Building timeless brand identities is no simple feat. Branding is a process beyond crafting a memorable or colorful appearance. It’s an entire system that is culturally relevant, builds strong customer relationships, tells a unique story, and is still rooted in data.
Striking this balance between the right and the left brain to combine creativity with proven tactics is what makes a design agency successful at branding. In an overcrowded space where agencies are in a constant fight to prove whose designs are cooler, more intricate, and more beautiful, it’s the ones that are creative and strategic at the same time that win.
Especially for DTC brands, discovering the sweet spot between being efficient while also being loved by consumers is the perpetual challenge — and having an expert partner along the way who can be trusted to develop or refine brand identity is critical to ensuring long-term success.
So, who are these agencies that can help a DTC brand enhance its story and visual identity in a relevant and relatable way, all while continuing to grow? We’ve compiled a list of agencies around the world that have helped some of the most iconic brands become who they are today.
Here are our top design companies for DTC brands in 2025
- NoGood
- Day Job
- Bullish
- Wolff Olins
- Gander
- Red Antler
- Preacher
- Pentagram
- Huge
- Harper+Scott
- Mekanism
- Bulletproof NYC
- Together
- ArtVersion
1. NoGood
At NoGood, we embrace a distinctive method known as performance branding to empower our clients to achieve sustainable and compounding growth. Our success stems from a multitude of experiments, all rooted in a cohesive and impactful brand narrative. What sets us apart is our disruptive approach to client collaboration. Unlike the conventional agency model, we assign dedicated squads that seamlessly integrate with each client’s marketing team.
These squads comprise a broad range of professionals, spanning creative designers, data analysts, and growth strategists. With their deep knowledge and expertise, they propel our clients’ long-term growth and ensure constant progress toward their objectives.
Office Location: New York, NY
Year Founded: 2017
Team Size: 50 – 100 employees
Key Services: SMM, Search Engine Optimization, CRO, SEM, Social Ads, Content Marketing, Email Marketing Strategies, Video, and SMS Marketing, DTC Marketing
Industries Served: SaaS, Healthcare, Fintech, B2B, Consumer, Crypto
Case Studies: View all case studies.
2. Day Job
When you first land on Day Job’s website, there’s a moment of confusion and nostalgia. Suddenly, you’re looking at a page from the 90s, with pixelated images and an old-time, text-heavy Microsoft interface. And yet, as reminiscent of the past as Day Job’s website is, its work is as millennial-focused as it gets — buzzworthy, creative, and always relevant.
For Day Job, it’s all about the details — they don’t just create brands but rather end-to-end worlds where the experience at any touchpoint is consistent and immersive. The California-based agency is the brains behind the airy, dreamy aura of Recess.
The cannabis-infused drink that floats, quite literally, on every digital platform consistently lives and breathes the ease and levitation it promises. The agency has also crafted the tropical, pink vibe of Cha Cha Matcha and the quirky yet authentic feel of Fly by Jing.
Office Location: Los Angeles, CA
Year Founded: 2018
Team Size: 2 – 10 employees
Key Services: Brand Strategy, Website Design, Brand Messaging, Digital Advertising Strategies, Print
Industries Served: Food and Beverage, Mental Health Services
Case Studies: View all case studies.
3. Bullish
Bullish is not your average agency: it’s a combination of an investment firm and a brand studio. Their input in developing remarkable brands doesn’t just end with their ideation and creation. Bullish goes as far as becoming an investor in brands with high potential, directly partaking in the growth and development of each brand from identity to business goals and success. Some of the New York-based agency’s select early-stage consumer investments include Casper, Care/of, Hu, Peloton, and Warby Parker.
Office Location: New York, NY
Year Founded: 2015
Team Size: 11 – 50 employees
Key Services: Growth, Strategy, Creative Design
Industries Served: Tech, Beverage, Fashion
Case Studies: View all case studies.
4. Wolff Olins
When it comes to developing dynamic brands, Wolff Olins integrates technology with design to create dimensionality and bring brands to life. At its core, Wolff Olins considers a brand identity beyond a static visual appearance. Instead, the agency crafts multidimensional brand personalities that breathe, move, and engage consumers at new and interactive levels. From TikTok’s 3D logo and Uber’s most recent U shape to Google’s four-color spiraling G, the designs Wolff Olins produces successfully launch brands into the digital-forward world that customers live in today.
