design-agency
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West Woods and the value of a rough first draft
A coupon app, a solar boat, and a design agency with an unusually broad toolkit. West Woods makes more sense when you look at what its designers learned before the polished version.
The New Company puts a brand to work
A QR code becomes a calling card. A trophy room becomes a game cover. Inside the design studio that gives brands something to do beyond looking good.
Lazarev wants your AI to survive Monday morning
The Ukrainian-founded design agency builds the parts of AI that people actually touch. Its most useful lesson begins where a promising product sends its users back to a spreadsheet.
BABCO wants your brand to catch up with your product
The product works. The market still needs convincing. Olivia Batraski’s design studio works in that awkward gap, where a name, a website, and an empty state can all make the same company easier to believe.
McLean helped create Monster by questioning the can
Hansen’s wanted a bigger energy drink. McLean proposed a different kind of brand. Its work since then reveals when packaging should shout, and when it should leave well enough alone.
Chase Design Group knows what to keep
From Madonna’s lettering to the freezer aisle, Chase Design Group has made a business of giving brands a new look without erasing their personality. Its most revealing work starts with a surprisingly difficult question: what deserves to stay?
Phantom Design Doesn’t Make Park Benches. Brush Holders? Yes.
The California agency builds brands, online stores and software. Its own wooden brush holder offers a surprisingly good explanation of how those jobs belong together.
Design in Mind makes brands work outside the logo
From a 14-foot mirrored installation to concert posters volunteers can reuse, the San Jose agency treats branding as a job that continues after approval.
Lovely’s big-name portfolio began with a small-budget idea
The Los Angeles agency lists work for Angela Bassett, Issa Rae and Nicki Minaj. Its founding pitch was closer to Main Street: give charities and small businesses access to professional design without five-figure budgets.
Website Designer wants your business card to work harder
Web Design Carnival pairs WordPress websites with graphic design and a straightforward ambition: turn an online introduction into a business conversation.
Offset
Offset is a Napa Valley company that pairs a direct-to-consumer ecommerce platform built specifically for fine wine with a brand design studio. Formed in 2015 from the merger of Byron Hoffman's design firm Hoffman & Co. and the development shop 750 Group, Offset gives wineries and fine-wine merchants both the software to sell - allocations, clubs, open cart and point of sale - and the identity, packaging, and storytelling to stand out. Clients range from legacy estates like Frog's Leap, Grace Family Vineyards, and Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant to new producers such as RAEN.