a new chapter for verte studio

Somewhere along the way, Verte started to become something a little different.

For a long time, Verte Studio was largely about brand identities.

A logo. A colour palette. Typography. A brand guide. The visual pieces that make a business feel like itself.

And I still love that work.

But over the past few years, I've found myself thinking more and more about what happens around the identity — the strategy that comes before it, the websites and digital spaces that bring it to life, the little brand touchpoints that come afterwards, and the ongoing creative decisions that happen as a business evolves.

I think I've always known this was where Verte was heading. I just hadn't quite found the words for it yet.

Perhaps that's part of the reason this rebrand has taken me so long.

I've been asking myself what I actually want Verte to be — not just what I can offer, or what seems sensible to put on a services page, but what kind of creative studio I want to build.

And the answer has become much clearer.

I want Verte to be about looking a little closer.

About taking the time to understand the business behind the brief. Finding the things that make it distinctive. Stripping away some of the noise. And then giving those things form through thoughtful design.

It's also where the name has started to feel more meaningful to me.

Verte was inspired by the Spanish ver — to see — and te — you. It isn't a literal translation of “I see you”, but the idea has always stayed with me: seeing something clearly, and being seen.

And I think that's really what good branding can do.

It can help a business understand itself a little better. It can make the right things visible. It can give shape to something that might have been difficult to articulate before.

There's a more personal reason this direction feels right to me, too.

I've always been drawn to things that feel real.

Travel has shaped a huge part of how I see the world — being somewhere unfamiliar, noticing the details, finding the things you wouldn't necessarily find by looking at a screen. I'm drawn to handcrafted objects, textiles, materials with texture and history, different cultures and the stories that get carried through generations.

I love the things that show evidence of the person who made them.

The imperfections. The details. The things that feel specific to a place or a person rather than designed to appeal to everyone.

And perhaps that's why, in a world that's becoming increasingly fast, digital and AI-generated, I'm finding myself wanting to move in the opposite direction.

More grounded. Less fleeting. More human.

Not because technology isn't useful — it absolutely is — but because the things I find most compelling are often the things that can't be reduced to a prompt.

A story. A perspective. A place. A person. A point of view. Something made with intention.

That feels increasingly important to me, both in design and in the way I want to work.

So this next chapter of Verte isn't about becoming something completely different.

It's about becoming a little more us.

The studio is growing beyond the idea of branding as a one-off project. Alongside strategy and identity, I'm bringing more of the things I've found myself doing naturally over the years into the studio — websites, digital design, brand applications, creative direction and ongoing support.

Not because every brand needs everything.

But because once you've taken the time to understand what makes a business meaningful, there are usually plenty of places for that thinking to go.

And I want Verte to be able to come along for some of that journey.

I also want to go deeper.

To spend more time with fewer projects. To build stronger relationships with the people I work with. To understand the bigger picture rather than simply being handed a brief and delivering what's on the list.

More partnership. More conversation. More curiosity.

And as Verte evolves, I want to bring other creatives into that process too — people with their own expertise, perspectives and ways of thinking. Copywriters, photographers, strategists, developers, marketers and other specialists who can add something meaningful when a project calls for it.

Because sometimes the best work happens when you stop trying to do everything yourself and start bringing the right people around the table.

That feels like an important shift for me: thinking beyond the individual deliverable and looking at the whole brand experience.

What does this business need? What does its audience need to understand? Where will this identity live? What happens six months from now? What could make the whole thing stronger?

That's the kind of work I want to be doing more of.

There's also something quite personal about this chapter.

Running a creative business means that you're constantly making decisions about what to say yes to, what to leave behind and where you want to put your energy. I've learned a lot from building Verte over the years — about design, obviously, but also about how I want to work, the kinds of people I want to work with and the kind of creative life I want to make around it.

This new direction feels more considered. More grounded. More spacious. More curious.

And, honestly, more like me.

So you'll see some changes around here.

A new visual identity. A new website. A slightly broader way of working. More thoughts and resources through the Journal. More collaboration. More depth. And hopefully a clearer sense of what Verte is all about.

At the heart of it, though, the intention hasn't really changed.

Look closer. Find what matters. Give it form.

Here's to the next chapter.

Kelly x