Office Location: London, UK
Year Founded: 1965
Team Size: 51 – 200 employees
Key Services: Product Design, Experience Design, Branding, Digital Strategy
Industries Served: Automotive, Tech, Social Media Marketing
Case Studies: View all case studies.
5. Gander
There are certain DTC brands that take over their industries by storm, and suddenly, the market doesn’t look the same anymore. Some of the brands that Gander, a Brooklyn-based creative shop, has created are Banza and Magic Spoon — and neither the pasta nor the cereal markets have been the same since these brands launched.
What makes Gander’s work stand out is its ability to craft brand stories that offer a new and fresh twist on a traditional market space. At the same time, Gander’s brands have a system of powerful, distinctive color schemes and illustrations that make the brands instantly recognizable and one of their kind. Gander’s brands live and breathe beyond the digital space and deliver the same dose of unique experiences in real life, from packaging to social media.
Office Location: Brooklyn, New York
Year Founded: 2015
Team Size: 2 – 10 employees
Key Services: Graphic Design Services, Packaging, Illustration, Web Design, Web Development
Industries Served: Food and Beverage
Case Studies: View all case studies.
6. Red Antler
Red Antler is among the most respected agencies known for their ability to develop promising early-stage companies into established and well-recognized brands. The expert team at Red Antler was behind the initiative to transform Casper, a mattress company, into a symbol for good rest and a lifestyle brand with a deep connection to its customers — a complete departure from the traditional, showroom-centric, and technical-jargon-heavy mattress industry.
The agency was also behind the “Designed to Be Deleted” positioning for Hinge — a refreshing change from the rest of the industry that often failed to establish true connections between people in a hyper-digital environment.
Office Location: Brooklyn, New York
Year Founded: 2007
Team Size: 51 – 200 employees
Key Services: Product Design, Brand-led Marketing, Digital Experience, Art Direction & Content, Brand System, Project Management
Industries Served: Beauty, Fashion, Home Goods, Finances, Entertainment
Case Studies: View all case studies.
7. Preacher
From bigger names like Netflix to smaller, thriving brands like Harry’s, the companies that come to Preacher all share the same unique feel, blending the traditional with the novel to give brands an air of authenticity while helping them adapt to the changing consumer preferences. If you’re in New York and notice the StreetEasy ads in the subways, then you’ll immediately get a sense of Preacher’s ability to seamlessly fuse old and new.
The posters look hand-drawn, almost New Yorker-style; they feature references to such original New York experiences as a doorman or shoebox apartments, yet it all comes together to highlight how the technology aggregates the most qualified housing options in the city.
Office Location: Austin, Texas
Year Founded: 2014
Team Size: 11 – 50 employees
Key Services: Advertising, Branding, Marketing, Digital, Experiential, Design
Industries Served: Music, Alcoholic Beverages, Entertainment, Real Estate
Case Studies: View all case studies.
8. Pentagram
Sometimes, branding is as symbolic and intricate as creating art. Modern art, if you will. The strongest quality that sets Pentagram apart from all other agencies is the fact that all the work they create looks as if it belongs in MOMA or the Tate — no matter what industry their company comes from, from finance to healthcare or entertainment.
Pentagram’s name captures the nature of the agency’s work: it’s at the intersection of architecture, design, and science. Have you noticed the women walking out of yoga studios holding Lululemon bags covered in bold, powerful typography? The diverse typeface covering Lululemon bags and shop windows is Pentagram’s visualization of the brand’s manifesto of movement and mindfulness.
If you happened to walk the High Line since its reopening during the pandemic, you might have noticed the green dots evenly distributed across the promenade space. Pentagram’s thoughtful design tackles the challenge of social distancing while revisiting areas beloved by New Yorkers.
Office Location: New York, NY, with offices around the world
Year Founded: 1972
Team Size: 51 – 200 employees
Key Services: Brand Identity, Environmental Graphics, Book Design, Data-Driven Insights for Design, Film and Motion Graphics
Industries Served: Financial Services, Education, Entertainment, Arts & Culture, Fashion & Beauty, Food & Drink, Healthcare, Hospitality, Real Estate, Technology
Case Studies: View all case studies.
9. Huge
What sets the Brooklyn-based agency apart is its user-centric approach to branding — and its work is geared towards building strong relationships between its clients’ brands and their respective customers. If there’s such a thing as planning experiential dates for two people to connect deeply, Huge does exactly that. Among their notable designs is Android’s brand-new look.
