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An ice cream brand went bankrupt this month because a judge ruled its pints copied Van Leeuwen's trade dress and made it hand back $23.8M. Every dollar the look ever earned.
The ruling turned on one word: deliberately. Intent is discoverable. The reference deck with the competitor pinned as "target" becomes evidence.
Your "make it feel like Linear" slide is the same slide. Nobody will sue you. You just pay differently: every impression you buy trains buyers to recognize their codes, not yours.
$23.8M for "looking familiar" is absolutely insane. Ig intent leaves a trail - references, iterations, assets, timestamps - and once that trail tells a story, the pixels are almost irrelevant.
$23.8M for copying a look, brutal
INSANE. much more than brutal
“Really interesting point — especially for designers. A reference can guide direction, but the final visual identity should still have its own rationale and distinctive system. Documenting the design decisions along the way can also make the creative process much clearer.”
Write the quality you admire in words, don't pin the screenshot might be the sharpest reframe of competitive research I've read. Translating into words forces you to actually understand why something works instead of just copying the output.
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
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One of my templates flopped. The exact same design later sold every single day.
It's called Mitchy, a website template for professional services firms.
On Framer's marketplace it never ranked. And if you don't rank there, buyers never see you.
Easy to blame the design at that point. Redo the hero, change the colors, try again.
I didn't touch it. I put the same design on Webflow's marketplace instead.
It sold 4-5 a day, every day, for about 2-3 months. Webflow was profitable for us from the first month.
On Framer it still doesn't rank, even today.
That's why we sell on both now. One design, two markets.
If you sell software, have you ever found your buyers somewhere you didn't expect?
Such a good reminder that sometimes it’s about finding the right marketplace, not changing the product! Knowing where your audience is makes all the difference. 👏
Title: Why 80% of your new email subscribers never buy or donate
Most brands work so hard on top of funnel traffic. You run ads, post on social media, and get people to sign up for your newsletter.
Then you send them a generic welcome email with a discount code and complete silence for two weeks.
Here is what happens when you do that:
Your subscribers forget who you are within 48 hours
Your open rates drop on every future broadcast
Readers feel like just another metric on your list instead of an insider
A generic confirmation email does not build trust. A strategic 3-part sequence tells your core origin story, sets clear expectations, and guides new subscribers toward their first purchase or donation while their interest is at its peak.
If your welcome flow feels dry or non-existent, I write 3-part custom on boarding sequences that turn cold signups into warm, loyal community members.
Drop a comment or check out my fixed-scope service link on my profile to get your welcome sequence updated this week.
Trust is built into every detail of a brand.
For a law firm, a logo is only the beginning. The entire visual identity needs to communicate credibility, professionalism, and confidence before a conversation even starts.
That was the thinking behind the brand identity for Ramos Souza & Nalesso, a legal brand developed around a simple direction: create an identity that feels authoritative, refined, and contemporary without losing the character of a traditional law firm.
The shield-inspired emblem draws on ideas of protection and precision, while the eagle introduces a visual connection to vision and strength.
A deep forest-green palette establishes distinction and sophistication. Refined serif typography adds authority, while clean sans-serif lettering maintains clarity across the system.
From logo design and typography to color selection, business cards, and branded stationery, every element was developed to work together as one cohesive visual identity.
The goal wasn't simply to make the firm look professional. It was to build a consistent brand identity that could carry that impression across every client touchpoint.
Because strong branding isn't just about how a business looks. It's about what people perceive, remember, and trust.
I'm a brand identity designer helping businesses build distinctive brands through strategic thinking, purposeful logo design, and cohesive visual identity systems.
Explore the full case study on my Contra portfolio.
#BrandIdentity #BrandDesign #LogoDesign #VisualIdentity #BrandStrategy
