Design and Branding for Local Brands and Busineses

I'm a Zagreb-based creative director and owner at Studio Disegnat since 2019. We help small to medium sized businesses and organisations stand out in the market through strategic approach and delivering print and digital assets—from brand identity design to web projects and trade shows.

Before all that I graduated with MA in Visual Communications at the School of Design in Zagreb and got my hands dirty at couple design agencies in Croatia and Austria.

Since then I have worked on numerous small- and large-scale projects. Clients I work with mostly come from tourism, travel, science, and culture. Local or international—doesn't matter. As long as there is an internet connection and will to work it's good.

On my journey I have met many talented creatives as well as diverse business professionals and mentors who I collaborate with today. And go for a beer too.

"What do you do?"

Follow my journey on LinkedIn

I document and share our business as well as personal journey, learnings, highs, and lows on LinkedIn.

My drive and excitement come from the idea of working on new things and sharing these experiences with others.

Some ways I boost my dopamine levels:

👉 Developing or exploring new stories and ideas.
👉 Meeting and connecting with people.
👉 Local community projects.
👉 Communication in general - verbal and visual.
👉 Designing new products or services.
👉 Teaching and sharing knowledge to others.
👉 Learning a new skill, language or reading a new book.
👉 Taking awesome landscape or street photos (Nikon D5600).
👉 Cycling in a new area.
👉 Watching the Lord of the Rings. Again.

Who I am behind the screen? 🤔

Curiosity - No Day Is The Same

From Working at A Sushi Restaurant in Japan to Local Engagement in Croatia

One of the life changing experiences was travelling and living in Austria, Switzerland, and Japan as a Uni student where I learned what kind of a lifestyle I want. Today I live it through various business activities while at the same time overlapping them with my personal hobbies and interests.

Additionally, I'm locally engaged with projects focused on linguistic heritage and education. Besides Croatian in everyday and at work I use English 🇬🇧 and German 🇩🇪, whereas Italian 🇮🇹 and Spanish 🇪🇸 just enough to survive.

Outside work you can find me cycling around with my girlfriend or sipping coffee in cafes. Next to the books and YT videos playing piano is another form of relaxation. Film music is my favourite genre to play. When travelling a good amount of money is spent in the bookstores.

Experiences that bring joy ☀️

Personal Projects and Activities

Writing and illustrating children's picture books that promote local dialects and folklore in Croatia

In order to help promote and preserve local Croatian dialects I wrote and designed a bilingual children picture book Imbra Houstovnjak based on the local Northern Croatian folklore.

It's a result of more than 10 years of being involved in local linguistic heritage. The first book I helped illustrated was A Story of Kaj by a linguist Bojana Schubert.

Currently working on a legend How Fisherman Pule Saved The Island from Moruš, based on the mythology and tales of Dugi otok in Dalmatia, also bilingual edition. Both projects were supported by the Croatian Ministry of Media and Culture.

Educational and creative workshops from design to freelancing

Sometimes I do children illustration and design workshops. Also had the opportunity to speak and hold presentations on how it is being a freelancer and running a small creative biz.

Some things outside regular work

A side project Po domachi where I designed original local gifts and souvenirs (or merch) that promotes local identity through language and popular everyday expression. You can find some of them on the stores in Dalmatia and Nature Parks.

Designing original souvenirs based on the local identity

Spent a couple of years shooting short video interviews of various Croatian dialectal speakers on the islands, coast, and the mainland. The goal was to raise the public awareness and connect people of the endangered dialects. Videos available at my YouTube channel.

Exploring Croatian dialects: A series of documentary videos on Croatian islands and mainland

Documenting and sharing local travel stories and experiences about
people, customs and places

If I hadn't made design my career I would have definitely given a chance to travel blogging. On my inactive Tumblr blog you can find some of the travel stories about Japan, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Italy and more.

If you just prefer travel photographs check out my 500px portfolio with analog and digital camera shots.

Get in touch

Need a hint or have a project that you would like me to work on?
Feel free to reach out. I usually respond within 24 hours.

P.S. Prefer a video meeting? Click here to book a time slot.

Phone

+385 91 9498429

Email

grgo@disegnat.com

Up for a chat?

Location

Zagreb, Croatia

@Grgo Petrov, 2025.