Studio Size interview— when every brief starts with a question
Design studio based in Zagreb, Croatia. A group of creatives who left their cushy jobs at large companies to dive into the creative process and create something that continues to influence and inspire future generations. Its about staying a student, exploring the depths of creativity, learning new skills, and loving your life.
Studio Size was kind enough to answer few of our burning questions about how they manage to consistently output high quality work. Discussion between Lev from KraaDesign team and Studio Size’s Brand Strategist Ivan Fristic.
There is a snippet on your website that caught our eye: "It's about staying a student, exploring the depths of creativity, learning new skills, and loving your life." This seems refreshingly humble and human. Could you speak more about this and your studio's general philosophy?
The idea of staying a student is at the core of how we approach our work. Curiosity isn’t just a useful trait in design—it’s essential for growth, evolution, and staying humble. We believe that continuous learning and skill development should be something you enjoy, not just something you do out of necessity.
As for loving your life, this speaks to the way many agencies and studios operate—long hours, tight deadlines, and a culture that often leads to burnout. We think that’s a shame, especially in a field as fulfilling and expressive as design. A creative career should be something that can sustain you for a lifetime, not something that forces you to step away because of exhaustion. That’s why we’ve built Studio Size differently:
We don't pitch
We don't work overtime
We don't work weekends
That doesn’t mean we stop thinking about design outside of work hours, but it does mean we set boundaries. We believe that achieving a balance between personal and professional life isn’t just about well-being—it directly influences the quality of the work we create. A holistic approach to life leads to better, more meaningful design.
Where does your team find inspiration for your designs, and do you draw on influences from industries, art forms, or everyday experiences outside the tech world to fuel your creative approach?
A lot of our inspiration comes from outside the tech and design world. Music, nature, fashion, architecture—all of these play a huge role in shaping our aesthetic sensibilities. Of course, we also look to design history, from iconic mid-century pioneers to today’s leading studios that continue to redefine the field.
Technology itself can also be an inspiration. Sometimes, a new tool or breakthrough enables a creative possibility that wasn’t feasible before. Being aware of these shifts and embracing them allows us to push our work in new directions.
Can you tell us about a project from Studio Size’s portfolio that stands out as especially meaningful (for any reason, be it the theme itself or particular approach)?
One of our most meaningful projects is our recent work for Exat, a typeface inspired by Croatian mid-century design pioneers from the Exat 51 movement and the New Tendencies art scene. These were the people who brought modernism to Croatia, and working with that historical legacy felt special.
For this project, we created an extensive promotional campaign—static and motion graphics, dynamic layouts, and a strong visual narrative rooted in the principles of modernist design. Beyond its historical significance, it was also deeply aligned with our own aesthetic values, making it a particularly rewarding project for us.
How do you see emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, or voice interfaces influencing product design in the coming years, and how is Studio Size adapting to these new frontiers?
New technologies like AI, AR, and voice interfaces aren’t just incremental updates—they’re reshaping entire interactions between people and brands. Our approach is simple:
Stay open-minded
Stay curious
Don't be afraid
Every major shift in technology comes with both challenges and new creative possibilities. The best thing any designer or studio can do is explore what’s happening, understand how people interact with these technologies, and find new ways to shape meaningful experiences.
Finally, how do you personally define a design’s success, and what indicators do you look for after launching a product or feature to know that your design truly works
Measuring success depends on the type of project.
For digital products (websites, platforms, apps), success is often quantifiable—analytics, performance metrics, conversion rates, and user engagement all provide clear indicators. These projects allow for iteration, testing, and refinement based on real data.
For branding and creative communication, success is harder to measure in numbers. Here, we look at soft indicators:
How the design is received by the audience and design community.
How it resonates with customers.
How our clients connect with their new identity.
That said, branding alone won’t make or break a company’s success. A great visual identity can encourage someone to engage with a brand, but if the product or service itself doesn’t deliver, no amount of good design can compensate for that. Our work is just one piece of a much larger puzzle.