Justin Bifolco, content writer, content writing, SEO writer, seo writing

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Justin Bifolco

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

Pentagram, graphic design company, influential graphic design firm

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: 

  1. Austin
  2. Berlin
  3. New York
  4. San Francisco

Notable clients:

  1. Citibank
  2. United Airlines
  3. Saks Fifth Avenue
  4. Harley Davidson
  5. Alexander McQueen
  6. Clear Channel
  7. The National
  8. The Daily Show
  9. One Laptop Per Child
  10. Revlon
  11. Cosmopolitan
  12. The Oprah Winfrey Show
  13. Grey Goose
  14. Tiffany and Co
  15. Vanity Fair

Sagmeister & Walsh

Sagmeister & Walsh, graphic designer, influential graphic design firm

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:

  1. Snapchat
  2. 7Up
  3. The Gap
  4. BMW
  5. The Museum of Modern Art
  6. The Guggenheim Museum
  7. NYTimes Magazine
  8. Lou Reed
  9. Jay-Z
  10. Brian Eno
  11. David Byrne
  12. Random House Publishers
  13. The AIGA
  14. Autodesk
  15. Levis
  16. Adobe

Services offered:

  1. Album covers
  2. Posters
  3. Uniquely packaged designed books

Wolf Olins

Wolff Olins, advertising agency, brand identity, GrubHub, influential graphic design firm

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: 

  1. London
  2. New York City
  3. San Francisco

Notable clients:

  1. Uber
  2. Alibaba
  3. Zigbee Alliance
  4. GrubHub
  5. The Metropolitan Art Museum
  6. Spotify
  7. Orange
  8. The Hyatt
  9. Virgin Media
  10. (RED)
  11. AOL
  12. Target
  13. Unilever
  14. GE
  15. PwC
  16. Microsoft
  17. Google
  18. Skype
  19. Expedia
  20. 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: 

  1. Bangkok
  2. Beijing
  3. Cape Town
  4. Chicago
  5. Cincinnati
  6. Dubai
  7. Geneva
  8. Hamburg
  9. Hanoi
  10. Hong Kong
  11. Jakarta
  12. Kuala Lumpur
  13. London
  14. Melbourne
  15. Mexico City
  16. Milan
  17. Moscow
  18. Mumbai
  19. New York
  20. Paris
  21. Seoul
  22. Shanghai
  23. Singapore
  24. Sydney
  25. Tokyo

Notable clients:

  1. Nike
  2. Coca-Cola
  3. The WW
  4. FedEx
  5. Levis
  6. Apple
  7. Volvic
  8. Kraft
  9. Jameson
  10. BMW
  11. Henkel
  12. Old Spice
  13. Citroën
  14. Proctor and Gamble
  15. Juicy Couture
  16. Rolex
  17. 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: 

  1. Beijing
  2. Berlin
  3. Düsseldorf
  4. Geneva
  5. San Francisco
  6. Zurich

Notable clients:

  1. Apple
  2. AT&T
  3. eBay
  4. FIFA
  5. Intuit
  6. Lamborghini
  7. Netflix
  8. Sony
  9. Intel
  10. Polo Ralph Lauren
  11. 23andMe
  12. Volkswagen
  13. The Economist
  14. New York Philharmonic
  15. Texture
  16. San Francisco Ballet

House Industries

House Industries, influential design firm, design example, Hermes, MTV

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:

  1. Hermes
  2. The Cher Show
  3. Eames
  4. The New Yorker
  5. Design With Reach
  6. Ford
  7. John Mayer
  8. Heath Ceramics
  9. Jimmy Kimmel Live
  10. Vogue Japan
  11. Agent Provocateur
  12. MTV
  13. Chronicle Books
  14. Uniqlo
  15. Baccarat
  16. Herman Miller

Services offered:

  1. Drawing
  2. Font Creation
  3. Lettering
  4. Painting

Happy Cog 

Happy Cog, full-service digital agency, digital marketing, influential design firm

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:

  1. MTV
  2. Papa John’s
  3. Harvard Business School
  4. Ben & Jerry’s
  5. McGraw-Hill Education
  6. US Holocaust Museum
  7. Nintendo
  8. Georgetown University
  9. Fonts.com
  10. Thomson Reuters
  11. 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

Metalab, app development firm, products and services

Furthermore, we have the development platform MetaLab. This is a development platform that facilitates a reliable way to develop applications.

