about
Short for branting design, bran.d is a one-man design outfit that endeavors to weave sustainable practices into its design process, culminating in the delivery of furnishings that balance utility, aesthetic, and cost with the inherent environmental impacts of production.
Our company handles the entire furniture creation process, from design to fabrication to retailing. We do not work with any retailers at this time, so the only way to get true bran.d products is directly through us.
our story
Although bran.d was formally incorporated in 2021, its story begins a few years prior. During his undergraduate studies in Architectural Design at the University of Washington, founder Morocco Branting met Steve Badanes in the 2018 Neighborhood Design Build Studio, which sparked a growing interest in woodworking and hands-on fabrication and construction. After completing his studies, Morocco began his career as an architectural designer in Seattle. However, he did not forget his love of woodworking, and started undertaking personal woodworking projects in his hometown of Spokane.
During these formative and educational years, Morocco began to consider the impacts the built environment has upon our lives, from the grand scale of architecture down to the intimate objects with which we furnish our homes. While working at firms with shared values ensures the places we live and work are well designed, such projects are expensive and typically far beyond the realm of possibility for the average person. As a result, interest in starting his own design company grew, and he sought the medium of furniture as a means to deliver quality design to the common person.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Morocco spent a great deal of time in Spokane developing his woodworking skills and in 2021, he took the dive and founded bran.d. Over the past several years, we have had several significant commissions and a compliment of other product sales such as cutting boards and coasters. Although 2022 and 2023 were slower production years on account of Morocco returning to Graduate school to achieve his Master of Architecture Degree, 2024 and onward will be years brimming with design activity!
Awards and mentions
gray awards finalist – boomerang coffee table
Our boomerang coffee table, commissioned in 2023, was selected as a finalist in the Gray Awards. This international design competition is hosted by Gray Magazine, based in Seattle.
metropolis future 100 winner
Awarded to Morocco Branting for the broadness of his design wheelhouse and the quality of work produced, this invite-only competition was based on the strength of his portfolio which included architecture as well as furniture pieces from bran.d
aia medal for academic excellence
This medal was bestowed upon Morocco Branting for graduating at the top of the 2024 Master of Architecture cohort at the University of Washington.
Image courtesy AIA
design principles
Furnishings play an unappreciated role in our lives as they hug the walls of the home or office, organizing a myriad of tchotchkes, gizmos and possessions. The market presents an endless array of choices, but an inspection of this market yields but one conclusion:
Affordable furnishings are plagued by their cheap construction, lackluster representation of midcentury and minimalist aesthetics, and rampant prioritization of unchecked profit over their environmental impacts. Meanwhile, the other end of the spectrum affords more beauty in the concepts, details, and materiality of the piece but at a cost unattainable to most.
So where does bran.d rest within this dichotomy? We enter the fray somewhere in the dead center, the goldilocks zone. Our products meld familiar, contemporary, and classic forms with a selection of cost-effective wood species to create a product that is affordable, functional, cleanly detailed, and eye-catching. We seek to enrich the atmosphere of any space by producing designs which present the objects they house and interact with, without jeopardizing functionality.
Bran.d is also dedicated to producing furniture with a reduced environmental impact. The following conventions are integral to our design and construction process:
- minimize waste with an efficiency-first design approach
- select species with sustainable characteristics
- utilize reclaimed wood and reuse materials
- adjust designs based on sourced materials
- measure twice, cut once
- select environmentally, and/or health friendly finishes where possible
BRAN.D - Branting design 