Best Design Agencies in Sydney (2026)

Introduction

Sydney has one of the strongest design studio scenes in the Asia-Pacific region, and the 9 studios below cover identity systems, packaging, environmental graphics, wayfinding, publishing and digital design. They were chosen for recent work, 2025 and 2026 recognition, and the quality of their client rosters.

Much of the city’s design work comes from cultural institutions, property and place projects, and Australian consumer brands. Surry Hills remains the main cluster, with several studios on this list within a few streets of each other. Recent work shows the range: Frost* collective’s work for the Sydney Film Festival took a Gold at the 2025 Transform Awards ANZ, Moffitt.Moffitt launched a new identity for Sydney Theatre Company in September 2026, and Re won three Golds at the 2025 Transform Awards ANZ for New Zealand Rugby and Solo by MYOB.

Every studio here has an active Sydney office in 2026. Strategy-led brand consultancies are covered on a separate branding page, so this list leans towards studios where design and craft lead. It runs in no fixed order of merit, since the right choice depends on your brief, budget and how you like to work.

The best design agencies in Sydney

1. Frost* collective

B Corp, founder-led · Sydney · frostcollective.com

Frost* is a design collective of designers, strategists and writers founded by Vince Frost, who remains founder, CEO and executive creative director, with Carlo Giannasca as partner and managing director. It marked 30 years in 2025, opened a new London studio the same year, and is a certified B Corp. Its work spans brand identity, campaign design, place branding, signage and wayfinding, environmental graphics and interiors.

Recent Sydney projects include the Sydney Film Festival identity (Gold for Best Creative Strategy at the 2025 Transform Awards ANZ), Sydney New Year’s Eve, Quay Quarter, North Sydney Olympic Pool, Sydney Fish Market and Sydney Children’s Hospital. At the 2025 AGDA Design Awards it won a Merit for ACON’s Ending HIV Transmission campaign. Its size suits large place and precinct projects that run for several years.

2. Garbett

Founder-led · Alexandria · garbett.com.au

Garbett is a Sydney design studio co-founded by Paul Garbett, whose career total runs to more than 300 awards, including seven AGDA Pinnacle Awards. The studio works across brand identity, wayfinding, design systems, websites, digital media and books, with a strong typographic bent. It took a Distinction for websites at the 2024 AGDA Design Awards and an “Excellent Work” selection in signage and display from the Tokyo Type Directors Club in 2025.

Clients lean towards culture, civic bodies and architecture: Artbank, the National Art School, White Bay Power Station, Museum of Australian Democracy, the University of Sydney, Yirranma Place and Fuse Architects. It has also designed identities for Sydney New Year’s Eve and the City Renewal Authority.

3. Moffitt.Moffitt

Independent · Surry Hills · moffittmoffitt.com

Moffitt.Moffitt is a Surry Hills studio covering art direction, brand strategy, naming, packaging, publications, motion and environmental design. Its sector spread is wide, from fashion and retail to architecture, finance and sport.

The studio has been busy in 2026. It launched a new brand identity and strategy for Sydney Theatre Company in September, a 2027 season campaign for the Australian Chamber Orchestra in August, and naming and identity for the health start-up Onnu in October. Longer-standing clients include Country Road, Witchery, Driza-Bone, Koichi Takada Architects, Tzannes, Atlassian Central, Silicon Quantum Computing and Super Rugby.

4. Christopher Doyle & Co

Independent · Surry Hills · christopherdoyle.co

Christopher Doyle & Co is an independent brand identity studio led by founder and creative director Christopher Doyle, who has spent more than 20 years in Australian brand and design. The studio handles visual identity, naming and verbal identity, creative direction, campaigns and digital design. Doyle has judged D&AD, AGDA and AWARD, and his work was selected for the Walker Art Center and Cooper Hewitt exhibition Graphic Design: Now in Production.

Recent clients include Mecca Coffee, Theatre Royal Sydney, Ortto, Tom Mark Henry and Machine. The studio often brings in strategists, writers and developers for each project, so ask who will be on yours.

5. Alphabet Studio

Independent · Surry Hills · alphabetstudio.co

Alphabet Studio is a Surry Hills design agency that builds brands, visual identities and campaigns, with a focus on work that has cultural and social impact. Its strength is the performing arts, where campaign identities need to change season by season while staying recognisable.

Clients include the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Sydney Dance Company, the Biennale of Sydney, Belvoir St Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company, Opera Queensland and the UK’s Manchester Collective. Commercial identity work includes Ennova and Evie.

6. Hoyne

Independent · CBD · hoyne.com.au

Hoyne is a place and property design studio with offices on Market Street in the Sydney CBD and in St Kilda, Melbourne. Its services run from place visioning and place branding to property marketing and image making, which covers CGI, animation and video. Sylvain Sommacal, head of image making, became a partner in March 2026.

Recent projects include Rozelle Village for Perifa, Woodlea Hub and MIIX for Aware and Barings. Andrew Hoyne and head of place strategy Tom Oliver Payne publish regularly on Sydney’s waterfronts, transit-oriented development and housing, which gives a clear view of how the studio thinks before you brief it.

