While I was researching to create an ideal brand strategy for my design studio, skh.design, I studied the brand strategy of almost all top design studios in the world, and I noticed design is a skill many businesses may learn. Still, only a few talented graphic designers take it to the next level.

In this article, we are talking about stories of those talented designers and the design studios they’ve built. They are renowned for their excellent work, illustrious clients, and unique, creative solutions to design issues.

Also, we’re discussing their most elite clients and career-defining projects.

Happy Reading!

Pentagram

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Image: Pentagram & Warner Bros.(2013) Logo

A total of 25 partners, all influential figures in the design sector, jointly control and manage Pentagram. It is an independently owned design studio that provides about every service imaginable, including graphics, brand identity, visual identity, goods, packaging, exhibitions, websites, and so on.

Warner Bros.

To position Warner Bros. for the future and anticipate the studio’s centennial in 2023, Pentagram worked with Warner Bros. to create a new brand identity and brand strategy. The project modernizes the classic “W.B.” shield and uses it as the core of a comprehensive identity system, which also includes a unique typeface that draws inspiration from the logo.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Rolls-Royce
• Windows

Charlie Smith Design

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Charlie Smith, a former designer for Pentagram, established Charlie Smith Design in 2003. Her team provides various services, including brand positioning and strategy, digital design, motion design, packaging, etc.

Unicef Next Generation — Words By — Charlie Smith Design

Unicef

A global project called Unicef Next Generation works to assist children harmed by war and natural disasters by raising money and awareness for the Children’s Emergency Fund. Charlie’s team contacted them to develop a visual identity for the project, Words by.

Poets from many walks of life have been gathered in the poetry anthology Words By, unifying their distinctive voices and giving them a stage for expression.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Louis Vuitton

Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

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Logo Designs by Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

Beginning in 1958, Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar worked for some of the biggest clients in the world. Their production is timeless and recognizable to date.

Sagi Haviv joined hands in 2006. Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv is still the industry leader.

U.S. Open

The old U.S. Open logo, which included a fiery ball graphic, thin serif font, and a red lining, had been used for 20 years. But the United States Tennis Association decided to update its visual identity in honour of its golden jubilee.

US open Left: Old Logo, Right: New Logo

The new logo is a development of the blazing ball concept that has been simplified to function as an icon. It updates the style and gives it a more contemporary, youthful appeal while expressing the fire, energy, and speed of the fiery tennis ball and the U.S. Open itself.

Harvard University

The studio was tasked with creating a new trademark for Harvard University Press. They noted in their case study that they wanted to unify the Press across imprints and media, strengthen its visual identity as it transitions into the digital publishing era, and contribute to the Press’s recognition.

Harvard University Press Logo

Other Distinguished Clients

• Showtime
• HarperCollins

House Industries

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One of the most well-known typographic businesses in the world. They are located in Delaware. House Industries have produced numerous magnificent bespoke fonts. Font design, lettering, and painting are their specialities.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

House industries did the entire Identity design for Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show.

Jimmy Kimmel Live Identity Design

Other Distinguished Clients

• UNIQLO
• The New Yorker

Triboro

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Nike NYC by Triboro

David Heasty of Texas and Stefanie Weigler of Germany make up the Brooklyn-based design team Triboro. Their work is vibrant, inventive, and contemporary. Their numerous industry awards attest to their excellent integrity and excellence.

The New York Times

Triboro studio, known for its publishing art and culture-oriented work, was asked by The New York Times to create new typography.

The New York Times Magazine — TRIBORO

Other Distinguished Clients

• TIME Magazine
• Wired

Meta Design

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Porsche Banner Mockup by Meta Design

Erik Spiekermann created the multinational design firm Meta Design along with Hans Ch. Krüger and Uli Mayer-Johanssen in Berlin in 1979. Their work is of a standard that is hard to equal, from revamping Apple’s Mac OS design system to working on Adobe’s packaging and identity.

Porsche

To describe the message Porsche wanted to communicate to the masses, let me quote, Robert Ader, Director of Marketing Communications, Porsche.

“We wanted to make our brand appear more emotional and still retain typical Porsche elements such as the characteristic white space.”

Meta Design was hired to transform its brand identity system to make it modern and more human.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Apple
• Coca-Cola

Happy Cog

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Happy Cog’s Brand Identity

The design community has given Happy Cog a good name for its support of widespread web standards and, more lately, responsive design.
A Philadelphia-based studio that creates websites, digital goods, and experiences that have won numerous awards.

Airbnb

City Specific Airbnb Website by Happy Cog

To help them achieve their goal of promoting efficient legal solutions for the developing business of selling and sharing private spaces, Airbnb asked Happy Cog to design specialized, city-specific websites. We designed the websites to support users worldwide and take advantage of sophisticated API interfaces.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Nintendo
• Standford University

Franklyn

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Audible Design System — Franklyn

Franklyn takes a boutique mentality, or, to put it another way, a trendy and affordable mentality for smaller clients. Brooklyn is where the studio is situated.

Audible

The Audible Internal Brand team and Franklyn collaborated extensively to translate the company’s values.

Audible sought to describe and project its innovative heritage, forward-looking initiatives and stimulating company culture to attract and keep the finest and brightest workers.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Converse
• MetLife

Collins

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Collins is a stand-alone firm specializing in communications, design, and strategy. They often seem to be the go-to for tech startups needing a new direction and expression.

Twitch

Twitch Brand Identity by Collins

Collins takes on the task of modernizing the Twitch brand in 2019. Even though many of the former brand’s components were reused, the brand refresh was minimal. The project’s primary goal was to deliver a flexible framework to the Twitch design team.

Spotify

The competition to create the world’s most well-known music streaming brand was on after Apple bought Beats and Google heavily invested in promoting Google Play.

Spotify Brand Identity by Collins

As a proposed solution, Collins’ team suggested developing a visual system to represent the Spotify brand’s spirit and applied it to all touchpoints, including the product, communications, surroundings, and a comprehensive digital ecosystem.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Dropbox
• Mailchimp

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McDonald’s Customer Experience Design by HugeInc.

Huge is a digitally savvy studio with its main office in Brooklyn that offers a variety of strategy, marketing, design, and technology services. The studio’s 2017 accomplishments included securing McDonald’s global UX account.

Mc­Don­ald’s.

In 2017, Huge started working together as McDonald’s worldwide UX design partners. The studio launched the customer experience change spanning web, mobile apps, and in-restaurant touchpoints. Utilizing user insights, research, business strategy, and decades of design leadership, they’ve helped McDonald’s realize its objective of providing best-in-class experiences in the fast service restaurant industry.

Other Distinguished Clients

• Coca-Cola