Interview with Jo Barnard, Founder of Innovation Studio Morrama

Morrama is a London-based design and innovation studio. We work with startups and established businesses looking for a fast-paced design process with a focus on both user experience and manufacturing feasibility.

Our core team of designers come from a range of backgrounds with expertise in design thinking, industrial design and design for manufacture. We also utilise a network of experts from different sectors on each project as necessary to validate and inspire the design process.

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

I’m passionate about the relationship between user and product. After graduating I worked freelance with companies including John Lewis, Google and TomTom, but it was always the startup clients that were the most inspiring.

I established Morrama with the desire to build a team focused on challenging consumer perception of good design and user experience; bringing beautiful products to market considerate of both the user and the planet and ensuring sustainability is a core value of the startup companies we work with.

What advice would you give to other aspiring female entrepreneurs?

Stay true to yourself. It is vital that you understand your importance as a female within your respective industry, particularly within the technology and design sectors – which are so often heavily male-dominated.

You bring a different perspective and, quite often, may have a different approach to the work than your male counterparts. This diversity is invaluable, particularly in the creative field.

What can we hope to see from Morrama in the future?

Morrama is incredibly passionate about sustainability. We have recently completed a sustainable packaging project for Wild, which resulted in the creation of a reusable deodorant with fully compostable refill cartridges. We are now seeking out more projects of this nature, not just within packaging but also within the lifestyle and technology sectors.

Our recently launched Renew mobile phone concept imagines how traditional ownership of mobile devices could be made more sustainable by designing consumer tech products to be upgradable, rather than replaceable. The tech sector is fighting a sustainability crisis of its own when it comes to ‘e-waste’, and so we would like to pursue more projects in this area also.

For more information visit: https://www.morrama.com/