We went to Washington, DC, to start a project with an interior design firm. The meetings brought us there, and the hours between them gave us a lot to work with.

Why do we travel to start a project?

In-person discovery shows us a firm’s work and culture faster than any call. A day in their space and their city reveals the firm’s history, how the team works together, and what it values.

An interior design firm’s work lives in real rooms. You understand it through materials, natural light, and the way people move through a space. In their studio, we saw it up close: material boards, sample libraries, side projects, and team debates. What we saw there shaped how we understand their brand and what sets them apart.

What did we notice in DC?

We spent our free hours in museums and around the city, and we came home with notes on scale, material, and how places hold on to their character over time.

Each museum left us with something different. You can see a few of them in the photos below.

We also stopped at Ben’s Chili Bowl. It first opened in 1958, and it is still a U Street staple. It lived up to the hype. A place like that shows what a clear, lasting brand looks like from the sidewalk. People know what it is, they know what to order, and they keep coming back.

Why does this matter for a firm’s brand?

A firm’s brand strategy comes from the specific details of its work. Seeing those details in person helps us describe the firm in language its own people recognize.

We keep field notes to capture the context around a project: conversations, architecture, food, and local landmarks. Visiting a client’s city shows us the local sign painter, the neighborhood institutions, and the way people there talk. Those details give a firm’s story its grounding.

For principals, this makes the brand sound like the firm. For marketing teams, field notes turn into things you can use: a shot list for the next photo shoot, behind-the-scenes film photos for social, and details that belong in the firm’s story.

The best insights rarely announce themselves - they show up when someone takes the time to listen and look closer.

We’ll share more about this project when it launches.