Studio

We developed a complete visual identity for Uncommon Ancestor, a design studio making finely crafted furniture with bespoke embroidery. Founded by Kara Douwma, her illustrations of clients’ most meaningful memories are translated into embroidery and stitched onto her own footstools, ottomans and jewellery trays.

Drawing inspiration from English heritage and the Arts & Crafts movement, we centred the identity around a refined serif wordmark paired with a hand-drawn floral emblem that echoes 18th-century joiners’ signature stamps. A rich, quintessentially English colour palette supports this aesthetic, lending the brand a calm, understated, and timeless tone.

The system extends across stationery, blind-embossed business cards, posters, woven labels, and digital mailers. We introduced bespoke details such as a series of dating emblems delicately embroidered into the velvet footstools, reinforcing the authenticity and provenance of each piece. 

A custom floral inspired typeface designed exclusively for the jewellery trays adds an additional layer of romanticism, allowing each item to be personalised with the client’s initials and weaving deeper meaning into every thread of the story.
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Client: Uncommon Ancestor
Visual identity: Studio-Studio
Photography: Justin De Souza, Simon Bevan
Interior stylist: Jen Haslam
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London 2025