Howdy!
Welcome (or welcome back) to Millworks Design Studio!
If you’ve been here before, you may have noticed that we’ve undergone a bit of a change since you were last here, and you would be right! And if you’re new here, we hope you’re enjoying a pleasant stroll through our little internet home (we’re pretty proud of it!). We’ve been a little quiet while working behind the scenes to sow some new seeds that we are so ready to water, and this post is here to share all of it with you… and we’ve got a little something to say at the end, too!
Let’s dive in.
Roots
First off is the most obvious update: our website redesign!
Over the past few months, Bryce has really put in the work to reconnect with the core of the Millworks brand, why he started it, and to think about where the business is going as a whole. Through that introspection, it became pretty obvious that, at the very least, a redesign needed to happen.
A website is not only a place to explain what you do and how people can work with you. It is also, to a large degree, a reflection of who you are and why you have this business at all. It’s a place where you build trust with anyone who stumbles across your corner, and we all understand how fast impressions are made, especially online. Sometimes it’s hard to know who is authentic, means well, and is really listening… and who is transactional, disconnected, and sees business as a means to an end, not something they’re contributing to the world.
Bryce and I have core values in our personal lives that we take seriously. We are firm about choosing quality of life in every decision, big or small, and we heavily value being present to our story so we can make the best of each day. When Bryce took a step back to assess the direction of the business, he realized there was no use in not letting those values spill right on over.
The logo was the first place that shift became visible. It’s meant to reflect our personality and character so that, at a glance, you understand the energy of who you are dealing with. We are absolutely in love with the outdoors, and treasure the adventure that can be had when you step outside your door, so the subtle mountains and sun were a no brainer. Bryce is huge on colors (even the original website represented that!), and the liveliness that they bring to the brand truthfully represents the love we have of life. The almost vintage feel of the typography stands to subconsciously represent our personal love of all things analog and the way that it brings your attention to every little detail and process. (Check out Bryce’s film photography here as proof!) The logo came together unusually fast, which only reinforced the feeling that we were moving in the right direction.
In contrast, the site redesign itself took much longer to come together. The way the site feels to interact with mattered deeply to us, especially to Bryce. He spent countless hours creating the graphics by hand and drawing on years of experience to clearly communicate what we do and how we work. Above all, the site is meant to send one message loud and clear: a genuine, friendly hello!
When we sat down to talk about the messaging that would best represent us, we kept coming back to a core desire: for it to be and feel unmistakably human.
The redesign goes hand in hand with our business model: it’s just us, and we are proud of that. We aren’t a big design agency, but obviously, we’re not just freelancers either! We understand that there will always be larger teams that can tackle projects at scale, and there will always be individuals doing this work on the side for extra income. We’re proud to stand our ground right in the middle as an independent, professional studio where you know exactly who you are working with, and where you know your work will be done right. We chose nature to represent our brand because we honestly feel like it does. By maintaining our small team approach, we want anyone considering working with us to know that taking care of their brand and business would be our pleasure, and that we care about their first impressions just as much as our own.
We are in love with our redesign, and we hope it sends out not only a friendly smoke signal, but also a promise: we work hard to be authentic, honest, dependable, and thoughtful. It’s our nature, and we hope that we can earn your trust!
Growth
The second big update may already be obvious to those who have been here before, but to anyone new…
Hello! I’m Kate, the other half of the Millworks brand, and as of this new brand refresh, I’m officially joining the team!
Bryce started Millworks after leaving a small web design agency that he spent 7+ years helping to build right out of college. During that time, he learned far more than just how to build websites. One lesson became especially clear: work is better with a team.
When he left the agency, Bryce navigated a demanding first year as a startup in 2024. Baby Millworks worked hard because he worked hard, pushing through the early challenges that every new business faces. And because he worked so hard, Millworks grew. That momentum carried into 2025, which became a pivotal year both personally and professionally, and that momentum helped spark the idea for me to join and made this refresh feel like the right next step.
Bryce and I are partners not just in business, but also in life. As mentioned earlier, we really care to make the most of every day, and that core value has shaped us not only as a business, but also in our direction as a couple! In 2026, we purchased a cargo van and, at the time of writing, are in the process of building it out into our first home, with the intention to continue to live even closer to our values—and beloved nature. With this big transition and Bryce’s desire to refresh the business, the choice for me to join Millworks was easy and heartfelt, and we are both so stoked.
I’ve spent my whole life fanatically curious about expression, communication, and human connection. This curiosity has shaped both my professional path and my creative life, which has long centered around writing and expression. The skills that came from those passions naturally guided me in every step of my life, and took me through some epic stories. Bryce and I compliment each other incredibly well in many ways, and with him being so good at design and me having a passion for connection, words, and organization, it felt like a no brainer for me to step into these roles with Millworks so that he can focus on the stuff that he loves most, too. I’m so excited to take the things I love to do and make an impact with them, and I’m grateful to be on a path where all of those loves are coming together through these changes.
Path Forward
Those are our two big updates, and we want to thank you for coming along on this journey with us, and sharing in our excitement!
As discussed earlier, we have something we wanted to say for those of you who got this far: thank you for being here. We do this because we love to connect with people, and we hope that the work we do for you makes a positive impression out there in the world.
We hope that you being here means you connected with us even just a little bit and maybe even felt a bit of peace while chillin out on our site. It’s a big world out there, and that means we value your time spent here with us, whether we’re working together or you were just having fun snooping around. It all means something.
So, thank you for being a part of our journey!
With lots of excitement for what’s to come,
Web Design