Best Design Agencies in Portland (2026)

Introduction

Portland has a compact but unusually broad design scene, and the nine studios below cover most of it: product and industrial design, packaging, wayfinding and environmental graphics, illustration, and the brand-plus-interiors work that hospitality clients now expect from a single team. Every one has an active studio in the city in 2026.

The city’s client base shapes the work. Nike in Beaverton, Columbia Sportswear and the wider outdoor industry keep a steady flow of footwear, apparel and retail design in town, and Oregon’s food, drink and spirits producers (Tillamook among them) give packaging studios a deep local roster. Public projects matter too. Portland International Airport has drawn on local firms for its main terminal wayfinding and its construction-period identity, and the city’s parks, gardens and transit agencies commission a steady run of signage and interpretive work.

The list was chosen for current portfolios, the range of disciplines each studio covers and the strength of its client list. Brand-strategy specialists, digital product shops and integrated ad agencies have their own Portland pages, so they are mostly left out here. The order carries no ranking, since the right studio depends on the brief.

The best design agencies in Portland

1. Ziba

Independent · Pearl District · ziba.com

Ziba is Portland’s best-known design consultancy, working on products, retail spaces, services and brands for global clients. Sohrab Vossoughi founded it and still leads it as CEO from its headquarters on NW 9th Avenue. The firm combines research, strategy, design and development, with a team that includes anthropologists and engineers alongside designers, and it reports more than 270 granted patents and 250 awards.

Recent work listed on its site includes a house-branded accessories range for Best Buy, a new outdoor gear brand for REI, a redesigned retail space for Reebok, a brand redesign for Kraft Heinz and an interactive merchandising platform for adidas. In 2026 it has been publishing a research series on Gen Alpha consumers, which gives a sense of how much of its work starts with fieldwork before any form is drawn.

2. Sandstrom Partners

Independent · Downtown · sandstrompartners.com

Sandstrom Partners is best known for spirits, food and consumer packaging, with a long list of whiskey, gin and liqueur bottles to its name. The studio’s work runs from identity and packaging through point-of-sale, retail displays, exhibit design, posters and mascots.

Its spirits and drinks clients include St-Germain, Bulleit Bourbon, Aviation Gin, High West and Westward Whiskey, and it has worked for Tillamook Creamery, Converse, Tazo Tea and Steven Smith Teamaker. Closer to home, it has designed the Portland International Film Festival campaign for 25 years. For a new spirits or CPG brand that needs structural packaging as well as graphics, it is an obvious first call.

3. OMFGCO

Independent · Central Eastside · omfgco.com

OMFGCO (Official Manufacturing Company) was founded in Portland in 2009 by Fritz Mesenbrink and Jeremy Pelley. It works across brand design, interiors and architecture, so a single team can design a hotel’s identity, its rooms and its public spaces. Mesenbrink remains creative director, and the studio has an in-house director of architecture and interiors.

Hospitality is the core of the portfolio: The Laylow in Waikiki, The Junto in Columbus, The Cottonwood in Omaha, Catbird in Denver and The Oliver in Oxford, Mississippi. It has also designed a retail concept for Slack, worked with Stumptown Coffee and MUJI, and built the brand and store experience for the cannabis dispensary Serra. Local restaurant and bar projects such as Bar Sprezzatura and Maudine’s show the smaller end of its range.

4. sparks+sullivan

Independent · Portland · sparkssullivan.com

sparks+sullivan is a human-centred design consultancy that Gwen Sparks Sullivan and Ryan Sullivan founded in 2019. It works on brand identity, environments, wayfinding, cartography and data visualisation, often starting with visitor research and experience mapping. Ryan Sullivan trained as an architect and worked with Jan Gehl in Copenhagen before moving into graphic design.

The studio created the brand identity and communication strategy for PDX Next, Portland International Airport’s terminal construction programme, which won a Silver at the IDSA IDEA awards. Other work includes Walk Portland and One Park (both SEGD Global Design Award honourees), and projects for the Portland Japanese Garden, Oregon Zoo, Travel Portland, Kaiser Permanente, Nike and the NBA.

5. Mayer/Reed

Independent · Downtown · mayerreed.com

Mayer/Reed combines landscape architecture and urban design with signage, wayfinding and environmental graphics, which is a rare mix in one firm. That pairing suits large public projects, where the ground plane, the signs and the interpretive material need to be designed together.

Its Portland work includes wayfinding for the airport’s main terminal, the design work on Tilikum Crossing, whose interpretive panels cover the city’s natural and urban history, the TriMet MAX Orange Line OMSI station, the Oregon Convention Center plaza and Daimler Trucks North America’s headquarters. Recent projects include signage and an art gate for the Washington School for the Deaf, Juneau visitor wayfinding and the Waterfront Education Park vision plan.

