FINDING THE RIGHT DIRECTION

The references Travis brought to the table did most of the early work for me. Farrow & Ball colours. Rustic Americana. An English roll-arm sofa he loves so much he has it tattooed on his arm, and which was already sitting in his old logo. Deep, nature-drawn tones, hunter green, navy, mustard, plum. Autumn over spring, every time.

He wanted the brand to feel bespoke and curated rather than luxury. That word specifically was off the table, too snooty, too much of a wall between him and the client. What he wanted instead was accessible premium, warm rather than aspirational, honest rather than polished, a brand full of nostalgia, character and soul.

A fox became the mascot early on, and it earns its place. Clever, a bit regal, at home in the woods, comfortable indoors or out. It fit both sides of the business without forcing it.

The name went through a rework too. Travis Smith had decided on Living & Lodge, a name built to carry both the interior work and the cabin work under one identity rather than two competing ones, and to move the brand away from being tied to one person.

The visual identity followed the same logic that shaped the name. Hand-drawn elements, National Park inspired type, , gallery-wall layouts, vintage flag and banner details, all steering clear of anything too literal.

The primary logomark incorporating the two L’s from the name spaced to form a room floorplan, a subtle nod to what the business does - no descriptive logo spelling out "interiors" or "cabins". This is supported by a set of stylised wordmarks that fit cohesively with the rest of the identity and can be used interchangeable when talking about different parts of the business, whilst maintaining a cohesive brand repetition.

BUILDING OUT THE BRAND

With the identity settled, the next job was making sure it actually worked everywhere Travis needed it to. Business cards, email signature, and proposal templates to replace the Canva documents he'd been cobbling together for client pitches. Title blocks for his architectural drawings, so even the technical side of the job carries the brand through.

The website was the biggest piece of the puzzle. Travis had been using Adobe Portfolio, which had done fine as a stopgap but boxed him in on fonts and layout. I moved the whole site over to Squarespace, partly for the custom typography Travis wanted running through it, partly because he's got e-commerce plans down the line, house and cabin plans for sale directly through the site, and Squarespace gives him room to build that out without needing another platform migration, and the ability to edit and update the site himself.

But Squarespace isn’t without its own limitations - without custom imagery, badges and illustrations a Squarespace site can easily look overly-templated. A big no for someone whose whole thing is “bespoke”. We therefore built out the brand ecosystem with a series of badges, illustrations and type lockups that could be used throughout the website to echo the character and personality of the wider brand.

The Result

Living & Lodge now looks like a brand built for the client Travis actually wants, not the client who happens to find him. Thoughtful, warm, more than a little nostalgic, built around a brand promise as simple as helping people live better, and everything from the logo down to the proposal templates was built to back that up.

The name carries both sides of the business without either one feeling like an afterthought, giving Travis one identity to grow into as the cabin work expands, rather than two brands pulling in different directions.