Best Design Agencies in Amsterdam (2026)

Introduction

Amsterdam has one of Europe’s strongest traditions in graphic and spatial design, and the 12 studios below show its range in 2026: typographic studios with international museum clients, digital-first practices, a book designer, wayfinding and exhibition specialists, and interior architects.

Much of the city’s design work is cultural and civic. Museums, broadcasters, festivals and public bodies commission identities, publications and spaces alongside commercial brands, and several studios here have worked with the same institutions for decades (Experimental Jetset first designed for Paradiso in 1995). Many of the studios also work abroad from Amsterdam, for clients such as M+ in Hong Kong, the Whitney Museum in New York and airports in the Americas. Some well-known Dutch names are missing because they are based elsewhere: Studio Dumbar works from Rotterdam, and Edenspiekermann lists no Amsterdam office.

Every studio here has an active Amsterdam studio in 2026, confirmed from its own site or recent coverage. Strategy-led identity consultancies are covered on our branding list and product design shops on our UX list. The list is unranked, since the right studio depends on the brief, the medium and the scale of the project.

The best design agencies in Amsterdam

1. thonik

Multidisciplinary studio · Oost · thonik.nl

thonik is a multidisciplinary studio that describes its approach as integrated design, working across politics, culture and business. In Slanted’s 2023 Amsterdam issue, Nikki Gonnissen and Thomas Widdershoven described a digital-first method that often starts from moving image and carries through to graphic, digital and spatial design. In 2020 it completed its first work of architecture, a building in Amsterdam.

Recent and long-running work includes Schiphol Airport, the M+ museum in Hong Kong, KRO-NCRV’s broadcast identity, Dutch Design Week, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and FILA. It suits clients who want one studio to carry an identity across screens, print and buildings.

2. Experimental Jetset

Independent · Amsterdam · experimentaljetset.nl

Experimental Jetset is a three-person graphic design studio founded in 1997 by Marieke Stolk, Erwin Brinkers and Danny van den Dungen, who met at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. Their typographic, Helvetica-heavy work sits in the collections of the Stedelijk Museum, MoMA, SFMOMA and Cooper Hewitt.

The Whitney Museum identity (2013) is their most cited project. Their relationship with Paradiso goes back to 1995, and in July 2026 the venue released a new merchandise collection designed by the studio. They also publish books with Roma Publications, including Superstructures (2021).

3. Mainstudio

Founder-led · Centrum · mainstudio.com

Mainstudio is a graphic design and typography practice founded by Edwin van Gelder. It makes visual identities, publications and digital media where art and architecture meet, often combining unusual printing techniques with conventional formats. Its work has been recognised by AIGA 50 Books | 50 Covers and the Art Directors Club New York.

Identity clients include Amsterdam Art Week, the Tropenmuseum, the Academy of Architecture, De School and IIT Architecture in Chicago. The studio also designs monographs and websites for architects, including Höweler + Yoon and Serie Architects, which makes it a natural fit for architecture and art clients.

4. Irma Boom Office

Founder-led · Zuid · irmaboom.nl

Irma Boom is an Amsterdam-based graphic designer who specialises in books, working from a studio on the Koninginneweg. The office designs books for museums, foundations, architects and companies, and treats each one as a designed object in its own right.

Clients referenced on the studio’s site include the Rijksmuseum, the Prince Claus Fund, Lisson Gallery, OMA, Yale University and Fondazione Prada. It is a specialist choice: museums, foundations and companies commissioning a significant book should expect a long, closely involved process.

5. Momkai

Independent · Centrum · momkai.com

Momkai is a strategic design agency founded in 2006 by Harald Dunnink, who remains its creative director. Its work runs from brand strategy and visual identity to websites, animation, illustration and campaigns, with a focus on founders and mission-led organisations.

Momkai helped build De Correspondent into a member-funded platform and has worked with The School for Moral Ambition, Giving What We Can, the Limelight Foundation, the first Nelson Mandela Marathon in Cape Town and Cibus. It suits organisations that want design tied closely to a movement or membership model.

6. Lava

Branding and design studio · Houthavens · lava.nl

Lava is a branding and design studio in the Houthavens that combines strategy, design and technology. Alongside identities and campaigns, it builds digital products and bespoke tooling, such as brand systems that clients can run themselves. The studio cites five European Design Awards.

Clients include KRO-NCRV, Koninklijke Horeca Nederland, the Museumvereniging, NEMO Kennislink, Techniek Nederland and SPRING Festival, and the studio has been appointed to design the visual identity of Orbit Festival.

7. Vandejong

Independent · Noord · vandejong.com

Vandejong is an independent creative studio founded in 1989, based in Amsterdam Noord. It works across branding, websites and campaigns, and has a distinct practice in participation projects that involve residents and communities in the design process.

Its clients lean civic and cultural: Stichting NDSM-werf, Maastricht University, Platform Hernieuwbare Brandstoffen, Collectief Kapitaal and FUTURES. The studio is open Monday to Thursday, which is worth knowing when planning workshops.

8. Kossmanndejong

Spatial and exhibition design · Centrum · kossmanndejong.nl

Kossmanndejong designs story-driven spatial experiences, mainly exhibitions and brand spaces, and handles projects from strategy through to production. The studio works from De Ruyterkade, behind Centraal Station, for museums, institutions, NGOs and brands.

Projects include the Portlantis experience centre for the Port of Rotterdam, “Nature. And us?” at Stapferhaus in Switzerland, “What if?” at We The Curious in Bristol, work for La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, and a brand experience for Bolidt.

