Congrats, you got more than half. But it also depends on what industries you work in, because this is a pretty varied mix.
09.03.2026 21:43
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Congrats, you got more than half. But it also depends on what industries you work in, because this is a pretty varied mix.
- Brain processes colors faster than text
- Colors trigger emotions more easily
- Colors scale better across all sizes and contexts
- Colors change less often than logos
All of that helps brands to be recognized without text.
The friends I've asked got 6 or 7 of them right. How many did you?
The next time someone tells you logo = brand.
Show them this image. If they recognize most of the brands, you've proved them wrong.
I'm not saying that a logo, the main element of your visual identity is not important.
But when it comes to quick recognition, color does the heavy lifting:
Hope that helps you make the first small step.
If you want to see how we rebranded the sustainability-focused Conventa, the case study is at design.lukakopajtic.com/conventa.
Goods Index simplifies 100+ materials to help you make more informed packaging decisions.
index.goods.no
Waste Not is an open-source database of sustainable suppliers for packaging, retail, restaurants, interiors, fashion, and paper products.
wastenot.world
Paper Calculator lists the impact of your print: wood, water, and energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generated.
calculator.environmentalpaper.org
Ecograder shows you how much energy your website uses. After you implement the fixes, your site also becomes faster and more user-friendly as a nice side effect.
ecograder.com
To me, designing for a more sustainable planet is just as fun as it is important.
If you also want to start taking small steps towards a more sustainable future...
↓ Here are a few useful resources:
After our rebrand, Conventa's sustainability-focused main event has sold out faster than ever before, with record attendance.
I've named "Conventa Meet" after their motto "Explore. Meet. Create".
In 1 week, that idea comes to life as the top meeting place for event organizers:
Friends told me I need to share my work here more. I think they meant results.
But I think the process is just as important as the final outcome.
With the new website online, I can stop designing websites for clients and go all-in on branding.
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If you've got questions about the process, I'm happy to answer.
If you've got feedback, I'm happy to hear where I messed up:
design.lukakopajtic.com
I designed section by section, adding prompts with sketches.
Once I reached the bottom of the page, I repeated the steps to make the sections responsive.
I repeated it once more to add animations, and one last time to make it accessible.
The result is an open-source website I can host for free.
A transparent scope and price will help founders make a decision before my schedule is filled with intro calls.
Hopefully, a transparent website filters out most clients who aren’t a fit, so I don't have to.
To turn that structure into code with Gemini Canvas...
Quick behind the scenes as I rebrand.
This week, I turned my website sketches into code with AI.
As I don't know programming, I started the redesign on paper. I sketched out 1 page that leads to 1 branding service that feels like a product.
Here's my bet:
Productizing a service doesn't turn it into a conveyor belt. It just makes some parts of the machine fixed, so others can run more smoothly.
I’ll be sharing everything I do and learn at lukakopajtic.com/updates
You are also welcome to follow along @lukakopajtic.com
3. My funnel.
To help the right founders find my offer, I will share more content but worry less about it.
Slowly writing ideas without any pressure makes it more fun, which makes it more sustainable.
2. My offer.
I will sell my service like a product.
Making the price and deliverables fixed helps everyone know what they get.
Even if it sometimes leaves money on the table, it will be left right next to friction and guesswork.
How to lead people to the offer?
1. My work process.
I will focus exclusively on brand strategy and identity while learning to say no to all other work. Fixed scope and process, creativity only where it matters.
As AI makes authenticity more important, my bet is that branding will bring founders the most value.
How to offer it?
I’m starting the new year by productizing my branding service.
I'll simplify 3 parts of my business to save time.
↓ Process, offer, and funnel:
I think the best way to improve is to balance the two.
The main problem when telling people to just go for quantity first: they start sharing every random thought without putting in at least some effort. Even worse, they start to think it's useful.
Love the idea, Justin! I'm a bit late this year, but I might just steal it at the end of 2026...
Reading and writing.
I just bought my first physical books since school to finally give my lonely ereader some company.
I also started a yearly email to ~100 friends and past colleagues to restart long-form conversations.
What are you focusing on this year?
Happy 2026 to friends and strangers here.
In 2025, my main goal was to earn more. This year, it is to work less.
I think the best way to do that is with focus. Focus on the right people, the right skills, and the right work.
So how to improve focus? 👇
Make someone feel excited, calm, happy, bored, angry, or surprised - and your brand ties to that feeling.
Only once you see brand in that way, you can actively shape it, one small action after another.
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Human-made at lukakopajtic.com/brand-is-a-...
The other part of your brand is people’s real experiences with you and with the people you associate with.
(This is completely up to you.)
Make a single person feel good, and your brand goes up.
Make them feel bad, and your brand goes down...
My guess is that you don't actually know what a "brand" is.
This is your brand (without the jargon):
A brand is the sum of people’s feelings about you.
One part of those feelings comes from the story people heard about you.
(This is what brand designers help you communicate).
The other part?
