Tomorrow will not look like yesterday
We are a design agency founded by David Butler and Stefán Kjartansson, with deep expertise designing brand systems for early-stage startups to global giants.
We connect systems thinking to create modular branding systems that deliver consistency with flexibility, building brand equity and relevance over time. This approach is more critical than ever as AI changes how brands are discovered and perceived.
By balancing scale with rigorous design standards, we ensure your brand is found while deepening the human connection that shapes the brands people love. We’ve used this framework to help global brands like Coca-Cola regain relevance, late-stage startups like Markforged go public, and early-stage innovators like Early Majority.
Our approach helps build equity over time with the flexibility to stay relevant into the future
Tomorrow never looks like yesterday. Now it just arrives faster.
In the past, technology evolved slowly, giving brands time to adapt. Those days are over. Change now happens simultaneously as generative models reshape how brands are discovered.
And it’s happening with or without us.
At SoWhat, we help navigate this velocity—using systems thinking to scale into the future without losing the human authenticity that makes us love brands.
+ Named Coca-Cola’s first head of design; part of a turnaround team that led to doubling the value of the company.
+ Best-selling author of, Design to Grow: How Coca-Cola Learned to Combine Scale and Agility (and How You Can Too), published in over in 25 languages.
+ Recognized as a Master of Design by Fast Company and named to Forbes’ Executive Dream Team.
+ Co-founded Coke’s first global venture platform.
+ Over 25 years of experience helping companies transform their brands.
+ Named CNN.com’s first Executive Creative Director; part of the founding team.
+ Co-founded the brand and experience design company Armchair, acquired by IfThen.
+ Branded Markforged IPO strategy.
+ Joined Early Majority founding team playing a critical role in securing funding.
The question we get asked most is: why SoWhat?
It’s not that we don’t care. Quite the opposite.
The name comes from “So What,” the Miles Davis track from the revolutionary album Kind of Blue.
Miles made the album by rethinking the rules and giving great talent more freedom to respond in the moment.
That idea still feels relevant. When the world changes faster, we need the right response: clarity in thinking, experience, and more room to adapt.
