20 graphic design companies to consider

You know the saying: “Good clothes open all doors.” Often, a first impression may end up the last impression, if it does not succeed in generating customer interest about your goods and services. Design has to convey a style, a voice and a soul of a brand. Thanks to great variety of graphic design companies for hire, you spare precious time and acquire professional service for your brand. Let’s drop some examples.

20 best graphic design companies

As there are literally hundreds and hundreds of agencies providing graphic design services, we’ve set aside 20 after many hours of research. We tried to be as objective as possible. We paid close attention to skills, experience, portfolio and customer reviews (both on their websites and independent platforms).

The Bureau of Small Projects is a marketing agency with the main focus on branding, web development and marketing. The Bureau of Small Projects is free to share knowledge and tips in graphic design, testing new products and branding as far as it has wide-ranging expertise in them. Among the company’s clients, are Disney, Sony, IBM, Levi’s, Dodgers and many others.

The prominent example of The Bureau of Small Projects’ work is Malea. As a musician, Malea approached TBSP to make a brand as distinctive and known as her music is. The team of company’s web developers, graphic designers and engineers created just a great website for her on WordPress with 2,2 seconds load time with the help of custom frontend and The 7 Backend frameworks and such tech stack as Custom video player, Monster insights, social warfare and Yoast.

Founded in 1941, the Landor company is a true pioneer in the research, graphic design and consulting services. Being a global international consultancy, Landor is also a member of the Young & Rubicam Group network, a global marketing and communications firm. The customer list needs no introduction with brands as BBC, BMW, Coca-Cola, Nike, Apple, Henkel, Old Spice…

One of the most interesting projects was the brand vision for British Airways, the marketing relationship between the main airline brand and other services. The team worked to create new graphic elements for British Airways entire fleet.

As another example, for Petbarn brand Landor team developed a minimalistic style along with multiple graphic illustrations to reflect the emotion around pets. The project wen online early in 2019 and has received a positive response on social networks.

Originally created for local businesses needs only, BMG supplies graphic design solutions for over 600 customers worldwide today. With over 10 years of experience, their specialties are graphic design, content management, digital marketing. They work for medium and small businesses, startups, covering various industries like medicine, healthcare, real estate, restaurants.

One of the top projects was creating a website for a large game production company Zynga. The task was to develop a convenient user interface, with easy access to menu. The team used technologies such as HTML5, CSS3, jQuery, JS, WordPress, while team illustrations were made in Photoshop.

Charlie Smith Design is a London-based company with 16 years of experience in design and campaigns for top brands such as Byron, John Lewis, Dior, Louis Vuitton. Their expertise is in such graphic design services as print, packaging, book design, identity design, exhibition, event design.

From the company’s portfolio, we could not mention the project for UNICEF Next Generation. The goal was to create a website and visualize a collection of poems. Designers did a great job providing pastel colors and tailored fonts to produce an inspiring atmosphere and aesthetics.

Another amazing graphic design solution was Artnote – an application for art collectors to find and save lots, leave notes. The result was an easy-to-use, functional, yet soft graphic design elements,  characterized by large letter shapes, pastel colors in combination with a bright electric blue color. The team also worked on creating a dynamic logo for the site.

Brand You Creative is a Dublin-based award-winning agency, with an 11-year history. The agency specializes in branding, strategy, marketing, web development, graphic and web design. Their clients are businesses from healthcare, pharmacy, food & beverages, fashion, retail, fitness, real estate.  Brand You Creative provides its clients with an opportunity to choose the most suitable way of cooperation: project-based, consulting, ongoing support package or coaching.

All of us know the best way to get acquainted with the company is to take a closer look at its portfolio.  Kevin Egan Cars company was in need of a new brand visual and retail shop layout with minimalistic slick design to show brand values. Brand You Creative Agency decided to involve the owner in the process. As a result, the company has got an engaging website, a new logo and visual identity system.

701 Creative is a dynamic marketing, branding and design agency, headquartered in Philadelphia, USA. With having 350 awards already won, the company has really profound expertise in: strategic communications, graphic design/support collateral, social media management, web/digital design, advertising. The company’s team creates logos and delivers projects for clients all over the world in various industries and verticals: entertainment, healthcare, nonprofit, food & restaurants, etc. 

Let’s check one of the 701 Creative projects for a better understanding of its work. The  Roberts Event Group asked 701 Creative to redesign their website and logo after 20 years of work. The client received a trendy website and collateral thanks to branding, web and graphic design services.

Incline Marketing Group is a US-based marketing and advertising agency, offering such services as web design, brand creation, social media advertising, and digital presence services. The graphic design team takes the client’s core idea and transforms it into the real marketing masterpiece that obtains an aesthetic look and appealing design.

