What is a graphic design company? There’s no single answer to that question. From famous graphic design firms that move the industry to startups offering modern graphic design solutions for the contemporary fast-paced company Here is our pick of the 15 movers and shakers of graphic design.
With the rise of digital marketing, graphic design became a necessity for every business, big or small. If in the past design agencies worked mostly on brand identities, packaging design and print advertising, now they include services such as modern graphic design, contemporary needs and solutions.
When learning about graphic design and the services creative agencies offer, you probably often stumble upon the same names over and over again. In this article, we will offer insight into more than the design studios that define the graphic design industry, but also contemporary startups that change the way graphic design is created.
An unlimited graphic design company works on a flat-rate subscription model for unlimited design requests.Our scope of work ranges from simple design projects like social media graphics and print design, all the way to branding and logo designs, web design and even motion graphics!ManyPixels is also a regular stop for marketers and designers because of its library of free illustrations, which are customizable and created in multiple styles.
This is one of the most well known and biggest graphic design firms. Their impressive client list includes Benetton, Rolls-Royce, Slack, Warner Brothers, Saks Fifth Avenue, Starbucks, The Guggenheim, United Airlines, Verizon, Walgreens, Windows, Mastercard, MoMA, United Airlines, and many more.
Among the alumni of Pentagram, you will find famous designers such as Alan Fletcher, Michael Bierut, Paula Scher, Kenneth Grange, Yuri Suzuki, and many, many others.
The design studio is equally owned by 24 graphic designers and art directors, and describes itself as the “world’s largest independently owned design consultancy”.
As for its services, Pentagram covers any type of graphic design, with a venerable portfolio in building well-known brand identities. In the pictures below, you can see only a tiny shred of the many projects they have recently been working on.
3. Sagmeister and Walsh
Sagmeister and Walsh are the young, brave and pushing-the-limits duo of the 21st century. Founded by partners Stefan Sagmeister and Jessica Walsh, this top graphic design company creates conceptual works and shows and don’t simply work for clients, but also for the creation and art itself.
Stefan Sagmeister is a modern design veteran, and even has a Grammy Award for his design of the Talking Heads boxed set for “Once in a Lifetime”. Jessica Walsh is a child prodigy when it comes to graphic design: she started working for Pentagram at only 22 as an intern and declined their offer for a permanent position to start her own studio. She became a partner at Sagmeister Inc. at 25, and since then the company goes by its current name.
The duo has worked together on projects for many clients, but what makes them different are the many conceptual works and projects they have created together. Most recently, they work on their project “Beauty”, in which they beautify old buildings with art and murals.
4. Wolff Olins
Tate, Apple, Spotify, eBay, London Olympics, TikTok, AOL, Google, Grubhub, Uber, The Met… When you see this list of clients, you are aware that it seems like there is nothing Wolff Olins cannot do. And it tells a lot about how many modern brands they helped define.
They focus on brand strategy, brand redesign and thorough changes of brand perceptions, Wolff Olins is a dynamic, modern and respectable company that has built many contemporary brand images for some of the biggest startups of today.
Their mission is to create transformative brands that move “businesses, people and the world together”. Of course, their expertise has a shiny price tag since the LOI 2012 holds the Guinness Record for the most expensive logo design for the Olympic games, costing a “modest” 645.645 dollars.
5. Meta Design
Volkswagen, Lacoste, Porsche, Deutsche Telekom, Yves Saint Laurent, Berlin Concert Hall, Raiffeisen Bank are some of the clients of Meta Design. This selection immediately tells you that this creative agency deals only with respected brands that aim for greatness, quality and respectability.
They specialize in all spheres of design, from packaging and brand consultancy, all the way to spatial design and packaging.
6. Happy Cog
If there is a design studio mostly known for web design, it’s undoubtedly Happy Cog. Founded by Jeffrey Zeldman, a web designer with a respectable background, it has clients like Airbnb, MTV, Associated Press, AMC Theatres, Papa John’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Harvard and many others.
Their services are mostly centered around digital design and marketing, ranging from branding concepts, all the way to content strategies and optimization.
7. Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv
Creators of many of the world's most iconic and enduring brands, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv is an independent design firm specializing in the development of trademarks and identity programs.
That is how this iconic company describes itself, and I couldn’t do it better if I tried. With clients like NBC, Showtime, US Open, National Geographic and Animal Planet, this iconic design firm boasts a wide range of clients and capabilities.
And they are veterans in what they do: the company was opened in 1957, with founding partners Geismar and Haviv still holding the anchor of this iconic graphic design company.
8. Saffron Brand Consultants
Another team of masters of branding, Saffron Brand Consultants is working with a vast array of clients from many industries. From Facebook to V&A (The Victoria and Albert Museum), YouTube to the City of Vienna, they do best what they specialize in: building memorable and unique brand experiences.
9. Landor
If you like the new designs of your breakfast cereal, thank Landor, the creators of all the new colorful packaging of Kellogg’s flakes. But this brand consulting is much more than that. It was founded in 1941 by Walter Landor, who is known as a pioneer in contemporary brand design, and consulting methods that this industry still uses.
Recently, they have been working with Nestle, Apple, British Airways, Nike, Australian Open, etc.
Social change and adopting new technologies are some of the most important values they follow, and they are ever-expanding. Landor is currently the largest specialist brand and design group with more than 1.200 employees and offices in more than 20 countries.
10. A Practice for Everyday Life
Every design studio has an ace up its sleeve, and A Practice for Everyday Life’s one is typography. This design studio and type foundry is based in London, and they take a conceptual approach in creating brand projects for their clients.
It is probably the most contemporary and minimalist design studio on this list, targeting a younger audience with its appeal.
