Lecture, Tromsø, Norway
Fear drives creativity in ways comfort never can. We’ve believed this for two decades — and when we took the idea to Tromsø, it became a room full of designers nodding at things nobody usually says out loud. Fear drives creativity isn’t a slogan; it’s the honest mechanics of how we’ve made work worth making.
A few years ago, I went on a wonderful trip up to Tromsø (Norway), where I was invited to speak at the Design vs Music event organized by the Tank Design and Insomnia festivals.

They have been having talks since 2005, and the past speakers were some of my all-time favorites: Non-Format, Stefan Sagmeister, Scott Hansen, Oh Yeah Studio, and Big Active. Uh, what a crowd I got myself into!
This year I was on stage with Sawdust from the UK, and you can imagine my excitement.
Tromsø is far up north, so I had to change three flights just to get there, and of course, they lost my luggage up and back, but who cares that I was there. After a few beers with my hosts, Christopher Ide and Sawdust, it was all good.
The lecture took place in one of the oldest theaters in Norway, and the crowd filled all the seats in there.
I told my story about how I became who I am and how I discovered that fear is the real fuel that drives me to create my projects. I presented my studio rules and showed some of my recent work. I usually use only my quotes so I left this one on my last slide 🙂
Sawdust was up next, and I saw the process behind the awesome work they do. As I imagine it, small studios are the future since we can bend all the rules and just throw in that extra mile there.
After that, it was just beer, and I had to show some of my secret ping-pong skills to new friends at the Tank design studio. They told me Norwegians are a bit cold, but this is not how I saw them. With such nice and friendly people, I felt like I was in the center of everything.
Did I mention it was also my birthday? Well because of that I just had to breathe everything in. And I did. We took a road trip the next day and the views are just breathtaking…
Everywhere you turn, there is stunning nature, and you are almost alone, even if it is some kind of view spot. There are no people, just you and the frozen land.
I was lucky enough that on the same day, we did see the Aurora Borealis. And yes, it is crazy and unbelievable. The most breathtaking thing you can imagine. I felt it was shining just for me (well, we all felt like that). Staying under it for six hours makes you think and go through life. What is important is what you have done and what you can do about it.
How Fear Drives Creativity in a Small Studio
See how fear shapes our project outcomesDon’t miss the next essay. Sign up for our newsletter
⸻ Newsletter signup
When was the last time you went on a date?
Brand dating strategy is something most studios won't admit they've ruined. We've watched clients walk into pitches dressed like a corporate handbook and wonder why nobody called back. The problem isn't the product — it's that design forgot to be interesting before it tried to be impressive.
What are you buying with a designer?
What you buy with a designer is rarely what appears on the invoice. The file is the last thing — what precedes it is accumulated judgment, pattern recognition sharpened across decades, and the discipline to reject work that almost works. We've built 81 logos and won over 80 awards not by delivering what clients asked for, but by understanding what they actually needed.
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.
Trends burn bright, but they burn fast.
Trends burn fast — that's not a warning, it's a design principle we've worked from since 2004. Every identity we've built across 128 projects starts from the same question: what survives the cycle? Trends burn fast, but a mark built on meaning doesn't need a refresh every eighteen months.
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.
We use craft in every project. Not as decoration. Not as nostalgia. As a way of thinking.
Craft in design thinking is how we structure every decision we make — not what it looks like at the end, but how the problem gets interrogated from the start. We've been working this way since 2004. Craft in design thinking means slowing down where other studios speed up, and knowing exactly why.
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.
First You Learn Then You Earn
Designer learning process isn't a phase — it's the foundation everything else is built on. We spent years in Ljubljana studios understanding materials, systems, and failure before a single award or client brief justified the time. The designer learning process, done honestly, is what separates work that holds from work that merely sells.