The Copenhagen-based studio has reimagined Purpose Talent’s brand identity with a jazz-fuelled, joy-filled new look that swaps corporate clichés for expressive illustrations, soulful type, and a strong dose of New York groove.
What does fulfilment look like? It’s not the LinkedIn version (yes, we mean the handshake photos and high-fives in open-plan offices), but it’s the real thing. You can imagine how hard it is to pin down that deep sense of joy that you get from doing work that truly fits.
Studio Morfar set out to convey that through the brand identity for Purpose Talent, a New York-based consultancy founded by Andrew Blancato, a talent leader with stints at Etsy, Casper, and Kickstarter. Purpose Talent helps high-performing individuals find meaningful roles, and Studio Morfar’s job was to turn that deeply human mission into a visual and verbal identity that felt just as personal.
The result is a brand that dances to its own beat, quite literally.
“We landed on the idea of showing this vague, nuanced feeling [of fulfilment] through dance,” says Torsten Power, Creative Director at Studio Morfar. “It just instantly felt right.”
For Torsten, it’s a universal metaphor: “It’s so funny to watch my cousin’s almost two-year-old daughter start dancing immediately when she hears a beat… it’s a reminder that dance is maybe the most universal, instinctual form of expression and joy ever.”
This idea became the foundation for a visual identity that eschews the usual corporate tropes. There are no sterile desks or grinning office workers here. Instead, Studio Morfar teamed up with illustrator Con McHugh, who’s known to film himself dancing to inform the movement in his work.
His illustrations for Purpose Talent are packed with life and character, with croissants mid-air, laptops in motion, and limbs joyfully lifted. These aren’t literal scenes of work but expressive vignettes of what work can feel like when it’s purposeful.
The jazz influence runs deeper than the dance metaphors. As it turns out, it was a creative synchronicity. “When Victor [Janhagan, strategist and copywriter] and I were each doing some solo brainstorming… we’d somehow both separately landed on jazz as a theme,” says Torsten. “Jazz is highly expressive, and it celebrates both individualism and collaboration.”
It’s an idea that riffs across every element of the brand. The wordmark is made up of quirky, offbeat letterforms, where no two are quite the same, yet they work together in visual harmony. “We designed the logo to be a bit awkward,” Torsten explains. “Each letterform is different and a little offbeat, yet together they work beautifully.” It’s a nod to the individuality of people and the beauty of a team where everyone belongs.
This spirit of spontaneity and rhythm also shapes the type and layout. Studio Morfar combined the playful, editorial-style serif Bea with Raleway, a cleaner sans-serif counterpart. Type behaves more like an instrument than a block of copy, flipping, rotating, and arranging itself like a melody on the page.
Meanwhile, the visual world is peppered with so-called “Doo-da’s”, which are abstract shapes and squiggles that add texture and emphasis. Inspired by Matisse, 1970s and ’80s jazz record covers, and city pop album art, these cut-outs feel as spontaneous as a saxophone solo, offering movement, energy, and a little wink to New York’s creative legacy.
The tone of voice follows suit. With lines like “Work to your own beat”, “Find your rhythm” and “People make businesses”, the brand language hums with clarity and confidence, steering well clear of corporate waffle. The copy—written in collaboration with Victor Janhagan—is deceptively simple but packs an emotional punch. It’s a rallying cry for individuality, empathy, and doing things your own way.
“We love eccentrics and people who aren’t afraid to show a bit of weirdness,” Torsten says. “Which is why we connected so much with Andrew and Purpose Talent’s ethos of celebrating people who do things their way.”
There is depth behind the dazzle, though. Torsten is quick to point out that this identity wasn’t about pushing a jazzy style for its own sake. It was a true reflection of Andrew’s personality and philosophy.
“We honestly got lucky with Purpose Talent… Andrew takes his work incredibly seriously but is also very encouraging of taking some creative risks and having some fun.”
That freedom and mutual trust allowed Studio Morfar to go beyond a cookie-cutter recruitment rebrand and build something expressive, emotional and human. It’s a rare thing in the talent space: a brand that doesn’t just say it puts people first but shows it through every squiggle, serif and swing of a dancing character.
Perhaps that’s the point. Great branding (much like great jazz) is more than the sum of its parts. You don’t always know where it’s going, but if you’re in sync, it just feels right.
