Independent design studio, est. 2009
We give brands, spaces and objects a sharper edge.
Mordant is an independent studio of designers, writers and makers. We build identities, places and products for people who would rather be remembered than liked.
Featured / Brutal Season, Berlin 2026
In focus
Recent work, up close.
A rotating selection of projects we are proud of right now. Scroll sideways to browse, or open any project for the full story.
Kiln & Ash
Packaging
A tactile packaging system for a small-batch ceramics studio, built from recycled kraft board and a single foil mark.
Orrery Museum of Light
Exhibition
Exhibition graphics and spatial identity for a museum devoted to the science and poetry of light.
Ferro Line
Wayfinding
A wayfinding language for a new cross-city tram line, designed to be read at walking pace and at forty kilometres an hour.
Lumen Objects
Product
Industrial design and launch identity for a family of glass desk lights.
Selected work
Projects with a point of view.
Kiln & Ash
2026
Packaging
A tactile packaging system for a small-batch ceramics studio, built from recycled kraft board and a single foil mark.
Orrery Museum of Light
2025
Exhibition
Exhibition graphics and spatial identity for a museum devoted to the science and poetry of light.
Ferro Line
2025
Wayfinding
A wayfinding language for a new cross-city tram line, designed to be read at walking pace and at forty kilometres an hour.
Vale Editions
2024
Editorial
Series design for an independent publisher of essays on landscape, memory and place.
Lumen Objects
2026
Product
Industrial design and launch identity for a family of glass desk lights.
Atelier Sorrel
2024
Identity
Identity and catalogue for a furniture workshop that builds one stool at a time.
Capabilities
One studio, many disciplines.
Every project gets a small senior team that can move between identity, space and object. The work stays joined up because the people do.
01
Brand identity
Names, marks, voices and systems that hold up across every touchpoint, from a business card to a building.
02
Packaging
Structures and surfaces that protect the product, tell its story and earn a place on the shelf at home.
03
Exhibitions and spaces
Graphics, wayfinding and spatial identity for museums, galleries, offices and public places.
04
Editorial and books
Books, magazines, catalogues and reports designed to be read, kept and passed on.
05
Product and object
Industrial design for things people live with, from lighting and furniture to tools and devices.
06
Digital and motion
Websites, interfaces and moving identities built on the same ideas as everything else we make.
What we believe
“Good design is not the absence of risk. It is the decision to take the right one, and to make it beautifully.”
Ines Valdés, Founding Partner
Studio in numbers
17
Years of independent practice
640+
Projects across 30 countries
4
Studios on three continents
38
International design awards
Journal
Notes from the studio.
Essay
Why every identity needs an edge
Safe brands blend in. The identities that last usually carry one decision that felt risky in the room.
Studio
A week of prototypes
Five days, one table and forty paper models. What we learned by building before we drew.
Craft
Print is not finished
Screens changed what print is for. They did not make it disappear.
New business
Got something that needs an edge?
Tell us about the brief, the deadline and the ambition. A partner will reply within two working days.