7. Re

Independent · CBD · re.design

Re is an independent design studio founded in 2009, with studios in Sydney (Martin Place), Melbourne and London. It covers brand consulting and strategy, identity and design systems, experience principles and CX, digital design, and internal brand and EVP work.

At the 2025 Transform Awards ANZ it won Gold for New Zealand Rugby and two Golds plus Best Overall Visual Identity for Solo by MYOB, and its All Blacks and Black Ferns identity took a Silver Pin at the 2025 Best Awards. Clients include ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, Medibank, Tourism Australia, Woolworths and Manchester United. Recent launches include a BaptistCare identity and the Spott parking app for Wilson Parking.

8. SomeOne

Independent · Surry Hills · someoneinsydney.com

SomeOne is a branding and digital design practice with studios in Surry Hills and in Hoxton, London. It launches, relaunches and manages brands, with design systems that carry from identity through to digital products.

Its client list covers arts, retail, technology and education: the Australian Museum, Emporium Melbourne, Cancer Council, The Tax Institute, Magentus, Brabham Automotive and Billy Blue College of Design. The two-city setup suits Australian brands planning a UK launch, and the reverse.

9. Percept

Independent · Sydney · percept.com.au

Percept is a Sydney studio working across brand identity, naming, packaging design, visual communication and digital design. Packaging is a large part of the practice, from new product ranges to refreshes of existing ones. Its Stray to Stay brand identity won a Merit in the Design For Good category at the 2025 AGDA Design Awards.

Recent projects include Endeavour Mutual Bank, Coopers Brewery, Sharks FC and Hypro Pet Foods, and its client list includes ASX, CSIRO, DuluxGroup, Suntory, Unilever and Woolworths Group. It suits brands that need packaging and identity handled by the same team.

What to look for in a Sydney design agency

Start with the kind of design you need most. Sydney studios tend to specialise even when they offer a broad service list: some are strongest in identity and typography, some in packaging, and others in place, wayfinding and environmental graphics for precincts and buildings. Ask to see three projects close to your brief, and ask what the studio did on each one, since large place and property projects often involve several firms.

Look at how long the studio’s identities last. A good identity system should still hold up two or three years after launch, across signage, digital, print and campaigns. Arts clients are a useful test, because their seasonal campaigns show whether a system flexes without losing its shape. AGDA results and the Transform Awards ANZ are reasonable signals, though many good studios enter rarely.

Be clear about scope and what you will own at the end. Design fees in Sydney are usually set per project, with separate stages for strategy, concept, development and rollout. Agree up front which files, fonts and guidelines you receive, whether type licences are included, and how much rollout support the fee covers.

Finally, ask how the studio runs reviews. Identity and packaging projects pass through many rounds of concepts, mock-ups and print proofs, often with several stakeholders on the client side. Studios that keep one current set of files, gather feedback in one place and record approvals clearly will save you time across a long project.

How Fabric helps design teams

Fabric gives a design studio one workspace for its files, client feedback and reference material, with AI search across all of it. The agency setup suits the way the studios above work: one space per client, with briefs, concepts, artwork files and meeting notes kept together.

Large working files sit in Fabric’s cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space. Search works by meaning across documents, images and PDFs, and colour search finds visual assets by shade, which helps when pulling past palettes or packaging shots. Similar search surfaces images with related composition, colour and subject when building a reference set.

Early concept work fits on a canvas, an infinite whiteboard that embeds Figma files, videos and images and exports to SVG or PNG, which makes it a practical place for moodboards. Finished guidelines can be published as a web page from the source folder and shared with password protection, so clients always see the latest version.

For review rounds, clients can leave threaded comments through a shared link without creating an account, and annotations add highlights and comments to PDFs such as print proofs and guideline drafts. Reviewers can also leave timestamped comments on video and draw on any image or video frame. Link analytics shows when each named recipient opened a presentation and how long they spent with it.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best design agency in Sydney?

There is no single answer, as the right studio depends on the brief. On recent recognition, Frost* collective won Gold at the 2025 Transform Awards ANZ for the Sydney Film Festival, Re won three Golds at the same awards, and Garbett’s founder Paul Garbett holds seven AGDA Pinnacle Awards.

Where are most Sydney design studios based?

Surry Hills has the largest cluster. Moffitt.Moffitt, Christopher Doyle & Co, Alphabet Studio and SomeOne all work from there. Others sit in the CBD (Hoyne, Re) and Alexandria (Garbett).

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

The line is loose. Design studios usually lead with craft and making: identity systems, packaging, signage, publications and digital. Branding consultancies lead with strategy, positioning and naming, and often hand production to others. For strategy-led firms, see the best branding agencies in Sydney.

Which Sydney studios specialise in place and environmental design?

Frost* collective and Hoyne both work on precincts, property and public places. Frost* covers place branding, signage, wayfinding and environmental graphics, while Hoyne focuses on place visioning, place branding and property marketing. Garbett also designs wayfinding systems.

How much does a design agency in Sydney cost?

Studios rarely publish prices. Most quote per project, broken into stages such as strategy, concept, design development and rollout, and costs depend on the number of applications and how many rounds of review are included. Ask for a staged quote and confirm what files and licences you receive at the end.

Related lists

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

More in Sydney: 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