We always see ourselves a little better before we look in the mirror.
Brand self-perception distorts before the brief even lands on our desk. We’ve watched it happen across 81 logo projects — a company convinced their identity reads confident, while their audience registers something closer to anxious. The mirror test isn’t vanity; it’s the first honest step in any serious brand identity work.
Fun fact that goes with singing in the shower and playing some air guitar. But let’s transform that phrase into branding. When was the last time you looked with your brand in the mirror?
Think about it—just as you might belt out a song in the shower, imagining you’re on stage, your brand needs that same level of self-reflection. It’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind of running a business, but how often do you take a step back and truly assess how your brand is perceived? Is it in tune with who you are now, or is it stuck in an old version of itself? Are you on stage with your ideas or just under the shower?
Looking in the mirror isn’t just about surface appearance; it’s about aligning your brand with your values, your goals, and the audience you’re trying to reach. Does your brand still reflect the passion that started it all? Does it tell the story you want it to? Or is it time for a refresh?
Just like that air guitar moment where you feel invincible, your brand should evoke confidence and energy every time someone interacts with it. So next time you’re having one of those spontaneous moments of fun and creativity, remember to ask yourself: when was the last time I really looked at my brand in the mirror?
Be honest and take a closer look.
What the Brand Self-Perception Mirror Actually Reveals About Identity Blind Spots
How we approach logo design from brief to final markDon’t miss the next essay. Sign up for our newsletter
⸻ Newsletter signup
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.
Branding Agency vs Logo Designer: Understanding the Difference
Branding agency vs logo designer — the confusion is real, and it costs clients money. Most briefs we receive conflate the two, assuming a mark is a brand. It isn't. A branding agency vs logo designer comparison isn't about prestige; it's about scope, process, and what problem you're actually trying to solve.
Vibe coding
Vibe coding design is not a shortcut — it's a discipline we've been practising long before anyone named it. We let visual instinct drive technical decisions, the same way we've approached every identity and interface since 2004. When feel and function collapse into a single gesture, that's vibe coding design working as it should.
12 Proverbs
Design wisdom proverbs don't come from books. They come from the gap between what a client asked for and what they actually needed — a gap we've been navigating since 2004. These twelve distillations aren't motivational. They're diagnostic, drawn from real projects where design wisdom proverbs were the only honest way to say what went wrong, or right.
Why Are We Searching for Clarity?
Clarity in design is what every brief promises and almost nothing delivers. We've been watching this gap widen for two decades — between what communication claims to say and what it actually lands. Searching for clarity isn't a trend. It's a signal that something structural has gone wrong.
Redesign
Brand redesign is one of the most misused terms in the industry. Studios pitch full rebuilds when a type adjustment would do; clients request "a refresh" when the underlying system is broken beyond repair. We've worked through both scenarios enough times to know the difference isn't aesthetic — it's structural, and getting it wrong is expensive.
What Does a Branding Agency Actually Do?
What does a branding agency do — and what separates the ones worth hiring from the ones who just make things look nice? We've been answering that question through work since 2004. What does a branding agency do at its best: it builds the strategic and visual foundation a business can actually stand on.
Remember when you learned to spot a stock photo?
You could see it from a mile away. The same thing is happening now. We are growing up developing an even sharper instinct for what feels generated, repeated, predictable, and empty.