Splay
Splay
Splay
About
A rebrand for a mid-century furniture label — a geometric wordmark drawn from the splayed leg, a modular catalogue, and a photographic language built on silhouette and shadow.
Category
Rebranding
Industry
Furniture & Objects
Year
2023
Timeline
14 weeks
Problem
Splay had a clear point of view in the workshop — tapered legs, low profiles, honest joints — and then wrapped it in a brand that could have belonged to anyone. Two decades of ad-hoc logos, spec sheets, and trade-show graphics had left no through-line at all. Retail partners kept filing the pieces under generic "modern seating." The mid-century lineage that justified the price was doing none of the work.
Solution
We built the identity out of the furniture itself. The wordmark takes its angle from the splayed leg — a consistent eight-degree cant that runs through the logotype, the grid, and the catalogue's margins. Art direction moved to raking light and long shadow so silhouette reads before material does. A modular spec system lets one template carry a lounge chair, a credenza, or a full contract order without anything being redrawn.
Result
Splay stopped being filed under "modern seating" and became a name buyers ask for. The angled grid gave the catalogue, the site, and the trade-show booth an immediate family resemblance, and dealers started leading with the lineage rather than the price. The spec templates cut a new product launch from a full design cycle down to a few days of production work, so the range can now grow at the pace the workshop actually builds.
About
A rebrand for a mid-century furniture label — a geometric wordmark drawn from the splayed leg, a modular catalogue, and a photographic language built on silhouette and shadow.
Category
Rebranding
Industry
Furniture & Objects
Year
2023
Timeline
14 weeks
Problem
Splay had a clear point of view in the workshop — tapered legs, low profiles, honest joints — and then wrapped it in a brand that could have belonged to anyone. Two decades of ad-hoc logos, spec sheets, and trade-show graphics had left no through-line at all. Retail partners kept filing the pieces under generic "modern seating." The mid-century lineage that justified the price was doing none of the work.
Solution
We built the identity out of the furniture itself. The wordmark takes its angle from the splayed leg — a consistent eight-degree cant that runs through the logotype, the grid, and the catalogue's margins. Art direction moved to raking light and long shadow so silhouette reads before material does. A modular spec system lets one template carry a lounge chair, a credenza, or a full contract order without anything being redrawn.
Result
Splay stopped being filed under "modern seating" and became a name buyers ask for. The angled grid gave the catalogue, the site, and the trade-show booth an immediate family resemblance, and dealers started leading with the lineage rather than the price. The spec templates cut a new product launch from a full design cycle down to a few days of production work, so the range can now grow at the pace the workshop actually builds.
About
A rebrand for a mid-century furniture label — a geometric wordmark drawn from the splayed leg, a modular catalogue, and a photographic language built on silhouette and shadow.
Category
Rebranding
Industry
Furniture & Objects
Year
2023
Timeline
14 weeks
Problem
Splay had a clear point of view in the workshop — tapered legs, low profiles, honest joints — and then wrapped it in a brand that could have belonged to anyone. Two decades of ad-hoc logos, spec sheets, and trade-show graphics had left no through-line at all. Retail partners kept filing the pieces under generic "modern seating." The mid-century lineage that justified the price was doing none of the work.
Solution
We built the identity out of the furniture itself. The wordmark takes its angle from the splayed leg — a consistent eight-degree cant that runs through the logotype, the grid, and the catalogue's margins. Art direction moved to raking light and long shadow so silhouette reads before material does. A modular spec system lets one template carry a lounge chair, a credenza, or a full contract order without anything being redrawn.
Result
Splay stopped being filed under "modern seating" and became a name buyers ask for. The angled grid gave the catalogue, the site, and the trade-show booth an immediate family resemblance, and dealers started leading with the lineage rather than the price. The spec templates cut a new product launch from a full design cycle down to a few days of production work, so the range can now grow at the pace the workshop actually builds.
About
A rebrand for a mid-century furniture label — a geometric wordmark drawn from the splayed leg, a modular catalogue, and a photographic language built on silhouette and shadow.
Category
Rebranding
Industry
Furniture & Objects
Year
2023
Timeline
14 weeks
Problem
Splay had a clear point of view in the workshop — tapered legs, low profiles, honest joints — and then wrapped it in a brand that could have belonged to anyone. Two decades of ad-hoc logos, spec sheets, and trade-show graphics had left no through-line at all. Retail partners kept filing the pieces under generic "modern seating." The mid-century lineage that justified the price was doing none of the work.
Solution
We built the identity out of the furniture itself. The wordmark takes its angle from the splayed leg — a consistent eight-degree cant that runs through the logotype, the grid, and the catalogue's margins. Art direction moved to raking light and long shadow so silhouette reads before material does. A modular spec system lets one template carry a lounge chair, a credenza, or a full contract order without anything being redrawn.
Result
Splay stopped being filed under "modern seating" and became a name buyers ask for. The angled grid gave the catalogue, the site, and the trade-show booth an immediate family resemblance, and dealers started leading with the lineage rather than the price. The spec templates cut a new product launch from a full design cycle down to a few days of production work, so the range can now grow at the pace the workshop actually builds.