WE BUILD BRANDS YOU CAN WALK INTO.
Beautiful, Considered & Built to Evolve.
Flatland Kitchen is a two-person brand studio working with retail, hospitality, community spaces, and HQ environments.
We design for places where what people experience in real life is the brand.
CLARITY FIRST
Clarity First is a short, one-time engagement to step back, sort things out, and decide what actually matters next. When you’re ready to make the next year more intentional than the last, we’ll help you prioritize where to focus your efforts to get where you want to go.
What you get
A clear read on what’s working vs. what’s drifting
A practical hierarchy: what matters most (and what can wait)
A path forward you can build from. Whether that’s with us, your team, or other partners, you’ll know.
A plan that respects budget, timeline, and real-world constraints
Good fit if
You’re opening, expanding, refreshing, or moving
You know your brand needs to “read” better; clearer, more trustworthy, more you
You’re tired of piecemeal decisions and want a steady hand
You want to build something you can grow into (not revise every year)
If this is of interest, the next step is easy.
or
WHAT WE BUILD
Turn your point of view into something people can feel.
When the story is clear, everything is better. We help you find your voice and communicate it through everything your brand touches.
-
This is what a lot of people call strategy. But it’s about defining and understanding who your brand is and what it stands for and why it’ll stand out.
Positioning
Messaging
Unique Value Propositions
Differentiators
Keywords
Key Concepts -
Identity and messaging foundations that hold up in real life, not just on a screen.
Typical scope includes:Visual identity + usage guidance
Verbal direction (key language, tone, messaging priorities)
Core touchpoints you actually use (menus, packaging, merch, signage basics, etc.)
A system designed to evolve without losing the thread
Best for: brands that need a durable foundation before expanding into a space, second location, new packaging, or broader rollout.
-
Brand System plus environmental expression—so the space communicates clearly and consistently from the moment someone arrives.
Typical scope includes:Environmental messaging + signage/graphics direction
Wayfinding and “arrival sequence” thinking (first impressions matter)
Key moments and cues that shape atmosphere
Vendor-ready guidance and checkpoints (so it ships right)
Best for: retail, hospitality, and community spaces where the room is part of the product.
-
Some teams want ongoing support after launch. We’re available to help guide things and offer what the LinkedIn set call “fractional brand direction”
This can look like:Monthly or quarterly check-ins
Refining and Reviewing upcoming needs (signage, merch, packaging, seasonal shifts)
Keeping the system coherent while it evolves
Adding services, products and updates in real-time
(Only when it’s useful. This is not a retainer for the sake of a retainer.)
SPACES THAT SPEAK
Let the room say what you mean.
People decide how they feel about you long before they read a paragraph. Your space can earn trust, invite curiosity, and work with the rest of your brand, we let it.
SELECT CLIENTS:
knell • Golden Hour Books • Field Brewing • HERCULEAN Prepared Meals • GRINDS Coffee Pouches • Wine & Rock Shop • Milktooth • ELEMENTAL Athletic Performance • Amelia’s Bread • draft creative space • Coffee Apothecary • LICK Ice Cream
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Yes. We’re proudly based in Indianapolis, but work regionally and nationally when it’s a fit.
-
We’re a brand studio. We focus on identity, messaging and environmental communication. We focus on atmosphere +direction. We design for signs, graphics, wayfinding for spaces. We often collaborate with architects, designers, builders and fabricators on our projects.
-
We shape messaging and direction for all sorts of channels, including sites and marketing. We have trusted partners we coordinate with when needed, but we won’t be running your socials for you.
-
We’re built for real places, not just brand decks. A lot of studios can design a nice identity, but fewer can carry that thinking into the space, signage, materials, and the on-the-ground decisions that shape how it feels. We help you make the whole experience legible and trustworthy from day one, and we build it so it can evolve without losing the thread.
-
That’s common. We plug in as the brand and messaging lead, then collaborate with your partners so the work stays coherent across design and implementation. We’ll clarify roles early, provide clear direction and checkpoints, and help your team make decisions that keep the message intact while the project moves.
-
That’s fine. The point of Clarity First is to make the next step obvious. Sometimes that means doing less, doing it better, or staging the work.
If you’re building, opening, expanding, refreshing, or trying to make your space feel more like you start here.