Most of their clients are book authors, artists and exhibitions since their conceptual and gentle style with lots of unique typography is suitable for a less commercial, and more artistic industry.
11. House Industries
Fan of groovy designs, flowy letters and the 70s? You’re at the right place. House Industries is a design studio and type foundry, responsible for some of the most iconic typefaces you’ve seen on TV and media: The Cher Show, Vogue, The New Yorker, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and many, many other examples of signage and brand identities.
With its unique retro flair and exquisite attention to detail when it comes to lettering, this US design studio is a world-class leader!
12. Studio Dumbar
If you’re based in Europe, this Rotterdam-based graphic design agency might be a great option to consider. They have over 30 years of experience, with high-profile clients like Instagram, VMAs, and Transavia airline.They specialize in brand identity creation, including sound identity. So, if you’re looking for someone to create memorable jingles or add sound cues to your site, this agency can help.
13. Leo Burnett
Believe it or not, this top graphic design company was founded way back in 1935! Almost 90 years on, Leo Burnett is one of the most respected creative companies worldwide.This agency prides itself on a human-first approach.
All of their work is created with people at its core and represents their dreams, wants, and struggles. From McDonalds to Procter & Gamble, you’ll notice these marketing professionals always find a way to humanize brands and make them more appealing to a wider target audience.
Unsurprisingly, this is the graphic design company that created some of the most well-loved characters like Kellog’s Tony the Tiger, Charlie the Tuna and Marbloro Man.
14. Spin
Spin is definitely one of the younger graphic design companies on the list. However, over a period of 30+ years it has an impressive portfolio and a long list of clients. They create edgy designs, often making commercial projects like posters or motion graphics look like works of art.Their own company website design is one of the most creative solutions you’ll find on the web, so they certainly have considerable skill and experience in web design too.
They have a very sleek, modern style, as you can see from this collection of logos they created. So, if this is a design style you gravitate towards, their portfolio is definitely worth checking out!
15. Clay Design Agency
This San Francisco-based company is one of the leading players in web and UX design. Unsurprisingly, Clay has worked with some of the biggest names in the tech industry, such as Meta, Slack, and Amazon. However, as a full-service agency, they also cover services like graphic design, content branding, user research and testing, and more. So, whether you need specific elements of graphic design, web design, or mobile app development, they can definitely help.
16. Socio Design
If minimalism is your cup of tea, this graphic design company could be a great partner to team up with. These London-based creatives have a stunning portfolio, mainly focused on brand identity creation. From packaging design to business cards and stunning minimalistic websites, everything they do exudes a sense of elegance and style.
17. Pearlfisher
Pearlfisher is a relatively young company, so they bring a lot of modern solutions and creative ideas to the table. Even with established brands like McDonalnds and Cadbury’s, they’re able to create designs that appeal to modern audiences. They’re true masters of illustration, CGI and motion design, so if this is an area of expertise you need, feel free to contact one of their offices in London or New York.
18. Propaganda Creative
Propaganda Creative is another full-service agency that does everything from branding and web design to 3D rendering, copywriting and photography.
They don’t have the calibre of clients as some of the other design companies on the list. However, they’ve worked with lots of small and medium sized businesses, digital startups, and even organizations.
19. Superside
Superside is an unlimited graphic design service (like ManyPixels) but that caters to bigger enterprises and agencies with or without their own design team.
They have a vast portfolio and offer the usual set of design services, such as branding, web design, presentations, digital and print design, illustrations etc.
They work on a credit-based system and the lowest monthly subscription costs $5,000 for 50 credits. Simple design projects, such as digital ads, email banners and presentations cost 1 credit per project. More complex stuff, like AR & 3D production and marketing consulting costs 1.5 credits per project.
Their impressive client list includes the likes of Reddit, Pernod Ricard, and Salesforce.
20. Designed.co
Designed.co has a unique business model, as they also offer full flexibility to choose how you wish to pay. You can select a subscription-based model which starts at $2,000 a month, or pay per project as you would with a traditional design studio. Finally, you can use this service to hire designers that will work exclusively for you.
They have a highly skilled design team of college-educated designers. So, if you like to dive deep into the design process, there’s no doubt these creatives can provide all the guidance and details you could possibly need. This also accounts for a bigger price tag compared to similar services.
21. Dark Roast
Dark Roast is a Canadian company that call themselves a design service for “CPG & DTC brands”. So, if you happen to be one, their design service might be worth checking out! They specialize in working with cannabis and beverage brands, which might be useful for people in this niche.
They also work on a subscription basis, but they only have one subscription plan at $3,500 a month. If you’re a fan of simplicity this could be an advantage, although it doesn’t allow you to tailor your design budget as much as the other solutions.
They have a pretty extensive portfolio, although it’s not sorted by design projects but rather by industry, so browsing their Dribbble profile is probably wiser.
22. Favoured
If you aren’t interested in design services alone, Favoured is a data-driven digital agency that will help you tailor a brand strategy and implement it. They have a rich portfolio of detailed case studies that will showcase some amazing results they’ve achieved for their clients.
A top design company you can afford
Whichever of these design companies you decide to work with, know that you will be in very capable hands!
However, bear in mind that working with premium companies often comes with a hefty price tag (in most cases tens of thousands of dollars for a single project). We also listed a couple more budget-friendly options. However, one of the companies stands out in terms of price-quality ratio, and that's ManyPixels!
For virtually a fraction of the cost of a traditional design studio, we provide you with the full experience: a skileld design team, smooth project management system, and all the design projects you could possibly need!
Get started today or book a free consultation with us to see how we can help your business thrive.
Journalist turned content writer. Based in North Macedonia, aiming to be a digital nomad. Always loved to write, and found my perfect job writing about graphic design, art and creativity. A self-proclaimed film connoisseur, cook and nerd in disguise.