Old Hands. New Direction.

The Curnow Brother’s Rebrand.

When Joash and Sam approached me late last year, my first thought was “Why me?”. Initially it didn’t feel the right fit, this pair of viking-like brothers with circular saws, steel toe caps and a skull and cross bones in their logo. But we started talking and very quickly it clicked. Their current image did not fit with the customer they desired. Not even close. After their brand workshop I started unravelling this idea of who they really wanted to work for and that person was going to connect with a brand who visually looked incredibly different to the masculine, workman style they currently had.

Not only that, but the brothers had been trading for a long time as ‘carpenters’ when in actual fact what they are incredibly talented at is creating custom kitchens in the often characterful (not straight walled!) homes of Cornwall. So that was our other focus, repositioning them as high-end, bespoke Cornish kitchen fitters.

By getting clarity on exactly who their audience was and what they value, alongside their desired goals for the business, I was able to put together a really clear creative direction. Sam and Joash were immediately on board with the direction and saw exactly why it was going to appeal to their customer who has an eye for finer objects and wants their kitchen to be more than just off-the-shelf functionality.

Typography choice was critical for the word mark to convey a sense of trust and tradition, finished with a small flourish of script which nods to the customer’s sophisticated taste. The wood slice icon balances craftsmanship and the heritage of their carpentry roots, hand drawn for a tactile feel and gently shaped into a ‘C’.

The colour palette is minimalist but warm. It feels like gentle sun falling on white walls and soft shadows in the corners. The pink accent is adapted from Farrow and Ball’s ‘Setting Plaster’, after identifying that branded paint finishes are a quiet status symbol that their client will value highly. It purposely gives a feminine edge to the overall feel of the brand palette as we identified that even though this is a business run my two men, it is often women who initiate research and make purchasing decisions when it comes to home renovation projects.

The brush stroke graphics bring a dash of character into the brand identity, painted using pieces of locally-foraged wood. Their movement and imperfect edges complement the clean lines structure of the other elements and allow us to bring a sense of their bespoke finishings into the narrative with the Setting Plaster colour.

The result is a complete transformation for the brand. One that has given the brothers the confidence to start actively marketing where before they hadn’t had the design support behind them to do so. They are now connecting with clients they really want to work with and projects that energise them and play to their strengths. The same old hands creating the same beautiful products, but a new identity that takes them in a completely different direction.