Best Design Agencies in Toronto (2026)

Introduction

Toronto has Canada's broadest bench of design studios, and the 12 below cover most of what a client might need: identity systems, books and magazines, packaging, exhibitions, museum galleries and wayfinding. They were chosen for recent work, 2025 and 2026 recognition, and the strength of their client lists.

The city's design scene runs on a mix of long-established practices and small, partner-led studios. Several of the firms here have been working for more than 30 years, and a few changed shape recently. Entro, the wayfinding firm founded in Toronto in 1990, was acquired by the investment firm Astria Elevate in July 2025. Bruce Mau Design now works as part of 72andSunny within Stagwell. The Applied Arts Design Awards in 2025 and 2026 and the Advertising & Design Club of Canada (ADCC) remain the main local benchmarks, and the Registered Graphic Designers association runs its DesignThinkers conference in the city.

Every studio here has an active Toronto office in 2026. Pure brand strategy and naming consultancies sit on our separate branding list. The list 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 Toronto

1. Bruce Mau Design

Part of 72andSunny (Stagwell) · King Street East · brucemaudesign.com

Bruce Mau Design (BMD) is a multidisciplinary studio working across identity, editorial design, environments, packaging and digital. Its Toronto studio is on King Street East, with a second office in New York, and it operates as a distinct practice within 72andSunny. Laura Stein leads the creative work as chief creative officer and partner.

In March 2026 BMD released the 75th anniversary design system for The National Ballet of Canada, built into the identity it had reworked for the company in 2024. Other recent work includes the Toronto Pearson International Airport identity, a refresh for Infiniti, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Zayed National Museum in the UAE. The studio often runs pop-up studios inside client organisations during discovery, which suits large institutions with many stakeholders.

2. Blok Design

Independent · Toronto · blokdesign.com

Blok Design is led by creative director Vanessa Eckstein and is best known for cultural, civic and hospitality work that crosses identity, books, exhibitions and environmental design. In 2026 it won at the Communication Arts awards (book design and integrated branding) and twice at the Applied Arts Design Awards, and Strategy shortlisted it for Small Design Agency of the Year.

Recent projects include work for the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, the Neptis Foundation, White Ribbon, the publication Impossible Toronto: On the Courtyard and the restaurant The Frederick. Earlier clients include TIFF, Nike, Adobe and The Broadview Hotel. The studio also has a long record of projects in Mexico City.

3. Underline Studio

Independent · Junction Triangle · underlinestudio.com

Claire Dawson and Fidel Peña founded Underline Studio in 2005 and marked its 20th year in 2025. It works mainly with cultural, educational and nonprofit organisations, and it was ADCC Design Studio of the Year in 2019. The studio was among the winners at the Applied Arts Design Awards in both 2025 and 2026.

In 2025 it designed Archive/Recollection, a book on 75 years of the ADCC, which earned a Type Directors Club Certificate of Excellence and a D&AD shortlist. It also designed Canada Post stamps marking civilian internment and Diwali. Long-running clients include the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Massey Hall, the National Gallery of Canada and the University of Toronto.

4. Hambly & Woolley

Independent · Leslieville · hamblywoolley.com

Bob Hambly and Barb Woolley founded the studio in 1990, and it now runs as a nine-person team from Logan Avenue. Its work centres on brand systems, publications, websites and information design, with recognition over the years from AIGA, the Art Directors Club, Communication Arts, Graphis and the ADCC.

Clients have included the Toronto Zoo, the ROM, the University of Toronto and Harry Rosen, and recent projects include the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Osgoode Hall Law School. The studio suits organisations that want a long-term design partner for a steady flow of practical work.

5. Whitman Emorson

Independent · Junction Triangle · whitmanemorson.com

Whitman Emorson started in New York in 2011 and now works from a studio on Sterling Road. It describes its range as brand strategy, identity, packaging, signage, books, magazines and exhibitions, and it was among the Applied Arts Design Award winners in 2025 and 2026.

Recent projects include identities for DesignThinkers, First Canadian Place, Allied Properties REIT, Oona and One of a Kind. Its client list also includes Holt Renfrew, Hilton, H&M, the Rotman School of Management, Massey Hall and the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto.

6. Public Address

Independent · Toronto · publicaddress.studio

Public Address is a brand design studio founded by Christa Muio and Chris Braden. Its scope runs from strategy and identity to editorial design, motion, icon systems and environmental graphics, and the team includes motion designers alongside creative directors.

The studio has worked on FIFA World Cup 2026, the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 and the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Other projects include YYZ Artists' Outlet, Play@TED, Beltline Yards and Wholly Veggie!. It is a good fit for organisations at a launch or relaunch that need a system built quickly across many touchpoints.

7. Vanderbrand

Independent · Toronto · vanderbrand.com

Vanderbrand calls itself an independent strategy and creative office and works across identity, creative direction, print and digital. Its "On the Bench" destination brand for the Niagara Benchlands, made for Globizen, won Bronze for a complete design program at the 2025 ADCC Awards and was shortlisted at Communication Arts. The studio also won at the 2025 Applied Arts Design Awards.

Other work includes Sapsucker, the One Delisle residential tower, Base31 in Prince Edward County and Procurian. RGD's Branding Awards named it Small Creative Agency in 2023.

8. The Office of Gilbert Li

Independent · Fashion District · gilbertli.com

The Office of Gilbert Li is a small studio on Spadina Avenue focused on the design of books, periodicals and other printed matter. It also handles art direction, typography and visual identity for the organisations it publishes with.

