Luka Kopajtic

Rejected direction for an agency that wanted to look less corpo and more artistic. From the 2022 archive.

Happy to announce that my email letter has converted a client for the first time. After months of sending into the void, Ill take it as a reminder that writing is more than training for my thinking muscles.

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If you don't have a newsletter yet, I encourage you to write for yourself if you want to clear your thinking, and for others if you want interesting work to find you. I send 1 branding insight I find most useful each month to 2500 leaders, without AI: lukakopajtic.com

I've been obsessed with 1 name for the past 2 weeks. No, I didn't fall madly in love, or become a top fan. I became a namer for a new brand:

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Why do they exist? What can only they claim? What can no other brand copy? These advantages were then expanded into tens of associated keywords, translated into 12 unique brand names, and filtered down to the 4 best options:

The top names were tested for legal viability, trademark availability, memorability, and a few nights of sleep, until one name stood out. Now that we have it, we can start designing an identity around it that stands out just as much. Can't wait to share it here soon. 🐝

I've been obsessed with 1 name for the past 2 weeks. No, I didn't fall madly in love, or become a top fan. I became a namer for a new brand:

Brand naming is an opportunity as rare as it is fun. Unlike visual identity elements like logos or symbols, verbal elements are way way harder to change later. Way way. Especially the name. So to find one that lasts, we first had to dive deep into their strategy:

16 Sept

3 things I'm learning after taking on more local clients: Businesses take "Euro summer" seriously. In Slovenia, teams disappear the second it gets hot, then want to work all at once when they're back. Not sure if I like this month's "feast" more than last month's "famine".

16 Sept

In-person workshops are a double-edged sword. They make you absolutely AI-proof, but don't scale at all. I struggled to choose between productized and personalized service but I'm finding a balance between the two.

design.lukakopajtic.comBranding - Luka KopajticWant the world to see you? Design a brand humans trust™

16 Sept

There are 2 ways to scale a service: increasing your team or your prices. I enjoy doing the work more than managing people, so I'm taking the raise. Turning down some clients helps my existing ones, so I see it as part of scaling too. Booking 2027 Q1 on design.lukakopajtic.com/

3 Sept

Symbol is a summary of your brand. If you've already got people's attention, you can afford to take your time and tell the whole story. But to earn that attention, you first need to distill your brand's whole story into a single memorable symbol.

design.lukakopajtic.comBranding - Luka KopajticWant the world to see you? Design a brand humans trust™

3 Sept

For AKMB, we discovered that they don't just stand for developing good young athletes, but also developing good people. I think merging the athletics track with the Drava river that runs through their city summarizes that perfectly. design.lukakopajtic.com

19 Aug

Today is exactly 1 year since we rebranded Conventa, the leader in sustainable events. It's refreshing to see how they're evolving the identity we've defined. Guidelines need to be clear—but adaptable, not set in stone. At least not for the brands that are truly alive.

11 Aug

This is what the last 1000 days of my content look like. Honestly, most of it was a waste of time... But the few posts that bring me new connections or teach me new ideas make it all worth it. Why are(n't) you posting?

Just a wild guess, but I think last week's Coca-Cola rebrand signals a strategic shift toward the less harmful variant becoming the default soon:

More likely, it’s part of a long-term strategy by a 19th-century sugar drink company that doesn't plan to lose customers in the 21st: Sugar taxes are spreading worldwide, and people are finally becoming more health-conscious

Both are problems for anyone selling sugary drinks. Making Zero Sugar the default Coke over time could be one way for the brand to adapt to those problems before it’s forced to.

Just a wild guess, but I think last week's Coca-Cola rebrand signals a strategic shift toward the less harmful variant becoming the default soon:

102 years after cutting cocaine from their drink, the company decided to cut out sugar too, launching black-can Coca-Cola Zero in 2005. The first fact is too fun not to keep in here.

Now, with this rebrand, Coca-Cola is removing the black color and making Zero Sugar and regular Coke look almost identical on the shelf. I simply don’t believe designers at a global agency like JKR make usability mistakes like that...

28 July

Last month KFC rebranded literally everything: identity, restaurants, packaging, menu... And as always, most people still don’t see the main change that’s right in front of them:

28 July

No, it’s not the logo shaped like their iconic bucket, and it’s not the chicken drumstick hidden inside the "C". Both are great examples of design done right, but the biggest fix was even more overdue:

28 July

They fixed the mascot. Eaters of fa(s)t food worldwide will be pleased to know the Colonel Sanders inside the KFC logo is no longer a stickman with a giant head. Seriously not sure how the designers didn't see that in the 2014 rebrand. Did you?

A single bad customer experience can easily ruin years of brand loyalty, even for Google:

They saved money but didn't save face, especially with a customer base of enthusiasts that trusted the hardware and support. The ones that lost trust in both will never be back. Luckily for Google, they are too big to fail. Sadly, they also became too big to care.

