A Collaborative Mural That Brought Our Brand (And Space) to Life

The Big White Wall

When we moved into our new studio in July 2023, we were so excited to be back together in a space after three years of being remote. What we were less excited about were the blank white walls, especially the huge one above the couch. 

It stayed that way for over a year, partly because we were busy and partly because nobody immediately knew what to put there. Eventually our Creative Director, Dani Severson, started working on something to make that central space feel more like us.

“I started sketching it out digitally… What could a brand-forward mural feel like? Something that celebrates the Murmur world and what we’re about.”

—Dani Severson, Creative Director

Values at the Core

Dani started with a simple idea: what if each corner of the mural represented one of our core values? From that starting point, the concept grew into a much more expansive world made of Murmur’s own brand language. 

She pulled from our existing shapes, color palette, and iconography, weaving in elements of the Pacific Northwest and adding illustrations that captured the layered, system-driven way we think about brand building. You might not catch every reference, but the values she built it around still shine through — trust, empathy, ecology, and impact.

“I wanted it to feel a little weird — not just a literal map of our values, but something richer and more abstract.”

— Dani Severson, Creative Director

A Team-Built Centerpiece

To bring the mural to life, we collaborated with local muralist Parker Martinek (@hisrollinghighness), who transferred everything onto the wall and transformed it into a giant paint-by-numbers for the team. Every shape was outlined and labeled with its color so the team could paint it together.

It turned out to be a more humbling experience than expected for some: the lines were tight, the paint had to be exact, and most of us discovered we were not as good with a paintbrush as we thought. But it was also a rare kind of team-building activity: focused, collaborative, and with a delightfully slow reveal over the course of a few days’ work.

After we finished filling in our part, Parker came back in and cleaned up the edges, filled in the gaps, and brought the whole piece to life in a polished and professional way.

A Shared Space, Made More Ours

The mural now lives above the couch in the front of our studio where people come to relax, take breaks, and step away from their desks. It’s also where the studio pups hang out. 

Now, instead of a blank wall, there’s a compelling expression of who we are as a studio: vibrant, detailed, and a little weird.

“It’s a tangible reminder of what we care about most: working together to bring brands to life in nuanced and impactful ways”

—Angela Larisch, Strategy Director