6. Murmur Creative

Independent, certified B Corp · Southeast · murmurcreative.com

Murmur Creative is a certified B Corp studio on SE Division Street that covers strategy, identity, packaging, illustration, animation and websites. It works mainly in food and drink, health and wellness, hospitality, outdoor and pet categories, plus nonprofits and education.

Featured work includes Tillamook’s Maker’s Reserve line, a rebrand for Pecking Order chicken treats, Massa Pizza Company, Heaps and Wallowa Valley Cleaning Products. It has also worked with Herb Pharm, Deschutes Brewery and Groundwork Coffee. It is a good fit for a mission-led consumer brand that wants packaging and a website from the same team.

7. Jolby

Independent · Northeast Portland · jolby.com

Jolby has run from Portland since 2005 and works where illustration meets design: brand assets, packaging, merchandise and exhibits, usually with a hand-drawn character. The studio is on NE Sandy Boulevard.

Recent projects include an illustration asset library for Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, a Zoo Oregon exhibit with The Nature Conservancy, and brand work for Wonderstate Coffee. It has also worked with Sanuk Footwear, Mercy Corps and Nickelodeon. Clients who want an illustrated system that staff can reuse across signs, packaging and social posts will find the asset-library approach useful.

8. Old Friend

Independent · Portland · oldfriend.co

Old Friend is a small partner-led studio run by Elliott Snyder and Jesse Morrow. Its services cover branding, naming, art direction, print and package design, illustration, signage and wayfinding, photography and web design, which is a wide spread for a two-partner shop.

Most of the work is food, drink and hospitality: packaging for South 40 Snacks, Montelupo and Bialy Bird, plus restaurant and bar identities such as Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, Yaki and The Public House. It also works in cannabis, with Kaleafa among its clients. For a restaurant group that needs menus, signs and a website handled together, it is a sensible size.

9. First Pick

Independent · Central Eastside · befirstpick.com

First Pick, the trading name of Tributary LLC (formerly listed as Tributary Design Studio), is a branding and packaging studio on SE Madison Street. Alongside identity and packaging it designs retail displays, unboxing experiences, illustration and patterns, signage and print, and builds Shopify and Squarespace sites.

Clients are mostly consumer product brands in food and drink and personal care, with some tech and healthcare. Named work includes Curie, Little Bee, Crust & Crave, Grit City, YooBe and Spoke & Word Books, and testimonials come from Cascadia Kitchen and Verveine. It suits early-stage CPG brands getting to shelf for the first time.

What to look for in a Portland design agency

Start with the discipline the job leans on most. Portland studios tend to specialise: Ziba for products and retail, Sandstrom Partners for structural packaging, Mayer/Reed and sparks+sullivan for wayfinding and environments, OMFGCO for hospitality interiors. A studio that does a bit of everything may be the right call for a small brand, but large physical projects usually need a specialist who has produced that kind of work before.

Ask about production partners. Packaging, signage and interiors all depend on printers, fabricators and builders, and the better Portland studios have long relationships with local suppliers. Find out who manages proofs, samples and site visits, and whether production costs sit inside the design fee or outside it.

Check the team size against the scope. Several studios on this list are run by two or three partners, which means senior attention on every project and a ceiling on how much can happen at once. For a multi-site rollout or a programme with fixed public deadlines, ask how the studio would staff it.

Finally, ask how files and approvals are handled. Design projects produce large working files, many rounds of proofs and feedback from several people on the client side. A clear system for versions, a single place where the client can see current artwork, and a record of who approved what will save time at the printer and on site.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the best design agency in Portland?

It depends on what is being designed. Ziba is the city’s best-known product and retail design consultancy, Sandstrom Partners has the strongest record in spirits and CPG packaging, and Mayer/Reed and sparks+sullivan lead on wayfinding and public environments.

Which Portland studios design packaging?

Sandstrom Partners, Murmur Creative, Old Friend, First Pick and Jolby all design packaging. Sandstrom Partners is the most experienced with structural bottle and spirits work, while First Pick and Old Friend focus more on smaller food and drink brands.

Who designs wayfinding and signage in Portland?

Mayer/Reed and sparks+sullivan are the two specialists on this list. Mayer/Reed pairs wayfinding with landscape architecture and designed the airport’s main terminal wayfinding, and sparks+sullivan created the PDX Next construction identity and has won SEGD and IDSA awards for its civic work.

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

A design agency makes the things a brand appears on: packaging, products, signs, interiors, exhibits and print. A branding agency spends more of its time on strategy, positioning and identity systems. Many studios do both, and Portland’s strategy-led specialists are on the best branding agencies in Portland list.

How much does a Portland design studio cost?

Most Portland studios quote per project rather than publishing prices. Costs vary widely with scope: a label for a single product sits at a very different level from a hotel’s identity and interiors or an airport wayfinding programme. Ask for a fee estimate that separates design time from production and fabrication costs.

Related lists

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

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

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