Huge reimagined the iconic waving green robot that everyone recognizes the Google product by, stripping the brand from all excessive details and making the overall brand experience simpler, more accessible, more welcoming, playful, and more curious.
Have you heard of FOGO? Not FOMO, not YOLO — FOGO, or “Fear Of Getting Old,” a concept introduced by Huge as part of the “GetOld.com” initiative that aimed to rejuvenate Pfizer’s image while reversing the negative perceptions of aging. The initiative wasn’t simply a limited campaign — it was the start of a large-scale movement that created a community of followers who believed the message resonated with their thoughts and feelings.
Office Location: Brooklyn, New York
Year Founded: 1999
Team Size: 1,001 – 5000 employees
Key Services: User Experience Design, User Relationship Management, Innovation Strategy, Social Media, Web and Mobile App Design, Branding & Brand Experience, Business Consulting
Industries Served: N/A
Case Studies: N/A
10. Harper+Scott
Harper+Scott is a leading creative design agency that has worked with familiar brands like Sephora and FedEx. They specialize in private label and custom retail, and they can assist brands with merchandise, gifts, influencer mailings, and more. Their approach is highly personalizable to ensure that your brand gets exactly what it needs. In their own words, if you can dream it, they can make it.
Office Location: New York, NY
Year Founded: 2014
Team Size: 51 – 200 employees
Key Services: Gifts with Purchase, Influencer Mailers, Packaging & Print, Branded Merchandise, Private Label, Promotional Products, Retail, Custom Products, Creative Design, Product Marketing
Industries Served: Food & Beverage, Beauty, Entertainment
Case Studies: View all case studies.
11. Mekanism
Mekanism is a creative design agency that works toward building iconic brands with a mixture of “soul and science.” They strive to build a foundation for each brand that will enable them to be culturally relevant for a long time and fuel sustainable growth.
The team at Mekanism takes a holistic approach to ensure every aspect of your brand has been thought through and strategized. After creative ideation and production, Mekanism works closely with brands to monitor and analyze performance as well as building social and media campaigns. They have an in-house team of digital designers that relies on a tech stack to build new, innovative relationships between brands and their audiences.
Office Location: San Francisco, CA
Year Founded: 2003
Team Size: 51 – 200 employees
Key Services: Integrated Advertising Campaigns, Digital Design & Development, Creative & Brand Strategy, Social Media Marketing, Digital Influencer Networks
Industries Served: Entertainment, Dating Services, Travel, Food & Beverage, Financial Services
Case Studies: View all case studies.
12. Bulletproof NYC
Bulletproof NYC is an independent brand agency, using the team’s creativity to drive global reach for their brand partners. They work with a wide variety of clients, of all sizes and across industries. Bulletproof doesn’t want to design run-of-the-mill brands; they want to defy convention with big, bold ideas.
The team at Bulletproof NYC has built a culture of “hustle and heart.” They’re dedicated with fiery entrepreneurial energy, and they bring a sense of passion to the work they do. At Bulletproof, you’ll find a team working to become as knowledgeable about and dedicated to your brand as you are.
Office Location: London, UK
Year Founded: 1998
Team Size: 201 – 500 employees
Key Services: Brand Strategy, Packaging Design, Film & Motion Design, 3D Environments, Brand Architecture, Brand Guardianship, Photography, Messaging, Brand Campaigns
Industries Served: Food & Beverage, Travel, Sports & Entertainment
Case Studies: View all case studies.
13. Together
Together is a design agency that provides comprehensive branding services, supporting your brand design through identity creation, visual creative, web design, and web development. They begin by determining the story of your brand, and then they start adding additional details to build out a well-rounded identity that you can share through your website and other social campaigns.
Their brand design approach is digital first, and Together emphasizes the importance of a great website in terms of capturing your audience’s attention and bringing them into the fold. Together’s brand design goes beyond colors, typography, icons, and logos and extends to the full web ecosystem of your site.
Office Location: London, UK
Year Founded: 2018
Team Size: 11 – 50 employees
Key Services: Branding, Product Design, UX/UI Design, Web Development, Web Design
Industries Served: Technology, eCommerce
Case Studies: View all case studies.