Now let’s proceed to the company’s work. One of the projects, worth our attention is Bloomington Dental. Incline Marketing Group created a website for dental clinic and, as a result, increased their revenue up to $300K, helped them to gain new 285 clients and get 367% increase in online presence thanks to the use of social media management, graphic and website design, photography, videography, and email marketing.

The list wouldn’t be full without outstanding design and strategy studio – Presium. Having the office in London, San Francisco, and Limassol, the Presium guys are well known all over the globe thanks for their brightest solutions through the graphic design department. The team of 40 professionals primarily focuses on serving clients in consulting, insurance, logistics, education, banking, retail, IT industries, and many more. For the day the Presium’s portfolio consists of over 900 finished consulting, design, and analytics cases.

The first-class example of Presium expertise is the agency’s video and motion graphics production for the WeExist business. The case granted a professional-level video making, for which Presium crew members attended chief reinvention officer Nadya Zhexembayeva to TEDx in Bucharest. As a result, the collected material served as an excellent source for a brand’s documentary film creation.

Being a freelance graphic design agency, Mad Scientist Web Design consists of experts who able to make any brand recognizable. They design logos, landing pages, eCommerce websites as well as provide SEO, social marketing and website management services. In the agency’s workflow, they use “the three E’s concept” – excellent design, extra-mile service, and expert back-end website function.

From the portfolio, Herr Law Firm’s website caught our attention. The project encompassed a custom graphics that pointed out family law, wills and estate planning. The team also created a custom contact form that makes it easier for potential clients to reach out. Overall, Herr Law Firm got a website that is able to provide full information about its services and to attract new clients.

AMG Design is a trusted full-service custom web design company from Auckland, New Zealand. In addition to web design and graphic design, they offer digital marketing, in-house photography, video production, and even SEO services.

One of the company’s notable projects was Dr. Brandon Hitchcock’s plastic surgery clinic brand  identity design. For web design they went with minimalist dark gray, white and peach colors. They also did illustrations, logo, business card design, print stationery, signage.

AMG also worked on a major project to create a responsive website for the exporter of timber – TENCO. The website design ended up with bright red menu bars and buttons and unique  photography. The case also included a management system for website updates, and social media marketing campaign.

Yarza Twins is a boutique design studio with almost a decade of experience in providing high-quality graphic design services. Working in London, Madrid, and NY City, the company assists global brands, providing design solutions for businesses around the world. For date, the Yarza Twins Studio’s customer base includes such global brands as Converse, Microsoft, Adidas, and Huawei. Even though the studio is small, it can provide a wide variety of graphic and design services, including magazines, print production, art, and creative production, logo design, custom typography, and many more.

Yarza Twin’s collaboration with HP and Smirnoff is an excellent example of the agency’s flawless graphic design performance. Hired to create a unique, catchy design for the limited bottle edition, artists used packaging design, illustration, graphic design skills to achieve a result. A vivid solution was created using cult colors (HP Indigo technology) and companies’ unique elements (iconic Smirnoff logo attended to create all patterns).

Another company that perfectly suits the list is Creative Repute – Philadelphia-based graphic design agency. The agency’s crew of creatives offer unique branding solutions for entrepreneurs, individuals as well as startups, providing a huge amount of graphic design services: logo, icon, label design, poster, prints, and more. The Creative Repute client base involves the NFL, ZipCar, and Perelman School of Medicine.

As the Creative Repute consists of true experts in logo design, it is worth considering the Hand To Hand case. The team designed a simple but still recognized logo, using basic black and white colors, sometimes in a mix with the yellow color of hope, which is perfect for such nonprofit organizations as Hand To Hand.

 

Robyn & Robyn is a creative brand agency with headquarters in California, USA. Founded in 2015, the agency specializes in logo and brand development, web and graphic design, brand management and solutions, fitting needs of clients. Working with all industries, businesses, entrepreneurs, and artists Robyn & Robyn values the importance of quality and purposeful rational design.

As to the case studies, let’s check the Norman Covan project. Robyn & Robyn specialists created a full brand strategy, thanks to the use of front-end site design, photography, and marketing strategy. The team designed for the sake of simplicity of use for their customers while representing the heart and soul of their brand: a beautiful family story of impeccable and timeless design.

Strategy-led and evidence-based US company Evviva Brands is a branding agency, with expertise in eCommerce, healthcare, manufacturing, public, travel & hospitality, and many other industries. Intel, Google fiber, Flipkart, Tencent, Microsoft, Atlassian, Walmart have already gained benefits of cooperation with Evviva Brands and their branding, graphic and web design, strategy development services.

KLA is the world’s leader in inspection and metrology, which had some issues with attracting top talents. That’s why they approached Evviva Brands for global research and brand development. A few company’s insights ended up in brand positioning and paying special attention to the nanotechnology and the opportunity to explore the real future of technology. Graphic designers used abstraction and vector art to bring nanotechnology to life in a mysterious and wonderful way.

