Cleo Murnane
Q What do you do?
“I’m a designer. I care deeply about design thinking and the creative process. I’ve run my studio with my architect husband for nearly 15 years, this January 2025. Cheers! ”
We have about a dozen employees and work together in a studio in an old newspaper printing building in Silver Lake. I can do anything, but I can't do everything so we built a team of experts: Strategists, Packaging Designers, Web Designers, Web Developers, Growth Marketing Specialists, Interior Designers - and Architects. I pride myself on building brands for visionary founders, primarily women, but everyone is welcome. I love opening doors for them, doors to growth or new retailers, to like-minded customers, to seed funding, or capital investments. I love the process and putting our work into the world.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I immersed myself in design. My first job was at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Here, I realized that the work environment is so important to me. I try to surround myself with the most brilliant people in the room. I worked for several creative agencies in New York and London and came to LA to finally work for myself.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
Storytelling starts with storylistening. Asking the right questions to push into something new. The more profound and honest the conversation, the more differentiated our work becomes. Humility, bravery, and a little poetry go a long way too. With a compelling idea and collective understanding, we can expand the vision and emotional relevance. Our work is holistic, both 2D and 3D, it’s problem-solving through design.
Q What are you working on right now?
We are building a Japanese restaurant we branded and designed in San Diego—our muse is Tokyo Millennial. We’re a designing couple beauty brands, and can now model componentry in Blender and Fusion 360: one Ayurvedic brand, one sexy self-tanning brand. We have a wellness/healthcare concept about to jump into naming and are almost ready to launch a haircare brand for a celebrity stylist. We just wrapped Galerie Solis, a new furniture collection that debuted at Future Perfect last month. We're also on retainer with a non-alcoholic brand, and a lighting company and run their growth marketing. We really do have exceptional clients, and serve a wide range of industries.
Q What’s your style?
It’s elevated and approachable. Warm Modernism. Hello Clover - a brand ripe to scale. Prima - naming, branding, and packaging - quickly found real estate on Sephora's shelves and also quickly got acquired. Last year, we designed the offices for Jacque Marie Mage—a 70’s vintage meets Japanese minimalism mash-up. Galerie Solis branding and custom—they make design gorgeous hand-crafted furniture with a European edge.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
Design. First and foremost, I'm a graphic designer and type nerd. After years of playing with fonts, patterns, colors, and images - I expanded my palette about 10 years ago and have embraced tile patterns, textiles, and furniture. My husband is an architect, and our deep love for design connects us. He's taught me a lot over the years. I love details, so perfecting a floor plan also excites me. I set the aesthetic tone for most of our projects, culturally foraging and sharing my findings with the team to let them pollinate our ideas. I'm in nearly all client meetings, and I pride myself on creating a trusting relationship with the client; this is also very time-consuming. Note to self: stop giving clients your cell number! I spend most of my time giving design direction to my incredible team or strategizing messaging with our gifted copywriters.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Marketing, PR, Website, Social Media. ( Insert up-side-down emoji ) The classic "cobbler's children with no shoes" problem.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Social Media. Please. Maybe someone could get me lunch, and water too please. And make me go to yoga! :)
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
Don’t chase two rabbits; you’ll never catch one. :)
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I follow Rachel Roberts Mattox on substack and devour everything she writes. It’s branding without all the hyperbole and cliches of “storytelling”. She writes about "Resonance Before Reach", "Community Before Customers" and how to create a scalable brand with soul - all the things I love talking and thinking about!
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
We're looking for more CPG projects in food and beverage. Hospitality projects are always super fun—and fast! Of course, we love the wellness and beauty space and have a ton of expertise to share. Holistic, full-scoped projects or working with brands that are changing the paradigm in their industry are our favorites.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Dynamic companies, visionary partners! We also love working with CMO's. At times it can be easier to manage a marketing budget than to keep squeezing a start-up. Most of our clients achieve unimaginable success. It can be a challenge for founders to truly understand the value of our work from the onset.
Q: What is your rate?
Budgets start at $10k. We can bill hourly at $200/hour.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Just email cleo@studiomurnane.com
Q Who is a creative you admire?
I take great pride in mentoring designers on my team and their ongoing success - you can search for them on Linkedin. Anyone who has ever worked at my studio has been well-trained and is a total pro.
My image makers are my secret weapon. Jess Isaac or Amy Barlam are my go-to photographer for interiors. And Michelle Monique for beauty brands. They are all exceptionally talented and so hard-working. Also, they decidedly have no agents (yet) so rates are affordable.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Explore far and near. Seek beauty and truth. Listen closely.
This member profile was originally published in November 2024.