14. ArtVersion
ArtVersion specializes in graphic design for both branding and website development. They work with clients on rebranding and other digital marketing initiatives. They’ve worked with familiar clients such as Cartier, Morgan Stanley, Volvo, and Hilton, and they have a wide range of experience across industries,
ArtVersion is made up of a collaborative team of people in different specialties – designers, developers, and strategists. They have experts on hand to work with brands throughout every stage of the brand development and design journey. They work closely with client teams from concept inception to execution to ensure all creative work contributes to an impactful and cohesive user experience.
Office Location: Chicago, IL
Year Founded: 1999
Team Size: 11 – 50 employees
Key Services: Web Design, Web Development, Graphic Design, Branding, UX/UI Design, Digital Strategy, Marketing Strategy
Industries Served: Financial Services, Hospitality & Leisure, Manufacturing, Medical, Arts & Entertainment
Case Studies: View all case studies.
Choose the Right Agency for Your Brand
As you’ve seen, it’s not enough to craft eye-catching brand assets. It’s about creating a brand ecosystem that pulls the audience into the brand’s world through a compelling, relatable story that’s consistent across all design elements across many digital touchpoints.
Especially for DTC brands, it’s crucial to establish a strong initial connection with consumers through powerful designs and visuals to build long-term relationships that foster consumer loyalty and championship.
Let us know in the comments what agencies and brands have stood out to you the most, and get in touch with us for performance branding solutions that will help your business achieve sustainable compounding growth!
Start creating high-converting brand assets with an expert team.
FAQs
What does a design company do?
Design companies – also called design agencies, design firms, or creative agencies – specialize in a wide variety of design services such as graphic design, website or mobile app design, consumer goods packaging design, product design, and/or print design.
Design companies are also usually heavily involved in brand strategy and brand identity development. Design assets play such a strong role in brand identity and recognition; design companies often have expertise in this area and work with businesses to establish a strong brand identity through logos, color palettes, typography, and other visual elements.
These branding elements and design assets can then be brought to the creation of marketing materials, which design companies can also often support with. Marketing materials usually encompass promotional materials that support other marketing campaigns, but the branded creative is critical for brand consistency across these campaigns.
If you work with a design company that specializes in website and/or mobile app design, they can also support with user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design elements, which are becoming more and more crucial as user behavior becomes increasingly digital, and a good experience on one website can easily differentiate them from a competitor with a less seamless digital experience. Design is a foundational component of making sure that your users have a positive experience and follow through with taking the desired actions on your website or app.
Why work with a design company?
The best design companies offer a comprehensive suite of services that can bring your brand – and the communication of your brand – to the next level when it comes to resonating with your audience. Design companies don’t just bring the creative chops to build creative assets; they also bring strategic experience that’s tailored to meet each client’s needs and different platform standards. When you work with a design company, you can enjoy:
- Expertise: Access to skilled professionals who understand design principles and market trends.
- Fresh Perspectives: External agencies can provide innovative ideas that may not emerge from internal teams.
- Efficiency: Specialized agencies can often complete projects more quickly due to their focused expertise and resources.
- Scalability and Flexibility: Agencies can easily adjust the scope of services based on evolving business needs, whether scaling up for a product launch or reducing efforts during slower periods.
- Cost-Effectiveness: While initial costs may seem high, partnering with an agency can be more cost-effective in the long run. Businesses avoid overhead costs associated with full-time employees, and agencies often have access to reduced rates for marketing tools and media buying.
- Improved Creativity: Design agencies often have access to a wider pool of creative talent and tools, allowing for higher creativity in marketing efforts.
How to Choose a Top Design Company
If you’re thinking about hiring a design company, it’s crucial that you do your research to find the right fit. You can start with this list we’ve curated – we’ve heavily vetted each of the agencies included in this list. But if you have additional questions about how to choose the right design agency to work with, make sure to keep the following aspects in mind:
- Portfolio and Expertise: a top design agency should be able to showcase examples of projects that are similar to yours, and they should have experience working in your industry (or similar industries).
- Process and Collaboration: a design company should be working as an extension of your internal marketing team. Ask questions to understand their process, how they promote collaboration, and their processes for communicating revisions and feedback.
- Pricing and Contracts: the perfect design agency can’t be perfect if their services are outside of your budget. Do your research to understand what services are included in different contracts vs. what sorts of requests may incur additional costs.
- Measuring Success: you’re looking to work with a design agency to really see some results when it comes to your branding and marketing. Make sure you understand how your team and the design agency team will measure the success of your project together.