Siegel+Gale is a global branding agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Dubai, Tokyo, London. They are one of the pioneers in branding and among the best graphic design companies. With vast experience under the belt, they are able to deliver original design projects like CVS Health. A huge pharmacy/medical network approached Siegel+Gale to help position themselves as a pharmacy innovators. 

Or take Nexford University as another example. The main goal was to make a concept that would differentiate Nexford from competition and send a signal of prestige and trustworthiness. The name itself is a crossbreed of Oxford and Stanford with a prefix “new”.

Concentric Design is a boutique graphic design agency, based in Chicago. Their team not only provides design solutions but also helps clients define and find out more about their target  audiences. Then come graphic design, illustration, identity, brand style and copywriting services. Also, they deliver traditional design techniques such as spot colors, paper coatings, saddle stitching, press checks, business cards, stationery, tradeshow display systems.

A striking example of professionalism is the Jan Lewis Design project. A new logo, visual identity and  a new ecommerce website were required. Or we may look at Burwood Group – a design project for a technology consulting firm in need of rebranding. As a result, custom Squarespace design was accompanied by creative direction, illustrations, newsletter design, new color palettes, and general  brand guidelines.

Though being a tiny agency compared to big brands, Imbue Creative from New Jersey, USA has been receiving numerous awards since 2004.  In addition to design, branding and identity, they also provide interactive design, motion graphics, illustration, print design, scientific poster design, layouts, etc.

Examples include Signature Experience project for Peddie School (unique design, 12-page brochure, artistic elements, 8-page Strategic Plan), Delaware County SPCA – a project to generate customer interest, using corporate colors, illustrated materials about animals. 

Xhilarate is a team of graphic and web designers engaging in environmental design, employee engagement, photography and video production. Although a relatively young company, their portfolio does impress: HBO, Converse, IBM, P&G, American Express, Kodak and more. They work for clients in diverse industries, e.g. healthcare, insurance, technology, transportation, logistics, etc.

They cooperate with many famous brands, take Michael Grecco, a world-renowned photographer, for example. The Grecco project meant to attract traffic via social networks. Another job was Globus Medical – a complex project aimed at dynamic demonstration of a robotic surgical guidance system, including GPS, prototyping, animation, 3D renderings, iconography, UI/UX/IXD. 

JVM Design was established in 1995, focusing on solutions for retail, such as web design / web  development, graphic design, print design, visual style guiding. As proof of their web design expertise, let’s look at a few projects. Scott Roberts and Associates have been partners with JVM for years, based on a restrained white/gray/black colors for business cards, envelopes, tradeshow materials, print advertisements.

Kovacs Ice Drilling & Coring Equipment as an example from another industry. They needed simple yet colorful layouts for a trade event. JVM Design team managed to process and present lots of technical information on a limited space, stylized in white and orange palette.

Studio Brand Collective from Houston, Texas, is a full-service digital marketing agency in B2C and B2B formats. They have developed and launched over 200 campaigns in brand design, collateral design, identity, promotional materials, print, video and motion graphics.

Check out the Bosh Bistro project for a new American bistro. Market research, company naming, logo design, menus, business cards, uniforms, and of course, the website and social media pages were produced.

About graphic design companies

What is graphic design?
Graphic design is a type of design employing art, design and technical tools to create a visual representation of products. More recently, the term was used only in print, though today it is a bigger part of contemporary art, with the goal is to combine aesthetics and functionality.

The goal of graphic design is to draw consumer attention first, and to help sell a product/service/idea, secondly. It usually applies corporate identity elements such as logos, colors, fonts, etc. Types of graphic design include:

1. Corporate identity and branding. Each company strives to have its own style, to differentiate  among competitors. Manufacturers draw attention to products with stylish, informative packaging. Brand design includes company logo, fonts, company colors and various graphic elements, presentation sets, print materials.
2. Design for online. Graphic layout for web sites, banners and other graphic elements for the Internet. Though a graphic designer is not a web designer, that is different.
3. Font development. Text fonts that serve for a long time and are practically independent of fashion trends.
4. Advertising design. Here, whole groups of advertisers could be involved to devise effective methods of communication between sellers and buyers, research the market, target audiences, and, of course, realize advertising concepts via graphic design.

How to choose a graphic design company?

There are a lot of companies and graphic design freelancers today, selection might be troublesome. One will certainly have to spend some time, despite shortcuts, “best” lists, recommendations, etc. We recommend to pay attention to the following criteria:

1. Portfolio – a collection of work samples, case studies, proud projects, etc. that give an idea of  creative possibilities. Each company or freelancer has should have a portfolio, where you’d be able to find works similar to your idea/field.
2. Communication. Start negotiating with a potential designer and pay attention to how he/she/they conduct a dialogue, how much interest is displayed. Thus, you’ll be able to understand how well you’d fit for each other.
3. Budget. In most cases, perhaps, the most important factor for customers. It could be impacted by  timeline, scope/complexity, company/freelancer rates.
4. Location. Often, a personal meeting with your graphic designer simplifies things a lot. If you prefer full control and fast execution, try to find a local company. For other cases, any distant part of the world is not a problem nowadays.

