Why Designers Struggle to Articulate Their Style - and How to Fix It

Written By Grant Pierrus

In conversations with designers repositioning their practices for a more competitive tier, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern: the brand appears polished on paper, but its language doesn’t yet feel lived in. Statements about “elevated design” or “emotional spaces” are fine as headlines. Yet, they don’t tell a prospective client who you really are, or what makes your work distinct from the dozens of other studios saying the same thing.

The Missing Anchor

When I sit with a designer, we often begin by going through their brand deck line by line. Phrases like “cultural depth, not excess” or “design elevated with intent” sound convincing, but when you ask: what does that actually mean in your life? It’s often followed by silence. That gap is the missing anchor. Clients at the top of the market aren’t buying generic ideals; they are buying your sensibility.

The Extraction Process

The work I do is part interrogation, part translation. I’ll ask questions (sometimes up to 150) such as:

  • How do you style your own outfits?

  • What rituals define your sense of style at home?

  • Which objects or places from your own life carry cultural depth for you?

These aren’t abstract exercises. They’re the building blocks of language that can anchor a design and style philosophy, which can be used to create a brand bible, a website, or a conversation with a super-prime client.

From Words to Practice

Once we’ve extracted those anchors, the next step is to apply them. How would “cultural depth, not excess” show up in a room? Which stories could you share on a panel or in an award submission that would make your perspective unmistakable? What kind of concept imagery would communicate your design philosophy even before a finished project is photographed?

Why This Matters

Super-prime clients are not buying “luxury interiors” in the abstract. They are buying clarity of vision and style. If you can’t articulate it for yourself, they will struggle to see it. The designers who succeed are those who can tell a story about themselves that is grounded in how they live, what they notice, and how they make choices.

Helping designers move from polished but generic brand decks to lived, anchored narratives is some of the most rewarding work I do. It’s about more than branding; it’s about uncovering the voice that makes a practice irreplaceable.

You can now book me directly for a problem solving call - more info here.

Grant Pierrus