About
Co-founder and CEO of Koto, the brand agency established in 2015. His work combines creative leadership with building a studio culture, overseeing the agency's growth and its approach to brand strategy and design.
SourceSelected articles & interviews
10 Years of Koto: James Greenfield on Leadership, Growth & Grit
On growing an independent agency, maintaining creative standards and developing studio culture.
Koto's James Greenfield on the state of branding today
On design discipline, copying, the Amazon refresh and creating distinctive brand assets.
In their own words
Most companies are growth or product first; Koto is people first.
AI is widely being used for the generation of ideas, assets and production.
Agency propositions need refreshing to help navigate the purchasing of creative services.
AI is creating a flood of 'automated slop', and great creativity matters more than ever.
Whether you're running a studio or thinking about starting one, it takes grit and honesty.
Articles & interviews8
- Koto repositions Stack Overflow around its irreplaceable developer community
Koto has rebranded Stack Overflow to emphasize the enduring value of its developer community in an AI-dominated era. The new identity, centered on the concept of 'always in build,' uses modular design, a custom typeface, and a generative tool built with Claude to reflect the platform’s collaborative spirit. The rebrand was publicly tested and launched at major tech events, positioning Stack Overflow as a trusted source of human-verified knowledge.