Headquarters:

  1. Victoria
  2. British Columbia
  3. Canada

Notable clients:

  1. Slack
  2. Google
  3. Finery
  4. Amazon
  5. Facebook
  6. Lonely Planet
  7. TED
  8. Otter

Urban Influence

Urban Influence, branding, branding strategies, influential design firms

Urban Influence considers itself a collection of brand architects. This company offers branding, design, and an interactive studio.

Headquarters:

Seattle, Washington

Notable clients:

  1. Intego
  2. Revelry
  3. SEO Moz
  4. Endurance
  5. Sprout
  6. Polaris
  7. Chef’n
  8. Watson
  9. Cinchshare
  10. Pronto
  11. Redfin
  12. DNA

Mucho 

Mucho, mucho ad, design studio, branding agency, influential design firm

Mucho is a global boutique design studio. Their work spans a variety of services. This includes, advertising, branding, and illustration.

Headquarters:

Barcelona, Spain

Locations: 

  1. Newark
  2.  Barcelona
  3. Paris
  4. San Francisco
  5. New York
  6. Sydney
  7. Berlin
  8. London

Notable clients:

  1. AIGA
  2. Alma Hotels
  3. BCD
  4. Betway
  5. BMW, Canal+
  6. El País
  7. EMI Music Spain
  8. Future Designs
  9. Gap Inc.
  10. Google
  11. HP
  12. Kodak
  13. Majestic Hotel Group
  14. Mars, Museum of Lincolnshire Life
  15. Phaidon Press, Random House Mondadori
  16. San Francisco Art Exchange
  17. San Francisco Civic Center
  18. The Collection
  19. The Observer
  20. University of California

Branding Services offered:

  1. Management
  2. Narrative
  3. Strategy

McFaul+Day

McFaul_Day, creative agency, design studio, influential design firm, design ad

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:

  1. LucasFilm
  2. New Balance
  3. Pepsi
  4. BBC
  5. IBM
  6. Microsoft
  7. SXSW
  8. Clarks
  9. Audi
  10. Virgin Atlantic
  11. Sony
  12. Levis
  13. Samsung
  14. Kidrobot

Frog Design

Frog Design, easy design, unlimited graphic design, influential graphic design firm

Headquarters:

San Francisco, California

Locations: 

  1. San Francisco
  2. Austin
  3. New York
  4. London
  5. Milan
  6. Munich
  7. Shanghai
  8. Gurgaon
  9. Seattle
  10. Amsterdam
  11. Tel Aviv
  12. Tokyo
  13. Sydney

Notable clients:

  1. Apple
  2. Lumen
  3. SiriusXM
  4. SuperSonic
  5. Porsche
  6. BT
  7. American Dental Association
  8. Associated Press, Audi
  9. GE
  10. Honeywell
  11. UNICEF
  12. Bill Gates
  13. Intel
  14. Sharp

Studio Dumbar 

Studio Dumbar, graphic design, influential graphic design firm, creative agency

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: 

  1. Rotterdam
  2. Shanghai
  3. Seoul

Notable clients:

  1. Apple
  2. Nike
  3. Rijksmuseum
  4. Dutch National Police
  5. Transavia
  6. Vincent Van Gogh Museum
  7. Dutch Railways
  8. EUNL
  9. Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  10. NPO
  11. Randstad
  12. The Dutch Government

Services offered:

  1. Brand strategy
  2. Visual Identity

The Chase

The Chase, web design, website design, easy web design, influential graphic design

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:

  1. Alibaba
  2. Amnesty International
  3. BBC
  4. Disney
  5. Fujitsu
  6. Hewlett Packard
  7. Museum of London
  8. Shell
  9. Smirnoff
  10. Yellow Pages

