
by
August 3, 2022
Graphic Design is known for being competitive. Even more so, creating your brand is difficult. However, one thing that helps, is reviewing other successful brands. What is better than the most influential design firms?
Nevertheless, despite the difficulties of building a brand, there are a number of success stories. In which, firms and their partners have gained international praise for their design work. Their graphics have been able to create powerful and memorable brand activation campaigns.
Moving forward, all of the entries on our list have developed a brand strategy. This way, they can connect with their target audience. Their client list features big names who rely on the creative prowess of these agencies.
Here are 20 of the most successful and influential graphic design firms in the industry:
Pentagram

Primarily, Pentagram is “the world’s largest independently owned design studio.” The graphic design giant is owned and run by 25 partners. With that, their quality is expressed in their client list. For instance, this list features big names like Rolls-Royce, United Airlines, Verizon, and Warner Bros.
Headquarters:
London, United Kingdom
Locations:
- Austin
- Berlin
- New York
- San Francisco
Notable clients:
- Citibank
- United Airlines
- Saks Fifth Avenue
- Harley Davidson
- Alexander McQueen
- Clear Channel
- The National
- The Daily Show
- One Laptop Per Child
- Revlon
- Cosmopolitan
- The Oprah Winfrey Show
- Grey Goose
- Tiffany and Co
- Vanity Fair
Sagmeister & Walsh

Next, we have Sagmeister & Walsh. This is the design partnership of Stefan Sagmeister & Jessica Walsh. To note, Sagmeister is an Austrian graphic designer, storyteller, calligrapher, and typographer. Also, Walsh is an American artist known for her illustrations and art direction. Now working solo, Sagmeister creates non-commercial work at Sagmeister Inc. . Whereas, Walsh creates branding & advertising work at & Walsh.
Headquarters:
New York City, New York
Notable clients:
- Snapchat
- 7Up
- The Gap
- BMW
- The Museum of Modern Art
- The Guggenheim Museum
- NYTimes Magazine
- Lou Reed
- Jay-Z
- Brian Eno
- David Byrne
- Random House Publishers
- The AIGA
- Autodesk
- Levis
- Adobe
Services offered:
- Album covers
- Posters
- Uniquely packaged designed books
Wolf Olins

After that, there is Wolf Olins. This is a British advertising agency and corporate identity consultant. They were formed in 1965.
Headquarters:
London, United Kingdom.
Locations:
- London
- New York City
- San Francisco
Notable clients:
- Uber
- Alibaba
- Zigbee Alliance
- GrubHub
- The Metropolitan Art Museum
- Spotify
- Orange
- The Hyatt
- Virgin Media
- (RED)
- AOL
- Target
- Unilever
- GE
- PwC
- Microsoft
- Skype
- Expedia
- FutureLearn
Landor
Landor is a brand consulting firm founded in 1941 by Walter Landor. He developed many elements in the creative design field. For example, research, design, and consulting methods that are still used. Clearly, Landor’s brand positioning is very strong. Hence, making them one of the most influential design firms.
Headquarters:
San Francisco, California
Locations:
- Bangkok
- Beijing
- Cape Town
- Chicago
- Cincinnati
- Dubai
- Geneva
- Hamburg
- Hanoi
- Hong Kong
- Jakarta
- Kuala Lumpur
- London
- Melbourne
- Mexico City
- Milan
- Moscow
- Mumbai
- New York
- Paris
- Seoul
- Shanghai
- Singapore
- Sydney
- Tokyo
Notable clients:
- Nike
- Coca-Cola
- The WW
- FedEx
- Levis
- Apple
- Volvic
- Kraft
- Jameson
- BMW
- Henkel
- Old Spice
- Citroën
- Proctor and Gamble
- Juicy Couture
- Rolex
- John Deere
Meta Design
Meta Design is a creative brand consultancy formed in 1979. It provides a number of branding services to its clients. For instance, brand strategy, brand creation, brand experience, and brand activation. Remember, creating these experience strategies makes for dedicated clients. Consequently, they return for your products and services.
Headquarters:
San Fransisco, California
Locations:
- Beijing
- Berlin
- Düsseldorf
- Geneva
- San Francisco
- Zurich
Notable clients:
- Apple
- AT&T
- eBay
- FIFA
- Intuit
- Lamborghini
- Netflix
- Sony
- Intel
- Polo Ralph Lauren
- 23andMe
- Volkswagen
- The Economist
- New York Philharmonic
- Texture
- San Francisco Ballet
House Industries

