Everyone Wants to Be Different. So Why Does Everything Look the Same?

On aesthetic homogenization, differentiation, and what coffee carts can teach us...

At some point in almost every branding process, the client says the same thing: “Keep in mind, we want to be different.”

But that’s when the really interesting questions begin: How different? How far are we willing to go? And how much risk are we actually prepared to take in order not to look like everyone else?

Recently, while sitting in a few different cafés, I found myself thinking about this again. A new place, a different name, a different logo, yet somehow, it all feels familiar. The same materials, the same warm lighting, the same natural tones, the same typography, and sometimes it even feels as if the same images are hanging on the walls. And it doesn’t really matter whether you’re in Rishon LeZion, Netanya, or London.

This phenomenon is often referred to as Aesthetic Homogenization, or, in a similar context, Aesthetic Convergence. Put simply, brands that start from different places gradually converge on the same visual language.

We’re all exposed to the same trends, the same sources of inspiration, the same templates, and now the same AI tools. Together, they become mechanisms that gradually “sand down” the unique edges, creating a look that is consistent, safe, and sometimes generic. No one has necessarily copied anyone else, and yet, somehow, everyone ends up looking a little alike.

And it makes sense. It’s much easier and safer to look at what already works and move in a similar direction. After all, no one wants to invest in a brand only to discover that the audience simply doesn’t get it. And that’s where the dilemma begins.

A coffee shop can’t necessarily look like a garage or a hair salon just for the sake of being original. Every category has its own codes, signals that consumers recognize and have learned to expect. Those codes matter because they help us immediately understand where we are and what’s being offered. But the very same codes that help a brand belong to a category can also make it disappear within it. Even coffee carts are an interesting example. They started out as a refreshing alternative to the traditional coffee shop, but over time, many of them have come to look and feel remarkably similar. At least there are still some things that are much harder to replicate: the location, the view, the regulars, and the story behind the cart. And this isn’t just about design.

When we build a brand, the safe approach is to look at the category, see what works, and operate within those familiar boundaries. It reduces risk. But when everyone does it, we end up with plenty of brands that look and feel “right” and very few that we actually remember.

To me, differentiation doesn’t mean doing everything differently, and certainly not being different just for the sake of getting attention. It starts a little earlier. Before the colors, fonts, and images, with a few questions: Do we actually have something different to say? Who do we want to say it to? And what kind of experience do we want to create? Only then does design come into the picture.

Because ultimately, the challenge for any brand is to be familiar enough to be understood, and different enough to be remembered.