David Berkovish

True branding isn’t about being seen. It’s about being impossible to ignore.

The work.

David started as an art director at Israel’s leading advertising agencies, working with Bank Hapoalim, Israir, Intel, Pelephone and Bezeq.

In 2007 he founded Oi!, a branding company, and led its design and creative teams for clients like Strauss, Keshet, Castro and Google Israel.

Independent since 2019, he focuses on premium branding, for Teva, Incredibuild and Econergy, alongside personal advisory to companies and entrepreneurs. These moves helped the companies and founders he works with raise investments worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He is a winner of the Israeli Advertising Awards.

His field of vision runs from the smallest typographic detail, the single pixel on a page, to strategy, creative and the broad business picture. The full picture, from the finest details to the pilot’s view from 40,000 feet.

Beyond the work.

David rides adventure bikes. He is the creator of ADVTEES, an adventure bike t-shirt brand, and of In this life, an agenda driven concept brand.

He is a tattoo artist who tattoos his friends, a bass player, and an entrepreneur at heart.

Married to Liat. Father of three boys.

David seated alone at the head of a long boardroom table, black shirt and sunglasses

The ride. The edge: motorbikes and pure presence.

When you align your body with a machine that has that much horsepower, the noise of everything else quietens down. It takes you deep into nature, far beyond where normal vehicles can go.

Out on the trails, I push right up against my limits, and sometimes I cross them. Experiencing that sudden flash of real danger and fear makes you feel completely present. Making quick choices off road carries real weight. When I return to everyday work, complex business decisions and creative direction suddenly feel much simpler and far more clear.

David riding a rally bike up a narrow single track, a mountain rising behind
A wave of desert sand roosting off the rear wheel of a Tenere 700
Desert sand, on the Tenere 700.
David standing on the pegs of the KTM 690 Rally, kicking up dust on a gravel road
Flat out, on the KTM 690 Rally.
David down in the rocks beside the Tenere after a fall on a stony climb
The Tenere, down in the rocks.
A rider tumbling into the dust beside a fallen rally bike on a gravel road
David leaning over the stripped frame of his KTM 690 in the garage, wrenching
David in conversation on the KOVE showroom floor, adventure bikes around
David presenting on stage at the KOVE importer event, a BER-KOVE-ISH slide behind him
The full room at the KOVE lecture, riders seated, David presenting by the screen

The music. The bass: the heartbeat in the sound.

I have played music since I was a teenager. At first, I picked up the bass guitar without thinking much about why. As the years went on, I realized why I loved it. The bass player is not standing up front soaking in the spotlight. The bass holds the entire band together, giving the song its deep heart and grounding the sound.

That is exactly how I view my role as a brand creator. I do not need to be the center of attention. My focus is tying everything together, bridging copywriting with imagery, and connecting raw ideas to polished pixels.

I spent years immersed in jazz, funk, and rock, learning from incredible musicians here in Israel, especially my mentor Yossi Fine. My 1975 Fender Jazz Bass has been with me through it all. Sitting with a handmade instrument made of wood and steel, feeling its history as you play, is something that stays with you forever.

David playing his bass guitar
The headstock of David's 1975 Fender Jazz Bass, worn tuners and the original logo
1975 Fender Original Standard Jazz Bass.
The full body of the 1975 Jazz Bass on its stand, worn blonde finish in the window light
This instrument has been with me since the day I bought it. It carries a genuine piece of musical history, reminding me why I fell in love with handmade craft and deep sound in the first place.

The ink. Tattooing and the canvas of design.

When my wife gave me a gift to take a tattoo course, I sat in a room filled with people half my age. Whatever gap I expected to feel vanished the second I saw how those artists worked. The tattoo artists I was learning from were creating some of the rawest, most brilliant design work I had ever seen.

Tattooing completely shifted how I view design. You are not placing graphics on a flat, static screen. Skin moves, it stretches, and no human body is symmetrical. Designing for an organic, moving surface taught me to listen to the medium, finding balance where nothing is rigid or perfectly straight.

Dotwork tattoo of Jimi Hendrix by David on a friend's forearm
Three fine-line butterfly tattoos by David down a woman's upper arm
Butterflies, fine lines down an arm.
Mozart portrait tattoo by David, line work with a color rose at the neck
Mozart, with a neck piece of his own.
Catwoman portrait tattooed on practice skin, needle cartridge beside it

The family.

The whole point.

David, Liat and their three boys above the island bay in Thailand
David on the couch under a pile of his three boys, the little one with a pacifier