What services do graphic companies offer?

• Game animation – with skills in such programs as: 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema 4D, LightWave, Softimage XSI, Blender, Modo, Adobe After Effects, Houdini, 3D-Coat, etc. For 3D animations also the understanding of psychology and anatomy is required. A short list of top companies for game animation: Live Animations, Program-Ace, Seasia Infotech.
• Game design – development of game rules and mechanics, where a game designer is essentially the project director. This work implies knowledge of programming, market trends, and sociology. A short list of companies: Live Animations, Program-Ace, Seasia Infotech, HQSoftware.

• Web design – a part of creating a web site. Web designer designs a site and analyzes user behavior on it, he/she is aware of Internet marketing, analytics, and participates in talks with a  customer. He knows HTML, CSS, Photoshop etc. Web design is for landing pages, brand sites, online stores, interfaces, email campaigns. A short list of companies: STX Next, Unified Infotech, Flexi IT.
• UX / UI design – for user interfaces, where usability is just as important as appearance. UI and UX designer must possess skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign. A short list of companies: Merixstudio, Sloboda Studio, Ekreative.
• Digital design – for conventional and adaptive web sites, digital advertising materials. The task of a digital designer is to create media content incentivizing people to do certain actions (place an order, write a comment, etc.). A short list of leading companies in digital design: HQSoftware, Apptension, Live Animations, Dev Technosys.
• Product design – creating and improving methods of interaction with a product/service, designing attractive interface and appearances. Used software: Adobe, Sketch, InVision, Balsamiq, Axure, Flinto. A short list of companies: STX Next, Django Stars, Ekreative, Live Animations.

Note, that companies suggested above are not the whole list or the “best” list in graphic design. These are merely examples.

Pricing for graphic design

The cost depends on project scope and complexity, time of implementation, additional variables (company reputation, location, rates, cultural nuances, etc.). For example, if we consider graphic companies from our top-20 list in this article, we can group them more or less by hourly rates:

• In the USA and Britain, they charge $150/hour on average
• Mid-tier graphic design companies charge between $50 and $150
• The cheapest rates offered by upcoming design agencies, are $50 or less

Now, let’s also take into account general time estimates for popular tasks in graphic design:

• Leaflet: 1-10 hours
• Logo: 5-20 hours
• Infographics: 4-20 hours
• Mobile app design: 15-40+ hours
• UI casual game design: 40-150 hours
• Web design: 30-250+ hours
• VR animation: 5-10 hours per 1 minute video 

To reduce the time, prepare all related materials in advance, give specifics of what and how, make the approval and review process as simple as possible.

Agency vs Freelance

Main advantages of a freelancer are remote work (at no service cost), several work modes to choose from (full time, part-time, contract). But the sky is not always bright and clear. Let’s look closer at freelance graphic designers first, and then companies.

Pros:

• Cheaper cost, because you only need to pay one person.
• Direct responsibility. A hired freelancer works on his own and cannot shift the responsibility to another employee.
• Expertise, which is typically high in a chosen field.

Cons:

• Reliability issues. Customers often encounter various problems, i.e. long reply times, disappearance, working on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Availability. As mentioned, a freelancer might be working on several projects at the same time, thus sacrificing one or another.
• Quality of work. Often freelancers try to take as many orders as possible to earn money, which affects the quality of work, of course. 

Design companies, working with graphic design, may offer a wider range of services and provide several options for a requested job. They may also have their own advertising department that can give good advice for your corporate identity. Here are some pros and cons of hiring graphic design companies, contrary to freelancers.

Pros:

• Full package. Expert services from consultation to the implementation of corporate (brand) identity.
• Collective expertise. Team members can go straight to the point, consult with each other and as a result produce a sound outcome.
• Service and support. A valuable company will keep in touch up until the finish and beyond.

Cons:

• Higher cost. Obviously, hiring a team of graphic designers will be more expensive than a freelancer.
• Extended timeframe. Internal processes and communication may take time.
• Miscommunication. As long as you communicate only through a project manager the actual work will be performed by another person. There is a risk of misinterpretation.

Graphic designer skills

Important qualities of a graphic designer are artistic taste/style, figurative and spatial thinking, initiative and creativity, involvement in modern culture. A graphic designer should have a number of skills, such as the ability to translate ideas into graphics, knowledge of art history and design, proficiency in specialized computer software (Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.).