Next up, we have House Industries. This is a type of foundry and design studio based in Yorklyn, Delaware. The company was created in the 1990s in Wilmington, Delaware. It was created by co-founders Andy Cruz and Rich Roat.
Headquarters:
Yorklyn, Delaware
Notable clients:
- Hermes
- The Cher Show
- Eames
- The New Yorker
- Design With Reach
- Ford
- John Mayer
- Heath Ceramics
- Jimmy Kimmel Live
- Vogue Japan
- Agent Provocateur
- MTV
- Chronicle Books
- Uniqlo
- Baccarat
- Herman Miller
Services offered:
- Drawing
- Font Creation
- Lettering
- Painting
Happy Cog

As a full-service digital agency, Happy Cog helps organizations around the globe. In fact, this allows them to be a household brand name. Specifically, Happy Cog helps with a variety of marketing tools. For instance, visual designs, branding strategies, web development projects, and digital marketing campaigns. Their variety of services absolutely makes them a influential design firm.
Headquarters:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Locations:
Philadelphia and New York City
Notable clients:
- MTV
- Papa John’s
- Harvard Business School
- Ben & Jerry’s
- McGraw-Hill Education
- US Holocaust Museum
- Nintendo
- Georgetown University
- Fonts.com
- Thomson Reuters
- Zappos.com
Services offered:
Indeed, Happy Cog is primarily known for its focus on web standards. That being said, a focus on web standards improves the user experience. Also, this design firm creates publication and service products including A List Apart Magazine (ISSN). In addition to, a bi-monthly newsletter.
Furthermore, they also produce themes for the Shopify e-commerce platform. Until 2013, they provided special web hosting services. This was done through Happy Cog Hosting. To add, this type of hosting is a way that clients can create and maintain their site.
Metalab

Furthermore, we have the development platform MetaLab. This is a development platform that facilitates a reliable way to develop applications.
Headquarters:
- Victoria
- British Columbia
- Canada
Notable clients:
- Slack
- Finery
- Amazon
- Lonely Planet
- TED
- Otter
Urban Influence

Urban Influence considers itself a collection of brand architects. This company offers branding, design, and an interactive studio.
Headquarters:
Seattle, Washington
Notable clients:
- Intego
- Revelry
- SEO Moz
- Endurance
- Sprout
- Polaris
- Chef’n
- Watson
- Cinchshare
- Pronto
- Redfin
- DNA
Mucho

Mucho is a global boutique design studio. Their work spans a variety of services. This includes, advertising, branding, and illustration.
Headquarters:
Barcelona, Spain
Locations:
- Newark
- Barcelona
- Paris
- San Francisco
- New York
- Sydney
- Berlin
- London
Notable clients:
- AIGA
- Alma Hotels
- BCD
- Betway
- BMW, Canal+
- El País
- EMI Music Spain
- Future Designs
- Gap Inc.
- HP
- Kodak
- Majestic Hotel Group
- Mars, Museum of Lincolnshire Life
- Phaidon Press, Random House Mondadori
- San Francisco Art Exchange
- San Francisco Civic Center
- The Collection
- The Observer
- University of California
Branding Services offered:
- Management
- Narrative
- Strategy
McFaul+Day

McFaul+Day is an Internationally renowned creative agency. For this reason, McFaul+Day partners with some of the finest brands worldwide. These partnerships allow them to craft and maintain cultural relevance.
Headquarters:
Chichester, UK
Notable clients:
- LucasFilm
- New Balance
- Pepsi
- BBC
- IBM
- Microsoft
- SXSW
- Clarks
- Audi
- Virgin Atlantic
- Sony
- Levis
- Samsung
- Kidrobot
Frog Design

Headquarters:
San Francisco, California
Locations:
- San Francisco
- Austin
- New York
- London
- Milan
- Munich
- Shanghai
- Gurgaon
- Seattle
- Amsterdam
- Tel Aviv
- Tokyo
- Sydney
Notable clients:
- Apple
- Lumen
- SiriusXM
- SuperSonic
- Porsche
- BT
- American Dental Association
- Associated Press, Audi
- GE
- Honeywell
- UNICEF
- Bill Gates
- Intel
- Sharp
Studio Dumbar

Studio Dumbar is a highly influential Dutch graphic design agency. To note, their work has helped shape international design for four decades. Their international reach definitely gives them a title of an influential design firm.
Headquarters:
Rotterdam, Holland
Locations:
- Rotterdam
- Shanghai
- Seoul
Notable clients:
- Apple
- Nike
- Rijksmuseum
- Dutch National Police
- Transavia
- Vincent Van Gogh Museum
- Dutch Railways
- EUNL
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- NPO
- Randstad
- The Dutch Government
Services offered:
- Brand strategy
- Visual Identity
The Chase

