeks
Workshop visits, a dig through a century of catalogues and interviews in all three showrooms.
- Brand strategyPositioning, story
- Wordmark & identityType, colour, grid
Step #2
Strategy
2 weeks
Positioning, brand story and a naming architecture for the collections.
- Packaging system3 formats
- Showroom signage3 locations
Step #3
Identity
4 weeks
Wordmark, type, colour and photography direction; packaging and showroom signage.
- Photography directionShoot guide
Step #4
Rollout
2 weeks
Brand book, templates and a coordinated launch across the showrooms and the van fleet.
- Brand book96 pages

Challenges

What we had to solve

01
A mark with too many versions
The logo had been redrawn so often that nobody could say which one was right.
02
Two worlds, one brand
It had to feel at home in a design-store window and on the side of a delivery van.
03
Four generations of history
A century of craft to honour without the brand turning into a museum piece.

What changed

Results

62% more direct traffic in six months
3 showrooms rolled out in one season
18 press features in the first year
The joins in the wordmark mirror the joinery — a detail customers noticed unprompted.
A palette sampled in the workshop, warm enough to hold up in print and on screen.
Kraft, cloth tape and a signed card in every delivery. The unboxing is part of the brand.