Why Brands Don’t Need to Look Different

For years, one idea has been repeated so often that it almost became a rule: "If you want to stand out, you need to look different." And it sounds logical.

Markets are crowded. New products appear every day. Every founder is told that differentiation is the only way to be noticed. But after working with founders across wellness, coffee and beauty brands, I've started questioning whether that's actually true.

I don't think people fall in love with brands because they feel completely unfamiliar. Instead, I think they fall in love because something feels strangely familiar. Don’t get me wrong - not copied or predictable. Just... familiar enough to understand immediately, yet fresh enough to make them look twice.

We rarely choose with logic alone.

Think about the people you genuinely enjoy spending time with - very rarely are they unlike everyone you've ever met. More often, they remind you of someone. Something that already belongs somewhere in your memory.

Brands work in surprisingly similar ways - before people compare ingredients, prices or product claims, they ask themselves a much simpler question: "Does this feel like something I can trust?"

Familiarity has become more valuable than novelty.

And this isn't just a personal observation.

Recent research suggests that consumers increasingly choose brands that feel relevant to who they are rather than simply different from everything else. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer found that trust has become as important in purchase decisions as quality and value. It also showed that consumers increasingly look for brands that reflect their identity, values and communities, not simply products that attract attention.

Kantar reaches a similar conclusion. Their research doesn't describe successful brands as merely "different". According to Kantar BrandZ 2026, brands that became more meaningful and relevant to people's lives increased their value by 129% since 2019, while brands that lost that relevance grew by only 80%. Meaning isn't just a branding ambition anymore - it has become a measurable business advantage.

At the same time, reports from Deloitte suggest that as AI-generated content becomes more common, trust and authenticity are becoming economic assets rather than marketing slogans. In an environment where almost everything can be generated instantly, people increasingly value brands that feel believable rather than simply original.

This is where I usually begin.

When I start working with a founder, I don't immediately search for something nobody has ever seen before, but instead, I try to understand the people the brand wants to become part of, like:

What already surrounds them? What objects do they use every day? What materials do they instinctively associate with quality? What visual language already feels natural to them?

Only after understanding that world do I begin looking for a new interpretation of it. People don't remember brands simply because they are unusual. They remember brands that make them feel understood.

A familiar feeling, seen differently.

I often compare it to seeing someone you love after they've changed their hairstyle or are wearing something you've never seen before: they're still the same person, like nothing fundamental has changed. Yet somehow you notice them all over again.

That's the feeling I try to create through branding: not shock, just enough change to let people rediscover something they already wanted to love.

What this means in practice.

When designing Topia Coffee, I wasn't interested in creating another coffee bag that shouted louder than everyone else. The ribbed texture became a way of reminding people of nature - not by illustrating leaves or mountains, but by creating a tactile association that felt both familiar and unexpected.

For Super Vital, the goal wasn't to make wellness look futuristic. It was to express confidence through restraint, allowing materials, proportions and light to communicate quality before any marketing message had the chance.

Different projects → Different industries → The same question:

How can something feel immediately understandable while still impossible to ignore?

Perhaps brands don't need to look different. And perhaps they need to become a better version of something people already trust.