In an industry obsessed with fast turnarounds and shiny rebrands, Belgian designer Laura Beulens is throwing a spanner in the system with a simple yet controversial stance: if it doesn’t feel like a “gut yes,” she’s out.
Why Beulens refuse to design without alignment?
Laura Beulens, a Ghent-based graphic designer with a background in interior architecture, shares an unapologetic rule: She won’t take on a project unless it feels right in her gut.
“I have to feel a gut-level ‘yes’ for a project, otherwise it doesn’t work.”
This mindset isn’t a cliché—it’s her filter to ensure projects align with her values and intuitive sense of what’s right for a brand.
While agencies often accept any project to keep the lights on, Beulens chooses to preserve her creative integrity, even if it means turning down a paycheck.
She notes that the projects she’s most proud of are the ones where she resonates with the client’s ethos.
This admission challenges the commodification of design work in a landscape where designers are often told to “separate feelings from business.”
A slow design rebellion in a fast-content world
In an era of two-week logo sprints, Beulens consciously alternates client work with teaching at Luca School of Arts, using teaching as a reflective practice to pause and assess her design methodologies.
She admits that switching between teaching and client work is not always seamless, but it helps her retain a macro view of design systems.
This rhythm disrupts the speed-obsessed culture of modern design agencies, allowing space for iteration, gathering context, and exploring value.
Fast design often prioritizes deliverables over depth and detail. Beulens’ rhythm of slowing down challenges the myth that design value is tied to speed, asserting that depth and reflection can lead to stronger, longer-lasting brand systems.
Research like buying a kettle
Beulens likens her approach to buying a kettle: she meticulously researches, compares options, examines details, and refuses to rush into decisions.
For her, brand research means context-heavy exploration:
- Understanding a brand’s tone of voice
- Diving into the copy before design
- Exploring the spaces a brand inhabits
- Testing color palettes in real-world conditions (like physically placing coloured paper in a café window to observe reactions)
This goes beyond the mood board phase. It’s about building an intuitive, experiential sense of the brand before moving pixels in Figma.
If designers are meant to “trust the brief,” why is Beulens insisting on research that often outpaces client timelines? Does this slow research method yield identities that resonate more effectively with audiences, or is it an unsustainable luxury in a commercial environment?
Designing for spatial experience
Beulens’ background in interior architecture profoundly shapes how she approaches branding.
For her, design is spatial, not just visual. She’s interested in how branding systems physically inhabit environments, from signage in a restaurant to the tactile feel of packaging.
“Designing a brand identity feels like designing an interior: you want people to feel something as they enter.”
One example is her work with Studio Moche on signage design for a restaurant, where she collaborated with another designer, Cedric, to integrate brand visuals into the space seamlessly.
This holistic approach challenges the “logo on a deck” mentality, pushing clients to see branding as an immersive system rather than a static emblem.
The joy of buying
Beulens rarely buys things, but when she does, she revels in research, anticipation, and the joy of making the “right” purchase. She wants consumers to feel the same thrill when interacting with brands she designs for.
This perspective underpins her work with the Flemish brand Tohum, where she integrated playful colors and visual elements to ensure the brand feels joyful, not just looks attractive.
“I want people to experience a brand in the same joyful way I feel when I finally buy something I’ve researched and loved.”
Beulens views saying “no” as a protective measure for her creativity. She explains that aligning with clients she resonates with enables her to design brands she can stand behind, resulting in more honest and impactful work.
While this means fewer clients and potentially slower business growth, it ensures quality, authenticity, and personal satisfaction.
Final take
Laura Beulens is not just designing identities—she’s developing a philosophy of practice. Her gut-led, context-heavy, slow branding approach is a rebellion against the disposable design trend.
Her quiet refusal to compromise on alignment challenges an industry addicted to speed, virality, and surface-level branding.
In a time when brands are clamouring for differentiation in crowded markets, Beulens’ message is clear: Design without belief is dead.
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