Impact Report 2024

🗒️ Letter from Jo

It’s been a challenging twelve months, but not without its highlights. Our team shifted from 11 to 8 members this summer, a tough decision to take, but one important to ensure the security of the business. I know well that we've not been the only creative team facing a similar challenge this year and I feel very fortunate to be writing this a few months on with a more positive outlook.

When cash flow becomes less certain it is even more difficult to stay true to your best intentions. As a design agency we often face an uphill battle with our clients to bring them onto a more sustainable path. In some cases you are faced with the decision to take on a project that deep down you aren't convinced needs to exist in the world. In some cases you take on a project you aren't convinced is going to lead anywhere at all. But sometimes life surprises you and, if anything, this period of uncertainty has taught me to stay humble, stay positive and never jump to conclusions.

One of those surprising projects was the suitcase we developed for Italian brand Phoenix. Designed for disassembly and repair, the brief started out as something quite different and the journey quite an eventful one. And yet every set-back pushed us to work harder and the result is a beautifully considered piece of luggage.

The quieter periods also gave us an opportunity to run another internal Morrama Lab project, exploring the future of AI tech and how this might be leveraged to support the wellbeing and self-expression of young children. The four playful products; Create, Connect, Calm and Comfort were the main attraction at our exhibit at London Design Festival this year.

On a personal note, this was the year that I welcomed my son Ren into the world and Andy welcomed his baby Austin. Juliette will also be leaving us on maternity leave in November, so you could argue the the net-team size has, in some ways, remained the same.

Aside from work and family life, I have pushed my own learning and writing by teaching, sharing and reflecting on my own understanding of impact, both through Design Declares and, of course, with the team and every client we work with at Morrama.

Thank you for being part of our journey.

Best, Jo

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🏛️ We worked on 29 projects that align with our 3 pillars 

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Our pillars are:

• Does it improve the health or wellbeing of a person or society in general?
• Will it result in a reduced impact on the planet in comparison to existing solutions?
• Is it going to bring previously inaccessible products or user experiences to typically under-represented markets?

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🎧 Project focus: KIBU

• 62,000,000 tonnes of e-waste generated per year
• #1 – The UK is the worst contributor to e-waste globally
• Only 20% of E-Waste is Recycled

Our solution: Build. Repair. Recycle

Engaging with the assembly of products provides children with a better understanding and appreciation of the objects they use and interact with. Through the playful construction experience of Kibu, children assemble their own headphones and build up the knowledge of how products is made, understanding the parts involved. Aimed at children 5-11 years old, the modular design and print-on-demand manufacture enables the headphones to colour customised, and adapted to changing head sizes. This project was presented at the V&A Kids Museum. This project has only sold 1000+ units but it is early days.

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🍃Project focus: WILD 2.0

The new case has a 17% reduction in materials, is designed for disassembly for recycling and is more compact and easier to use. When it came to reducing material, we started by reducing the size. Seeking to make the case more compact without reducing the volume of the refill and still ensuring backwards compatibility. The overall plastic used in the case was reduced by 20% and the aluminium reduction was 16.5%. This not only translates to a cost reduction, but also reduces transport emissions.

When it came to the materials themselves, we were able to move to a glue-less assembly by celebrating the way the case is assembled. Visible snap features are not only a design detail, but enable the aluminium parts to be separated from the plastic parts for recycling without the need for a special tool - a pair of tweezers or a spoon will do.
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In 2023 over 9 million refills were sold, and Wild estimate that - by customers switching to Wild – we have stopped over 351,000kg plastic from hitting landfill to date.

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💧Project focus: ECO FLO

The new plastic free cassette will be manufactured in the UK using renewable plant fibre moulding technology that aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 80% compared to the equivalent single use plastic.

Given there are over two billion lateral flow immunoassays manufactured annually with the market set to grow to just under £57.5 billion by 2024, there is an increased need to consider the environmental impact of lateral flow tests. The new designs reduce the plastic use across the full test kit by 62%. An estimated 25,000 tonnes of plastic are produced through rapid testing worldwide

Morrama has continued investment into new tooling and hours on the development of the products ready for launch. Unfortunately, the previous launch date of Summer 2024 has been missed. Our goal for the next year is to launch our first commercial units with our partner Abingdon Health.

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Volunteering and donations 

340+ Pro bono hrs working on projects including a redesign of two products for the RNIB that will launch towards the end of the year. 

60+ hrs pro bono donation of time to work on a project to help the homeless and refugees yet to be released.

70+ hrs for mentoring and teaching.

3 design jury positions for Léa and Jo, including D&AD and the IDI Awards.

Meaning our total pro bono time for education, mentoring and charity has increased 170% 

(Our goal was 252 hrs and we beat this by some way!)

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Thought leadership and community

Jo's continued work for Design Declares has helped grow the signatory list to over 1000 globally and facilitate the set up of a growing online community an online community which has grown from 0 to 137 active designers supporting each other to accelerate their knowledge and understanding of sustainable design practices.

During London Design Festival we hosted a conversation with 30+ designers around sustainability and the role of the designers in the future.

We started a newsletter called '4 things a week' sharing insights into climate and sustainable tech related news and opinion. 29 editions have been written so far this year.

We've written articles for various media outlets on topics including design in femtech, sustainable practices for product development and health & wellness in hardware design.

BusinessGreen - Sustainable Product Design

‍FemTech World 

Maddyness - Health and wellness in product design 

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