Brand made simple — Luka @lukakopajtic — brand designer

That’s top 9.

Here are 24 more simple definitions without jargon to make branding simple for you:

lukakopajtic.com/brand

7. Brand audit:
The process of assessing strengths and weaknesses of an existing brand.

8. Brand refresh:
The process of updating the visual and verbal identity of an existing brand.

9. Rebrand:
The process of changing the strategy and identity of an existing brand.

4. Strategy:
The thinking behind why your business exists, what it stands for and how it competes.

5. Identity:
The execution of how your business looks and communicates across all touchpoints.

6. Touchpoints:
All online and offline places where people interact with you.

1. Brand:
The sum of people’s feelings about you, based on all previous direct or indirect interactions they’ve had with you.

2. Branding:
The process of influencing a brand.

3. Story:
A reason for your business to exist beyond making money (purpose), communicated to people.

Most founders can't grow their "brand" because don’t understand it.

Here’s the simplest branding dictionary that fixes that:

Branding - Luka Kopajtic Want the world to see you? Design a brand humans trust™

Now be honest.

How much have you invested in it lately?

$1,000? $10,000? $100,000?

If you want your brand to work harder and bring more results, maybe it's time for a raise.

design.lukakopajtic.com

Their brand.

It constantly works, stands out, and attracts people.

It increases trust and justifies premium prices.

Over time, it compounds the results of the whole team and becomes more valuable.

How much do you pay an employee who works 365 days a year?

$10,000? $100,000? $1,000,000?

What if they drive customers to you and charge them a higher price than before?

What's their worth to your business?

Would the salary match?

Most successful companies already have that:

It's being fast and close.

They don't go out of business, but most also never scale beyond their street, let alone their city.

That's exactly why they don't need a rebrand.

Because branding helps businesses that are growing, not surviving.

Where is your business headed?

Most of their founders paid a few bucks to a nephew or neighbor for a quick logo and opened shop.

As long as they have work, it works.

The main advantage of these businesses is not their branding:

As a designer, I shouldn't be saying people don't need what I sell.

But most local businesses don't need a rebrand.

Think of all the nearby computer repairs, bike rentals, print shops, and mechanics...

Brand made simple — Luka @lukakopajtic — brand designer

That's how you go from attention, through trust, to authority.

No matter where you are right now...

Just make sure you know the rules before you start breaking them.

New to branding? Start here:

lukakopajtic.com/brand

Level 3: Authority

Continue to give value and be in business long enough, and you've built a brand humans trust.

With enough presence and a unique identity, you'll be top of mind.

This is what your competition wants to copy, and the journey that got you here is why they can't.

Level 2: Trust

Once a business has eyes on it, it needs to show its value.

To scale, attention needs to be followed by trust.

You're building a loved brand step by step, every time you help a customer and make them feel good.

Level 1: Attention

An unknown business needs to be seen first.

You need to grab attention, then hold it. Your unique story and branding are the obvious way to get noticed.

A revolutionary solution to a problem is an even faster but a magnitude harder one.

A friendly reminder. You can't simply copy what successful brands do and expect the same results.

It's not the same level. That means it's not the same rules:

Bittergreen - Luka Kopajtic Bittergreen by Luka Kopajtic

After the launch, we continue to test new ideas and expand this vision together to change people's health for good.


See full case study at design.lukakopajtic.com/bittergreen

That personality was expressed in everything from the edgy name to the minimalist symbol and bold colors.

In its niche, it stands out as the only olive oil brand proven by lab tests and transparency dashboards.

Every drop traced, from grove to table.

Aljaz wanted to bring top quality olive oil directly to health-conscious tables around Europe, without middlemen.

Through our strategy workshop, we shaped this idea into a story of a radically honest rebel brand.

Bittergreen:

New work: We designed the most transparent brand.

It's as an answer to +70% of misleading "extra virgin" olive oils.

Bittergreen's founder came to me with an idea he was passionate about since his family trips to Tuscany...

Congrats, you got more than half. But it also depends on what industries you work in, because this is a pretty varied mix.

- Brain processes colors faster than text
- Colors trigger emotions more easily
- Colors scale better across all sizes and contexts
- Colors change less often than logos

All of that helps brands to be recognized without text.

The friends I've asked got 6 or 7 of them right. How many did you?

The next time someone tells you logo = brand.

Show them this image. If they recognize most of the brands, you've proved them wrong.

I'm not saying that a logo, the main element of your visual identity is not important.

But when it comes to quick recognition, color does the heavy lifting:

Conventa - Luka Kopajtic Brand new identity for Conventa by Luka Kopajtic

Hope that helps you make the first small step.

If you want to see how we rebranded the sustainability-focused Conventa, the case study is at design.lukakopajtic.com/conventa.

Goods Index Goods Index is a resource for supporting future-proof circular packaging

Goods Index simplifies 100+ materials to help you make more informed packaging decisions.

index.goods.no

Waste Not Sustainable suppliers for packaging, fashion, interiors, restaurants and more. Clean up your supply chain.

Waste Not is an open-source database of sustainable suppliers for packaging, retail, restaurants, interiors, fashion, and paper products.

wastenot.world

Paper Calculator lists the impact of your print: wood, water, and energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generated.

calculator.environmentalpaper.org

Ecograder shows you how much energy your website uses. After you implement the fixes, your site also becomes faster and more user-friendly as a nice side effect.

ecograder.com

To me, designing for a more sustainable planet is just as fun as it is important.

If you also want to start taking small steps towards a more sustainable future...

↓ Here are a few useful resources:

After our rebrand, Conventa's sustainability-focused main event has sold out faster than ever before, with record attendance.

I've named "Conventa Meet" after their motto "Explore. Meet. Create".

In 1 week, that idea comes to life as the top meeting place for event organizers: