synthesis and aqueous solution properties of copolymers comprised of N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and vinyl laurate (VL) with three different architectures is reported. By using reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) polymerization, statistical, forced gradient, and block copolymers were synthesized with varying compositions and molecular weights. Surface tension, critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) and micelle size were determined, and related to copolymer composition, molecular weight and architecture. It was observed that more block-like polymer architectures produced from the block copolymerizations and forced gradient copolymerizations were likely to self-assemble in solution, indicating that the degree and placement of the hydrophilic (NVP) and hydrophobic (VL) monomer units are important in predicting solution behavior of such copolymers. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.