Zagreb, October 13th, 2022

Sawraft Studio is an independent design and digital experience collective. A team of award-winning creatives that produce bold and unconventional designs for a select clientele. Based in Zagreb, they work on branding and logo design, graphic, editorial and presentation design, as well as on product design.

Lex Koēn is the Co-founder & Head of Design at Sawraft Studio. In an interview with TIA, he described the first steps of the agency and its fast growth and went through some of the challenges experienced so far. He also listed the most important ingredients for a successful design project at the agency.

To kick things off, what do you love the most about Zagreb?

Let’s see; Zagreb has over 30 museums and 45 galleries with about a dozen art exhibitions at any given time. You can start your day by visiting the Cathedral of the Assumption and end it with a contemporary design exhibition in Lauba. In many ways Zagreb is where talent comes to acquire taste.

How did you get started in the industry?

Over a decade ago I found myself juggling between a tech startup, a design studio and a video production team. A series of odd events that I can’t even recall anymore. One thing does stand out, albeit a cliché; It was always about “Let’s make something amazing”. Fast forward through being part of some great agencies, a few of us decided we needed to be an independent team, that’s when we created Sawraft Studio. Now we are leading branding, design and creative development projects for some of the most sought-after brands out there.

Could you describe to us a regular day in Lex’ shoes?

We are moving faster than we anticipated, a typical day for me now starts with a barrage of meetings and team syncs, followed by 4-6 hours in the studio doing hands-on design work and then a few hours at a cafe with a laptop combing through future client projects with my co-founder. Lately it’s expected that we have a couple of flights every month as well.

What do you want Sawraft Studio to be associated with?

Sawraft Studio as a name is a homage to one of my favorite studios HAWRAF. They were doing what we’re doing until they didn’t feel like it, they left a void that I felt we needed to fill. Unapologetically good in what you do, design with intent while empowering the team to do more. We create bold products and brands through a blend of technology and design. We are often brought in projects where design isn’t a tick box on a spreadsheet, but something with true impact.

Which have been up until now the key challenges in building the agency?

“Design Agency” has a negative connotation, for many these two words brought together are the tell-tale sign of low value design vendors. We left behind very successful agencies to create a high-end studio that deals in quality not quantity, we invest in talent and appeal to a more demanding clientele. It’s challenging, but the creative work is much more rewarding for everyone involved. To answer the question, the biggest challenge for successful studios is growing without watering down design purpose and impact.

What is the guiding principle behind your design?

If you could label the body of our work; I would say “Purposefully Unconventional”. We invest in research and domain knowledge transference with any new collaboration, we first truly understand “the box” and then think out of it, with intent. We innovate not just for the sake of innovation.

In your opinion, what ingredients are key to create a successful design project?

A client that is in pursuit of consulting, production and ownership of the design facet, looking for a vendor that will deliver a bundle of visuals based on rigid briefs simply doesn’t bring any value on the long run. On the other side; a talent pool that’s actually up for the task, direct, capable and invested. A team that feels like a collective of business partners that deliver high value through design. Both sides working ethically, being professional, transparent, disarmingly honest and unafraid to reach an impasse.

Is there any recent project you have worked on, of which you are proud of?

WeWork and Uber are the latest companies we did some very interesting work with. Diving again into vast design systems, alternative branding, A.I and proptech was surely a delight. We are in the process of polishing up our case studies and new portfolio, soon we’ll release some new mouth-watering projects out there.

What recommendations would you give to clients to help streamline the process between their vision and your process?

Ensure there is one key owner/decision maker on both sides of the project regardless of the complexity of the organization and communicate things clearly. Find a great studio you admire and treat them as an equal partner; they will return the favor by producing some truly great work.

When looking at the technological landscape today, what makes you think “wow”?

We are deep into the application of design in AR, VR and we love experience design. I think very, very interesting things are happening in that space and I still get virtual wanderlust.

Where do you go if you want to get inspired?

I used to live in WNW, Dribbble and Instagram, but now I have a curated list of studios on a custom feed for everyone in the studio.

How would you describe the creative industry in Croatia?

Radioactive, a lot of studios sprouting around every corner, a lot of acquisitions happening weekly because of high-demand talent too. It’s a very interesting time to be here.

What makes Zagreb an attractive place to do business?

Zagreb is dubbed the Balkan Silicon Valley, but lately it’s becoming NYC as well. It’s multicultural, has a huge talent pool and many F500 are moving digital design and development operations here for these reasons alone.

From your personal standpoint, what global issues are you most passionate about and why?

Honestly where do you begin? Poverty, diseases, desertification… Things that are infuriating to me lately are issues revolving around people with disabilities; discrimination, lack of universal design etc. I have no personal story to share highlighting “Why”. I guess in my mind it’s just Human.

Can you name a fun-fact people would be surprised to learn about you?

The cultural fun mess I’m in; Part Tunisian, part Greek, living in Croatia and I don’t speak a single word of the local language, me and my team are English-speaking and our clientele is primarily in the US, UK and Australia.

Thanks Lex!

• Learn more about Sawraft Studio at https://www.sawraft.com/
• Follow Lex on social media:

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