9. Mijksenaar

Wayfinding design · Centrum · mijksenaar.com

Mijksenaar is a wayfinding design firm with studios in Amsterdam and New York, working across urban, mobility, culture and healthcare projects. Its team brings together architecture, industrial design, psychology, UX and graphic design, and its work runs from spatial analysis and user mapping to sign systems.

Recent work includes legibility testing at Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, an audit of Lima Airport, trail-marker wayfinding for Wonderwoods, and a new set of beach safety flags. Airports, transport operators and hospitals are its core clients.

10. Tjep.

Founder-led · Oost · tjep.com

Tjep. is the studio of Frank Tjepkema, working from Amsterdam since 2001 across objects, furniture, jewellery, interiors and public art. Its work is held in 16 museum collections. In 2026 the studio marked its 25th anniversary with Infinite Scroll, a series of kinetic sculptures shown at Big Art Rotterdam, GLUE Amsterdam and Dutch Design Week.

Commercial interiors include the Heineken flagship store, a HEMA beauty store and Schiphol’s Lounge 3. Public work includes the Bicycloud bicycle sculptures on the Rokin and entrance gates for Paleis Het Loo.

11. Concrete

Architecture and interiors · Centrum · concreteamsterdam.nl

Concrete is a multidisciplinary practice working in architecture, interior design, urban design and branding from a base in the city centre. Its interiors for hospitality brands have travelled widely, and its stated principles include “people before buildings”.

Projects include W Hotels in London, Osaka and Verbier, citizenM hotels, Zoku in Amsterdam, Paris and Vienna, Virgin Voyages, the KLM Crown Lounge and Andaz Munich. It suits hospitality and retail clients who want brand and space designed together.

12. Studio Linse Hoogervorst

Interior architecture · Oost · studiolinsehoogervorst.com

Studio Linse Hoogervorst is an interior architecture practice founded by Paul Linse, working from the Panamalaan in the Eastern Docklands. Its interiors are often for cultural institutions and hotels, with a careful, material-led approach.

Projects include RIJKS restaurant and the Atrium Café at the Rijksmuseum, The Dylan hotel, the Scheepvaartmuseum and Artis’s members’ rooms in Amsterdam, the Royal Opera House in London and Leiden City Hall.

What to look for in an Amsterdam design agency

Start with the medium. Amsterdam studios tend to specialise more than their size suggests: a book designer, a wayfinding firm and an exhibition studio will each work very differently, even when they share clients. Look at whether a studio’s portfolio includes the format you need, at the scale you need it.

Look at the length of client relationships. Many of the studios above have worked with the same museum, venue or broadcaster for years. Long relationships usually mean a studio can build and maintain a design system, and a reference call with one of those clients is more useful than a pitch deck.

Ask who will do the work. Several of the strongest studios here are small and founder-led, which brings senior attention but limits capacity. Agree timelines, review rounds and print or production deadlines early, especially for books, exhibitions and interiors, where a late change has real cost.

Settle how files, feedback and approvals will be handled before the first presentation. Design projects produce large working files, many versions of proofs and comments from several stakeholders. A single place where the client can see the latest version and leave comments saves time across a long project.

How Fabric helps design agency teams

Fabric gives a design studio one workspace for its files, references, client feedback and team knowledge, with AI search across all of it. The setup for graphic design teams keeps each client’s briefs, working files, proofs and call notes together.

Large design files sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and shared team folders always hold the latest versions. Search works by meaning across documents, images and PDFs, and colour search finds visual assets by shade. Similar search finds images close in composition, colour and subject, which helps when pulling references from past projects. The canvas is an infinite whiteboard for moodboards and can embed Figma files.

For client review, studios can share a link that works without sign-up and collect threaded comments on any file. Annotations let reviewers highlight and comment on PDFs and documents, which suits proofs of books and reports. Reviewers can also leave timestamped comments on video and audio and draw on any image or video frame. Finished work can be published as a web page with password protection, and link analytics shows when each named recipient opened a presentation.

On Team plans, self-writing docs keep a page for each client with decisions, deliverables and open items, drawn from meetings, Slack and the workspace. Data is encrypted with AES-256, and Fabric is CASA Tier 2 certified.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans, and self-writing docs on Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best design agency in Amsterdam?

It depends on the work. For typographic identities and cultural clients, Experimental Jetset, thonik and Mainstudio are long-established names. For books, Irma Boom Office is the specialist. For exhibitions, wayfinding and interiors, Kossmanndejong, Mijksenaar, Concrete and Studio Linse Hoogervorst lead in their fields.

Is Studio Dumbar based in Amsterdam?

No. Studio Dumbar, now presented as Studio Dumbar/DEPT®, lists a single studio next to Rotterdam Centraal station. It is not included here for that reason.

What is the difference between a design agency and a branding agency?

There is overlap. On these lists, design agencies are studios whose main output is designed work across print, editorial, spatial and digital media, while branding agencies lead with strategy, naming and identity systems. For strategy-led identity work, see the best branding agencies in Amsterdam.

Do Amsterdam design studios work in English?

Yes. Most of the studios above work with international clients and present in English, including thonik with M+ in Hong Kong, Kossmanndejong with museums in the UK, Switzerland and the US, and Mijksenaar with airports in the Americas.

What happened to Koeweiden Postma?

The Amsterdam studio filed for bankruptcy in 2014 as part of a reorganisation and continued as part of the Total Identity group, without its founders. It no longer operates as an independent design studio.

Related lists

Design agencies in other cities: New York · London · Los Angeles · Chicago · Toronto

More in Amsterdam: Creative agencies · Branding agencies · UX design agencies · Advertising agencies · Photography studios · Animation

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for designers · Fabric for creative teams · Best design feedback tools