Scuta Store: a brand from before gaming started
EN 
Scuta started long before the store. Scuta Gaming was the first official, internationally recognized esports team from Kosovo, and we took it to ESWC in 2012. Years later we turned the name into a business: Scuta Store, a gaming store with its own identity. I was co-founder with a 25% share and the creative director for the whole brand.
The idea
The name comes from the scutum, the shield. So the brand had to feel like it was dug out of the ground and plugged into a console. We blended ancient Illyrian aesthetics with modern gaming culture: bronze and metal grey, Illyrian ornaments, heavy carved frames, and a slogan that says it all.
We were here before gaming started, we will be here after it ends.
What we built
We refined the shield logo and animated it in bronze, with fluid transitions that feel like ancient craftsmanship meeting digital motion. The website got three dynamic hero sections, each built around a specific game or promotion, from fiery sale scenes to themed landscapes for new releases. Genres and platforms got their own detailed 3D icon sets in bronze and metallic finishes, so navigation became part of the world instead of a list of labels.
The apparel line carried the shield on the chest and the slogan across the back, with stitch details and patterns that echo the ornaments.
The brand book
Everything was captured in a brand book that defines the visual guidelines, the bronze and metal grey palette, and how materials should behave in future 3D work. Bronze and metal react differently to every lighting setup, so the book also explains how to keep them consistent across screens and print.
Credits
Creative direction: Ardian Kurtolli. 3D execution and brand book: Arlind Abdyli and STORMXSYNC motion studio.
What the market taught us
Scuta Store opened and later closed, because it didn’t perform in the Kosovo market. I’m still proud of the brand. It taught me that a strong identity can earn attention, but it can’t replace market fit. The base of the pyramid has to hold the business, not only the visuals.
Originally published: Behance case study, July 2025