The Chase is a website design and digital marketing service. This company specializes in website design, search engine optimization, and pay-per-click advertising.
Headquarters:
Manchester, England
Locations:
Preston and London
Notable clients:
- Alibaba
- Amnesty International
- BBC
- Disney
- Fujitsu
- Hewlett Packard
- Museum of London
- Shell
- Smirnoff
- Yellow Pages
Services offered:
- Advertising
- Architecture
- Digital
- Film
Dessein

Dessein is a boutique design agency. In particular, this design firm specializes in branding and creative design strategies. In addition to an emphasis on custom packaging.
Headquarters:
Perth, Australia
Notable clients:
- Black Swan State Theatre
- Northbridge Brewing Company
- EPM, Ezyfix
- Great Temptations
- Mondo Nougat
- Zwena
- Albany Entertainment Centre
- Whiteman Park
- Poach Bear
Services offered:
- Branding
- Displays and Exhibitions
- Logo Design
- Packaging Design
- Photography
- Print materials
- Signage
- Style Guides
- Vehicle Graphics
- Website Design
Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett Worldwide is a global advertising agency based in Chicago. Above all, this agency values creativity, data, and technology. Leo Burnett believes that these work together to transform human behavior. With this, they can create growth for their clients.
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
Locations:
- Chicago
- Toronto
- Montreal
- Santa Domingo
- Guaynabo
- Guatemala City
- London
- Paris
- Brussels
- Frankfurt
- Prague
- Seoul
- Beijing
- Shanghai
- Manila
- Jakarta
- Sydney
- Johannesburg
Notable clients:
- Kelloggs
- McDonald’s
- Coca-Cola
- P&G
- Samsung
- GM
- Fiat
- Bell
- LCBO
- Ikea
- Elections Canada
AKQA

AKQA is renowned as a global design and innovation agency. With that, AKQA employs around 2,000 professionals in 23 studios.
Headquarters:
San Francisco, California
Notable clients:
- Aarhus
- Amsterdam
- Berlin
- Copenhagen
- Gothenburg
- London
- Milan
- Paris
- Venice
- Atlanta
- New York
- Portland
- San Francisco
- Washington
- D.C.
- Gurgaon
- Shanghai
- Singapore
- Sydney
SuperUnion

Superunion is a global brand and design consultancy. Along with that, this firm was formed after five agencies merged in January 2018. Today, Superunion employs 500 people across 14 offices.
Headquarters:
London, United Kingdom
Locations:
- Amsterdam
- Bangkok
- Beijing
- Berlin
- Bogota
- Buenos Aires
- Cairo
- Cape Town
- Dubai
- Hamburg
- Hong Kong
- Jakarta
- Johannesburg
- London
- Madrid
- Mexico City
- Moscow
- Mumbai
- Munich
- New York
- Paris
- Sao Paulo
- Seoul
- Shanghai
- Singapore
Notable clients:
- Colgate-Palmolive
- WPP
- BBC
- London Symphony Orchestra
- Dell
- Deloitte
- Ford
- Nestle
- Tesco
- Equinox
- Level
- Chivas
- Pizza Hut
- Land Rover
- Invictus Games
- Pfizer
- AirAsia
- Mazda
- Audi
- Electrolux
- FIFA
- Cirque de Soleil
- HSBC
- Credit Suisse
Winkreative

Winkreative is a strategic and creative partner for visionaries, inventors, and entrepreneurs. It focuses on narrative based advertising and branding projects.
Headquarters:
Zurich, Switzerland
Locations:
London, United Kingdom
Notable clients:
- Air Canada
- Deutsche Telecom
- Lexus, Loews Hotels
- Louis Vuitton
- Porter Airlines
- St. Moritz
- The Avior
- The Knightsbridge Estate
- Wimbledon
Pearlfisher

Pearlfisher is a future focused, strategic design agency
Headquarters:
London, United Kingdom
Locations:
- New York
- San Francisco
- Copenhagen
Notable clients:
- Access Entertainment
- B&O Play
- Cadbury
- Jim Beam
- Starbucks
- Wolfgang Puck
- Yoplait.
Brand philosophy:
- Body
- Community
- Leisure
- Luxury
- Mobility
- Nature
- Taste