Ames Design

Designer, researcher, and educator Carolyn Ames Noble believes it can. Yet Ames Design’s previous positioning — as a loosely defined collective — undersold the rigor, research, and real-world impact of the firm’s work on human wellbeing in the built environment.

Abbreviated Projects led a comprehensive repositioning of Ames Design, redefining the practice as an interior design think tank. Across strategy, identity, messaging, and digital experience, we clarified Ames Design’s role as a research-driven partner to institutions, brands, and clients — establishing a new degree of confidence and coherence in their identity.

As we reorganized Ames Design’s service offering, a unifying insight emerged: kindness is the essential ingredient in the firm’s design ethos. Whether developing continuing education programs, shaping product collections for major brands, or designing interiors, Ames Design’s work is guided by a spirit of deep humanism.

We elevated this idea into a central strategic framework, using kindness as the connective tissue across a complex, multi-disciplinary practice. This reframing allowed Ames Design’s education, product, and interior work to read not as disparate services, but as expressions of a singular philosophy.

Given Ames Design’s expertise in color theory, color became a key strategic tool. We developed a rigorous palette with embedded color-coding for the firm’s newly defined core offerings — education, products, and interiors — paired with a primary palette designed to evoke sensory contrast: warm orange meeting cool blue, like sunshine reflecting off a glacier.

The evolved logo system introduces an inquisitive eye — signaling curiosity, perception, and sensory focus — supported by precise illustrations that map to key areas of research, like sustainability, acoustics, and hospitality. A suite of ambient AI-generated videos adds atmospheric depth, celebrating Ames Design’s exploration of what we feel and why we feel it.

The new Ames Design website translates strategy into experience. Built on a hyper-organized UX framework, fewer pages surface more content, making the firm’s deep portfolio easy to navigate. Subtle interactions introduce moments of quiet delight, while copy speaks with renewed authority — serving kindness not as a soft ideal, but as an indispensable design principle.

Together, the work reframes Ames Design as an influential, innovative presence in the design industry, helping the firm continue to prove that design can, indeed, make the world a kinder place.

We’re currently assisting the Ames Design team on a range of creative projects, including launching their new Substack, Ames on Design.

“Working with Abbreviated Projects has been an extraordinary experience, from ideation to implementation. As creative partners and strategists, Zander and Simon helped share the story of Ames Design through a graceful narrative and expressive visuals, resulting in the new brand identity and website. Zander and Simon are acute observers and listeners, and their research conducted during extensive workshops and interviews made our team feel indeed fully seen and heard.” — Carolyn Ames Noble, Founder, Design Principal, Ames Design