Notes

Thoughts on branding, design, and AI.

Modern concrete building with bold cut-out letters on the corner; a man stands on a walkway near a plaque reading 'DESIGNED BY: KIRILL'

Branding Is Becoming Infrastructure

For years, branding has been treated as a layer. A logo applied to a building. A color palette applied to a website. A visual system applied to a product. The assumption was always that the thing existed first, and branding came later. But increasingly,...

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Framed yellow poster on a gray wall listing designated landmarks and districts in Coral Gables, with dense text in black.

When Information Becomes Identity

Most public information is designed to be read. The best information is designed to be remembered. Cities are full of directories, maps, plaques, and signage systems that serve a function but rarely leave an impression. They communicate information efficiently, yet often disappear into the...

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Close-up of a blue eye showing detailed iris and surrounding eyelashes.

Why Most Brand Positioning Fails Before Design Starts

Most branding projects don’t fail in design. They fail long before anyone opens Figma. The logo gets blamed. The website gets blamed. The color palette gets blamed. But those are usually symptoms. The real problem is that many companies start designing before they’ve decided...

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