What are you buying with a designer?
Every designer has a special superpower: a feeling. Our feeling about branding and visual direction and the only way to get it is through experience.
Every designer possesses a unique superpower—an intuitive sense of visual direction. This isn’t something that can be taught; it’s cultivated through years of hands-on experience, crafting designs, making mistakes, and learning from them. It’s a blend of intuition and ethical standards that enables a designer to see what a brand is and feel what it can become.
Personal values and moral principles guide us to judge what is right and what should not be done. In the process, we craft products and services guided by our moral compass, and it usually gets really personal. When all are aligned correctly, we know the final creation reflects our values.
My instinct is one of the most powerful abilities that I have developed as a designer. I can perceive it clearly, but ultimately, the choice comes down to my feelings—nothing more and nothing less.
Don’t miss the next essay. Signup for our newsletter
⸻ Newsletter signup
Excited?
Client excitement is the ultimate indicator of project success and creative fulfillment. When both designer and client share genuine enthusiasm for the work, the branding process transforms from routine service delivery into collaborative storytelling that produces exceptional results.
I’ve seen inspiration exploding to space
Creative inspiration process defies all attempts at control or scheduling. After two decades running Visual Brain Gravity in Ljubljana, I've learned that breakthrough moments arrive precisely when you stop chasing them. The creative inspiration process demands patience, endless walks, and acceptance of sleepless nights filled with spinning ideas.
Art is Provocation: Raising Questions, without Giving Answers
Art versus design thinking represents two fundamentally different approaches to creative expression. While design focuses on providing clear solutions to client problems, art versus design thinking shows how art operates by raising complex questions without offering simple resolutions. This divide shapes how we approach creativity and meaning-making.
Team 2 team
Team to team design collaboration is fundamentally changing how creative studios work with clients. This shift from B2B to H2H to T2T represents more than terminology—it's about recognizing that great design emerges from collective effort rather than individual brilliance.
Are we artists or designers?
Artists & designers serve fundamentally different purposes in creative work. While performers operate without constraints, designers function as craftsmen who solve specific problems within defined parameters. This distinction shapes how design studios approach client challenges versus artistic expression.
Side projects
Designer side projects serve as essential creative fuel when client work becomes draining. These personal experiments allow designers to explore unused ideas and regain excitement for their craft, regardless of commercial potential.
Passion
Passion vs dedication in design represents a fundamental choice every creative professional must make. While the design industry celebrates emotional attachment to work, true craft demands the controlled commitment that only dedication provides. This distinction shapes how we serve clients and approach our creative process.
What is a good design
Good design principles matter more than perfect definitions when creating work that actually performs. Every designer seeks practical rules over motivational theory, yet most discussions about good design principles focus on idealistic concepts rather than actionable guidelines.