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.
Tromso 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. Signup for our newsletter
⸻ Newsletter signup
The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence design is not a soft skill — it's the hardest discipline in visual communication. We've spent two decades building identities that don't just look right, they feel true. That gap between looking and feeling is where emotional intelligence design does its real work.
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.
Slovenia the fun facts
Slovenia fun facts are rarely what they seem. The bear counts and flute discoveries are real enough — but the stories built around them, the way a nation curates its own mythology, that's where the design work begins. We've been pulling apart Slovenian cultural identity since 2004, and the gap between documented fact and inherited fiction is where the most interesting visual problems live.
Should designers code?
Should designers code? We've been asking ourselves that question since 2004 — across identities, interfaces, and campaigns where design met production head-on. The answer depends entirely on what kind of designer you want to be, and what kind of work you want to make. Should designers code is the wrong binary; the real question is how much of the medium should you understand before you hand it off.
To all the misfits who jumped to freelancing
Freelance designer struggles don't announce themselves. One month you're euphoric about escaping the agency; six months later you're chasing an invoice at midnight and questioning every career decision you've ever made. We've seen this arc enough times — from our studio in Ljubljana, across two decades of watching good designers disappear into bad freelance situations — to say something honest about it.
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.
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.
Pitch
Design pitch process is where most projects are quietly won or lost — long before any visual work begins. We've spent twenty years watching good briefs collapse under vague expectations, misaligned goals, and the false assumption that both sides are speaking the same language. Getting the design pitch process right isn't a formality; it's the actual work.