All businesses make mistakes. But your brand isn't hurt by one mistake alone. It's by how you mishandle the aftermath.

A single bad customer experience can easily ruin years of brand loyalty, even for Google:

Everyone in my family used refurbished Pixel Phones for years. The system is less locked down than iOS and the UX is simpler than other Android skins, making it easy to maintain for a busy family IT guy. (My grandma sees it as designer's skillset).

Us and millions of others loved the product, and by extension thought better of the brand behind it. At least until Google discovered a dangerous battery flaw. Instead of refunding the phones, they forced an update to cut battery capacity in half so it doesn't overheat.

22 July

Simplifying your brand architecture feels like decluttering the whole house: - Undefined services finally fit together. - Unclear products finally get used or removed. - Disconnected sub-brands finally join the single ecosystem. After 18 years of growth....

22 July

Conventa was still keeping names and brands that were holding them back. So we mapped the whole ecosystem to see what could be connected or removed without losing brand equity.

22 July

Stripping their offering down to 3 main pillars and naming them after their 3-word motto laid a solid foundation for developing both the services and the brand. Now, be honest with yourself - how long have you been holding onto things you no longer use?

17 July

Love it when companies get really creative with their branding for a good cause. A few years ago, the iconic Lacoste crocodile disappeared from their polo shirts, replaced by 10 animals that are disappearing from our planet:

17 July

Of course, temporarily removing a famous logo was going to grab attention. But there was an even cooler concept behind this rebranding campaign: The shirts were a super limited edition, just like the animals on them...

17 July

They were produced in the exact same number as the estimated number of those animals left in the wild. This brought attention not only to the brand, but also to the urgency of endangered species conservation. It’s hard to ignore a rebrand that’s literal countdown to extinction.

People don't buy until they clearly understand your value. To explain it simply, complete this sentence like a 10-year-old kid:

3. Claude helps knowledge workers get tasks done faster to not lose hours. It simplifies generating information with an AI chatbot. 4. Slack helps remote workers get easier communication to not lose information. It brings all team messages together in a single app.

Read your sentence every time you're communicating to customers. Change the message - but keep the core idea to always communicate the right value.

People don't buy until they clearly understand your value. To explain it simply, complete this sentence like a 10-year-old kid:

Write the sentence with basic grammar, then read it every time you're communicating to your customers - in content, ads, websites, posters... The message can change in creative ways to grab attention, but the idea should stay consistent to communicate the right value. Examples:

1. Notion helps knowledge workers get organized to not lose hours. It structures and connects information in a single app. 2. Patagonia helps adventurers get quality clothing to not harm the planet. It makes durable and easy-to-repair clothes.

People don't buy until they clearly understand your value. To explain it simply, complete this sentence like a 10-year-old kid:

(Brand) helps (customer) get (result) to (remove problem). It (does something specific). If people are happy to pay to turn that problem into that result - those few words are your whole business.

Founders can't afford to wait for 6 months. But a rushed 1-week branding sprint is just as risky. I think this 4-week branding process hits the sweet spot:

Week 4: Guidelines and templates We wrap up the branding process with a future-proof guidelines document. It defines and explains all elements with clear mockups and examples, so the new identity can be implemented across every touchpoint, online and offline.

design.lukakopajtic.comBranding - Luka KopajticWant the world to see you? Design a brand humans trust™

I think for most companies, 4 weeks of branding is fast enough to avoid falling behind or wasting time. But also deep enough to actually bring business results. See the full process on design.lukakopajtic.com.

Founders can't afford to wait for 6 months. But a rushed 1-week branding sprint is just as risky. I think this 4-week branding process hits the sweet spot:

Week 2: Visual direction Presenting multiple directions helps the founder choose their risk level - safe, adventurous, or balanced. Locking in a direction that aligns with business goals makes it more than decoration.

Week 3: Logo design Out of 100 sketches, the concept that best connects to the brand story is refined into a unique logo that becomes the main visual identity element.

Founders can't afford to wait for 6 months. But a rushed 1-week branding sprint is just as risky. I think this 4-week branding process hits the sweet spot:

Day 1: Brand workshop Starting with a live workshop gives the designer better insights and the founder more clarity. No AI, questionnaire, or tools can ever replace that human-to-human discovery conversation.

Week 1: Lean strategy To tell the right story to the right people, you need clear positioning. Combining insights from the workshop with market research gives your business a clear strategy document that tells you how to communicate, sell, and grow.

25 June

Not sure if your brand's logo stands out? Here's a quick little experiment. Test it the way FIFA World cup does. Remove your colors and the name to see if people still recognize the brand. Most of you probably won't get all 7 right. Right?

22 June

FIFA's World Cup covering of the Levi's logo didn't just result in a masterclass in branding. To me, it's also a great way to test symbol design:

22 June

There are a lot of elements a brand can be famous for. Name, color, font, mascot, motto, product... In most cases, it's the symbol. In some rare cases, it's one people can recognize just by its shape.