What is a good design?
Good design principles are easier to list than to apply — and most lists get it wrong. We’ve spent twenty years testing what actually holds under pressure: across 81 logos, 128 projects, and judging rooms where good design either survives scrutiny or quietly doesn’t. What makes design work isn’t a checklist. It’s a set of decisions that age well, communicate without effort, and resist the urge to explain themselves.
I am sure we have all read a few definitions of good design; they all sound perfect and motivational, don’t they? Some of them are really good. But I wanted something practical, something that was easy to explain. And that is why I came up with some basic rules (not definitions) to make sure I was on the right path.
Adaptive.
Not only to the different media where the adaptation and resizing must work but also to how they can evolve and adapt along the path.
Different.
With all these messages around us, no one wants to be similar to another (we see around 4–10,000 advertising messages per day if you live in a big city and rarely remember any). It is not necessary to discover something “new”; sometimes it is good enough that the message is recognized and is different from the competition.
Focused.
Consistency is the key. A brand is not just a logo; it has defined elements that they must stay focused on. Using a logo as the only recognizable element will not get you far.
Aesthetic.
We are humans after all. It does not matter what the given aesthetic is, but it must be loved by your target group.
We can describe design by its parts—color, shape, form, typography—everything visual, or by the end result—a poster, a book, a website, a business card. But in fact the design is craft with emotions.
What Good Design Principles Look Like When the Brief Gets Difficult
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In the corporate world, there’s this unspoken rule that enthusiasm should be hidden
Corporate enthusiasm, by some unspoken rule, is supposed to stay hidden — filed away behind neutral tones and careful hedging. We've never understood that. Twenty years of design work, 80+ awards, and 128 projects later, we're still the studio that treats genuine excitement as a feature, not a liability. The corporate enthusiasm unspoken rule isn't just a cultural quirk — it's a design problem, and we treat it as one.
Good design is for good clients
Good design and good clients arrive together — one rarely exists without the other. After two decades and 128 projects in Ljubljana, we've stopped pretending otherwise. The work only reaches its potential when the relationship is built on honesty, mutual respect, and a shared willingness to sit with the hard decisions.
Self-Doubt in the Design Process – It Means You’re Halfway There
Self-doubt in the design process is not the problem — ignoring it is. We've watched it surface in almost every serious project we've taken on over two decades, and we've stopped trying to push past it. Designer self-doubt, when you learn to sit with it, is usually the clearest signal that the work is getting close to something real.
Are we artists or designers?
Artists vs designers — it's a question we've been asked at every client meeting, award jury, and late-night studio argument since 2004. The honest answer is neither, or both, depending on what the brief demands. What we've learned after 81 logos and 80+ awarded projects is that the real distinction isn't about medium or ego — it's about intent and accountability.
Made with AI Is the New Made in China
Made with AI design is the new "Made in China" — and we mean that as a warning, not a trend report. We've spent twenty years watching what happens when cost becomes the only design criteria. The results are always the same: disposable work, eroded brand identity, and a market that eventually has to pay twice.
Definition of a brand
Definition of a brand is where most projects quietly fail — not in execution, but in understanding. A brand is not a logo, not a palette, not a tagline. It is the gap between what a company says it is and what people actually believe. We've spent twenty years closing that gap, and the distance is rarely where clients expect it to be.
It is not ok to fail
It is not ok to fail — and we've never treated it as an option. Most studios build failure tolerance into their process. We built accountability into ours instead. Twenty years in Ljubljana, 80+ awards, and a working assumption that getting it wrong is not a learning opportunity — it's a broken promise.
Every Comment Can Be Positive – How to Give Constructive Feedback to Designers
Constructive feedback for designers is one of the most underestimated skills in any creative collaboration. Get it wrong and you stall the work; get it right and the next version is better than anything you would have briefed. We've been on the receiving end of both kinds — and after 81 logos and 128 projects, we've learned to tell the difference.