Services offered:

  1. Advertising
  2. Architecture
  3. Digital
  4. Film

Dessein

Dessein, design agency, creative design, influential graphic design firm

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:

  1. Black Swan State Theatre
  2. Northbridge Brewing Company
  3. EPM, Ezyfix
  4. Great Temptations
  5. Mondo Nougat
  6. Zwena
  7. Albany Entertainment Centre
  8. Whiteman Park
  9. Poach Bear

Services offered:

  1. Branding
  2. Displays and Exhibitions
  3. Logo Design
  4. Packaging Design
  5. Photography
  6. Print materials
  7. Signage
  8. Style Guides
  9. Vehicle Graphics
  10. Website Design

Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett, Leo Burnett Worldwide, advertising agency, influential graphic design firm

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: 

  1. Chicago
  2. Toronto
  3. Montreal
  4. Santa Domingo
  5. Guaynabo
  6. Guatemala City
  7. London
  8. Paris
  9. Brussels
  10. Frankfurt
  11. Prague
  12. Seoul
  13. Beijing
  14. Shanghai
  15. Manila
  16. Jakarta
  17. Sydney
  18. Johannesburg

Notable clients:

  1. Kelloggs
  2. McDonald’s
  3. Coca-Cola
  4. P&G
  5. Samsung
  6. GM
  7. Fiat
  8. Bell
  9. LCBO
  10. Ikea
  11. Elections Canada

AKQA

AKQA, influential design firm, design studio, luxury design

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:

  1. Aarhus
  2. Amsterdam
  3. Berlin
  4. Copenhagen
  5. Gothenburg
  6. London
  7. Milan
  8. Paris
  9. Venice
  10. Atlanta
  11. New York
  12. Portland
  13. San Francisco
  14. Washington
  15. D.C.
  16. Gurgaon
  17. Shanghai
  18. Singapore
  19. Sydney

SuperUnion

Superunion, brand consultant, brand strategies, branding campaign, influential design firm

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: 

  1. Amsterdam
  2. Bangkok
  3. Beijing
  4. Berlin
  5. Bogota
  6. Buenos Aires
  7. Cairo
  8. Cape Town
  9. Dubai
  10. Hamburg
  11. Hong Kong
  12. Jakarta
  13. Johannesburg
  14. London
  15. Madrid
  16. Mexico City
  17. Moscow
  18. Mumbai
  19. Munich
  20. New York
  21. Paris
  22. Sao Paulo
  23. Seoul
  24. Shanghai
  25. Singapore

Notable clients:

  1. Colgate-Palmolive
  2. WPP
  3. BBC
  4. London Symphony Orchestra
  5. Dell
  6. Deloitte
  7. Ford
  8. Nestle
  9. Tesco
  10. Equinox
  11. Level
  12. Chivas
  13. Pizza Hut
  14. Land Rover
  15. Invictus Games
  16. Pfizer
  17. AirAsia
  18. Mazda
  19. Audi
  20. Electrolux
  21. FIFA
  22. Cirque de Soleil
  23. HSBC
  24. Credit Suisse

Winkreative

Winkreative, creative agency, influential design firm, branding project

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:

  1. Air Canada
  2. Deutsche Telecom
  3. Lexus, Loews Hotels
  4. Louis Vuitton
  5. Porter Airlines
  6. St. Moritz
  7. The Avior
  8. The Knightsbridge Estate
  9. Wimbledon

Pearlfisher

Pearlfisher, design agency, strategic design agency, Starbucks, Jim Beam, luxury design

Pearlfisher is a future focused, strategic design agency

Headquarters:

London, United Kingdom

Locations: 

  1. New York
  2. San Francisco
  3. Copenhagen

Notable clients:

  1. Access Entertainment
  2. B&O Play
  3. Cadbury
  4. Jim Beam
  5. Starbucks
  6. Wolfgang Puck
  7. Yoplait.

Brand philosophy:

  1. Body
  2. Community
  3. Leisure
  4. Luxury
  5. Mobility
  6. Nature
  7. Taste