Clients include artists, publishers and cultural groups such as Kelly Mark, the Images Festival, RGD and the University of Toronto. For a monograph, catalogue or magazine, it is one of the most specialised editorial options in the city.

9. Entro

Owned by Astria Elevate · Harbourfront · entro.com

Entro is an experiential design firm specialising in wayfinding, environmental graphics, placemaking and donor recognition. It was founded in Toronto in 1990 and has around 100 staff across Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and New York. Astria Elevate acquired the firm in July 2025 and appointed John Campanella as CEO, with founders Wayne McCutcheon and Andrew Kuzyk moving to advisory roles.

Its Toronto work includes Scotiabank Arena, SickKids, BMO Place and Artscape Launchpad, and international projects include Changi Airport, SEPTA and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Wayfinding projects run on construction timelines, so involve the firm early.

10. R&P Design (Reich&Petch)

Independent, principal-led · Midtown · designrp.com

Tony Reich and Whit Petch founded Reich&Petch in 1987 as an architectural practice. It is now a multidisciplinary studio of architects, exhibit designers, graphic designers and technologists working on museums, visitor centres and cultural spaces, with offices in Toronto and New York.

Its galleries include the Smithsonian's Deep Time Fossil Hall and Hall of Mammals, the ROM's Biodiversity Gallery and exhibitions at the Aga Khan Museum. In 2026 its WaterShed exhibits for the City of Boise won a Silver Indigo Design Award, and the London Children's Museum it worked on beat its first-year visitor target.

11. Doublenaut

Independent · Toronto · doublenaut.com

Matt and Andrew McCracken founded Doublenaut in 2004 and still run it as a two-partner studio that produces every project itself. The work leans on illustration, packaging, iconography and murals as much as identity.

Clients include Bellwoods Brewery, the Polaris Music Prize, Blackbird Baking Co., Adidas, Saucony and McCafé. It suits brands where illustration and packaging carry most of the identity.

12. Overdrive Design

Independent · Toronto · overdrivedesign.com

Overdrive Design has worked from Toronto since 1986, covering identity, visual communications, web, illustration and animation. It has particular experience with insurance, healthcare, education, museums and civic heritage projects.

Recent work includes a brand refresh for CAA South Central Ontario, the Hamilton 175 digital museum for the city's anniversary and the identity system for the DesignThinkers conference, which won Gold at the Summit International Awards.

What to look for in a Toronto design agency

Start with the medium your project lives in. Toronto's studios divide fairly clearly: some are strongest in print and books, some in identity systems, and others in physical space, such as galleries and wayfinding. A studio that designs museum galleries will run a different process, with architects and fabricators involved, from one that designs a quarterly magazine.

Look at who owns the studio and who will do the work. Most firms on this list are independent and partner-led, which usually means the founders are close to every project. Firms inside larger groups, or recently acquired, can bring more people and reach, so ask how the team is structured and who signs off the creative.

Check the cultural and public-sector record if that is your field. Many Toronto studios built their reputation with arts organisations, universities and civic clients, and they are used to boards, committees, bilingual requirements and accessibility standards. Ask for examples where the approval chain looked like yours.

Finally, ask how files, proofs and approvals are handled. Identity and editorial projects produce many rounds of PDFs, image libraries, type files and guidelines, and environmental work adds drawings and fabrication proofs. Studios with one clear place for the latest versions and a simple way to collect comments tend to keep projects on schedule.

How Fabric helps design agency 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 is organised around clients, so briefs, artwork, type files, photography and meeting notes for each account sit together.

Large artwork and image libraries live in Fabric's cloud drive, which streams files on demand so they take no local disk space, and shared team folders always show the latest version. Search works by meaning across documents, PDFs and images, and colour search finds assets by shade, which helps when pulling past palettes. Similar search finds images close in composition, colour and subject to one you select.

For early-stage work, the canvas is an infinite board for moodboards that can embed live Figma files and export to SVG or PNG. Finished guidelines and presentations can be published as a web page with password protection, and link analytics shows when each named recipient opened the link and how long they spent with it.

Clients can leave threaded comments through a shared link without creating an account, and annotations let reviewers highlight and comment directly on PDF proofs. Timestamped comments and drawing on images and video are coming soon.

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 Toronto?

There is no single answer, as the right studio depends on the project. On 2026 recognition, Blok Design won at Communication Arts and Applied Arts and was shortlisted for Strategy's Small Design Agency of the Year, while Underline Studio and Whitman Emorson were both among the Applied Arts Design Award winners.

Which Toronto studios design museum exhibitions and wayfinding?

R&P Design (Reich&Petch) designs museum galleries and visitor centres, including work for the ROM and the Smithsonian. Entro specialises in wayfinding and environmental graphics for venues such as Scotiabank Arena and SickKids. Blok Design and Bruce Mau Design also take on environmental and exhibition work alongside identity projects.

What happened to Entro?

The investment firm Astria Elevate acquired Entro in July 2025 and appointed John Campanella as CEO. The founders stayed on as advisers, and the firm continues to operate from Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and New York.

Who owns Bruce Mau Design?

Bruce Mau Design works as part of 72andSunny, which belongs to the Stagwell network. It keeps its own studio in Toronto and an office in New York.

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

Design agencies here produce the finished work across many formats, from books and packaging to galleries and signage. Branding agencies focus more on strategy, naming and positioning. For those, see our list of the best branding agencies in Toronto.

Related lists

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

More in Toronto: Creative agencies · Branding agencies · UX design agencies · Advertising agencies · Photography studios · Content studios

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