The problem
Somer is a sustainable furniture brand with a difference. Their mission is to end single-use furniture. Their solution? High-quality kitchens and furniture made in the UK from safe, sustainable materials—designed to move with you.
They’re pioneering a circular approach that takes responsibility not just for what they make, but what happens at the end of its life too. Think: a kitchen you can take with you when you move house. Furniture made from solid sunlight—photons to trees to tables. Beautiful, purposeful, poetic.
Before us
Somer is a demountable solid timber cabinet system designed to replace standard ‘single use’ fitted furniture products, initially kitchens but the design is transferable across multiple furniture applications. Unlike larger manufactures either operating a business as usual approach or attempting to retrofit circularity into their models following decades of bad practice, the Somer product and model has been designed around the circular economy from the outset.
You ready for this? People everywhere are being ripped off paying for furniture that fails, cannot be repaired or reused, and pollutes the planet we all share. We’re here to change that.
We’re challenging throwaway culture with a new model for furniture design and production. We believe waste is a design flaw—it should be eliminated at the sketchpad. While circularity—the potential to repair, reuse, and recycle—must be designed in from the beginning.
Services we offered
What we did
- Ran a discovery phase to get under the skin of the company, its founder, and its purpose.
- Held a one-day, in-person brand narrative and tone of voice workshop with the founder and key team members.
- Developed a clear, emotive brand message that reframed their offer in terms of the impact it enables.
- Created a tone of voice that balanced conviction and warmth – helping them communicate their mission without alienating their audience.
- Wrote the website copy and created practical tone of voice guidelines to keep them consistent going forward.
A message with meaning
Somer’s new brand story puts the reader at the heart of the narrative – shifting from ‘here’s what we do’ to ‘here’s what this makes possible for you’. It balances big ideas with everyday relevance, making the benefits of circular design easy to grasp.
A voice with conviction
We developed a tone that’s bold but not preachy, evocative but not fluffy, designed to appeal to both early adopters and design lovers. It gives the brand a distinct personality – one that reflects their values without veering into Extinction Rebellion territory.
And a strong foundation for the future
With a clear narrative and verbal identity in place, the team now has a playbook for consistent, compelling communication. No more reinventing the wheel. Just a clear understanding of their audience, a strong point of view, and the tools to bring it all to life.
We were preparing to launch our pioneering furniture brand for the circular economy and needed someone who could guide us in developing a tone of voice with real clarity and character. Olly ran a thoughtful, energising workshop for the team that helped shape not just the language of the brand but our entire communication strategy. He helped us go beyond simply explaining what we do – and instead tell a compelling story that people can believe in and rally behind. He then turned those insights into vibrant, persuasive web copy. We’re really proud of the result.
Will Floyd-Maclean, Founder, Somer
