Lizzie Wallace & Laura Bishop
MEET LUMLY’S Co-Founders & Creative Directors
Photography by: @sarahschenphoto
Lizzie and Laura are the Co-Founders and Creative Directors of Lumly Design Studio. They have southern roots with Lizzie growing up in Richmond, VA and Laura in Knoxville, TN. It wasn't until 2013, freshman year at Miami of Ohio, that they met in design studio in A(lum)ni Hall (hints the origin of the name Lumly). They both went on to graduate with a B.F.A. in interior design and a critical focus in graphic design — beginning their careers in commercial interiors at WeWork and Gensler, respectively. Lizzie and Laura, now both live with their partners (+ plants!) in Los Angeles and have been running Lumly for the past 2.5 years and counting!
Hi Lizzie and Laura, could you share your journey of creating Lumly, and the process behind its design?
Our journey starts in 2013 when we became friends as freshmen in design school at Miami of Ohio. You learn a lot about someone after a couple of all-nighters and many late night studio sessions. Throughout the years, we found that we worked well together. Whether it be collaborating on a project or giving each other advice in our careers. We have always had respect for one another's creative endeavors and felt confident that we would make a good team. Lumly was our way of making our creative duo official!
In 2020, amidst covid, layoffs and everything in between — it felt like we had nothing to lose when we decided to start our business. We are now proud Co-Founders and Creative Directors of Lumly Design Studio, a graphic design studio based in sunny Los Angeles. Our experience working on multi-disciplinary teams has led to our success developing brand identity, packaging, illustration, websites and environmental graphics.
We design with a purpose and create work that uplifts and excites. We've heard from our clients that we are "thoughtfully systematic" and refreshingly creative. Our priority is to make the design process easy and streamlined so that we can focus on creating something that our clients find pride in. Our strength is bringing ideas to life through strategic and innovative design while having fun in the process.
How do you split responsibilities of running the company between the two of you?
We are currently a small but mighty team of two, so we are both very involved in all aspects of the business. However, we try our best to divide and conquer on various parts of a project. For example, behind the scenes Laura may be leading the logo development and Lizzie may leading the web design for the same client. We are in constant communication and keep up to speed on all ongoing work, since we rely on each other for feedback.
Over time, we have begun to find our strengths/preferences, which has allowed for a natural division of various tasks. On any given brand project, Lizzie typically owns the presentation set up and organization, while Laura owns the final handoff and exporting of files. The same goes for not-so-glamorous to do's, such as diving up the creation of contracts, managing quickbooks and sending invoices.
As you continue to immerse yourselves in the world of brand design, where do you find your inspiration?
Often, the most interesting sources of inspiration are those that we stumble upon in our day-to-day lives. We keep a shared album on our phones where we regularly upload things that inspire us. It could be the letterforms on a shop sign or the packaging display in a grocery story or a beautiful interior that effortlessly combines space and graphics.
We are also energized by listening to the founding stories of our clients. We love getting to know how they got to where they are and what inspired them along the way.
Lastly, we are big fans of “Brand New” and like to stay up-to-date on their latest brand reviews. And not to forget Dribbble, Behance, and Pinterest, which we often pull inspiration from.
What drew you to working in your field of branding and graphic design?
From a young age, we have both had a love of art in all of its forms. We began our careers in commercial interiors, so people often ask us how we took the leap from interiors to graphics. We believe that creative thinking and problem-solving are skills that are transferable to any creative field, so we never hesitated on shifting our focus.
We like to look at our backgrounds in interiors as a strength. It allows us to see things from a different perspective and to excel on projects that incorporate graphics in the physical space to enhance the human experience.
In addition to our brand work, we have found a love of illustration and pattern design. We are currently working on opening an online Lumly shop to include paper products and home goods with our own custom patterns. Coming Fall 2023!
Throughout your experience working with various companies, which industry do you enjoy collaborating with the most?
Our dream collaborations are restaurants or boutique hotels that are JUST getting started. Ideally, they haven't built out their interiors yet so that we can collaborate with the architecture/interiors team to be a part of the greater vision from concepting to the smallest of details (naming, signage, way-finding, menus, merch… the list goes on!). Our work with Faye was a dream client/project for us — hopefully one of many!
CPG + Food & Beverage are also fun opportunities to flex our creative muscles. The sizing and content limitations that come with packaging design make it particularly rewarding to find design solutions that are both beautiful and functional.
Since you started your entrepreneurial journey with Lumly, what valuable insights have you both gained as women in business?
You don't need to have all of the answers (nobody does!) to get started. Once you commit to starting your business — the value of patience, staying curious and being kind go a long way.
For us, success means growth. We strive for continual improvement and lean on our support system and mentors. If we prioritize creating great work, good things and good people will follow.
Article Credits
Instagram: @lumlydesignstudio
Facebook: @lumlydesignstudio
Website: lumlydesignstudio.com
Other Links
Pinterest: @LumlyDesignStudio
Behance: @LumlyDesignStudio
Dribbble: @Lumly
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/lumly-design-studio
Photo credits
