Best Brand Design Agency

Ranked #8 of 14 for best brand design agency

Red Antler review

A New York branding and advertising agency, founded in 2007, that built the launch brands for Casper and Allbirds 1 2 3.

Updated By the Best Brand Design Agency deskHow we scoreDisclosure

This guide is free, and no agency pays to be listed, ranked or linked. How the site is funded.

Verdict

7.5/10

Pick Red Antler to launch a startup brand with strategy, naming and identity from one team: it named Allbirds and built its brand from scratch, worked with Casper's founders from their early product development and runs a dedicated pre-launch team for founders 3 2 4.

Best for Startup launch brands

Skip it if you want a published price or minimum budget before you make contact 5, or you are choosing on design-award record: D&AD lists one Red Antler award, a 2026 Wood Pencil 6.

Visit Red Antler (opens the Red Antler website)

Red Antler at a glance
Founded2007, by Emily Heyward and JB Osborne 71
OwnershipPrivately held; part of Red Antler Group with sister firms Fat Earth and Wild Fruit 18
Based inNew York, NY; the site's structured data and LinkedIn give 160 Varick St 7 81
Team size51-200 employees on LinkedIn; the site's structured data states 100 78
Client stagesEnterprise, growth-stage startups and pre-launch startups, the three choices on the inquiry form5
Published minimum budgetNot published; the inquiry form asks for stage and scope and has no budget field5
Case studies62 on the Work page (our count, 2026-11-09), plus 7 case pages listed only in the site's sitemap 9; of the 62, 56 are tagged Brand Strategy and 12 Naming10
Awards, 2026D&AD Wood Pencil for Tendril, Illustration; Gold for Rebrand or Relaunch at The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas, for McKinsey 1112

How Red Antler scores

Score breakdown for Red Antler
Body of work 30%8.5Red Antler named Allbirds and developed its brand from scratch 3, built Casper's brand from the founders' early product development 2, and created the brands for Ramp, Archer and Figure 13 14 15. It evolved the Hinge and AllTrails brands 16 17. The 62 case studies lean to startups and consumer brands; large-company work includes McKinsey's centennial campaign and Google Fiber's brand 10 18 19.
Recognition 20%5.5D&AD lists one Red Antler award: a 2026 Wood Pencil in Illustration for Tendril 12. D&AD's 2026 tables rank it 76th among design agencies and 34th among small independent design agencies 6. The McKinsey campaign won Gold for Rebrand or Relaunch at The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas 2026, with Red Antler's team in the credits 11. The About page cites Fast Company's Most Innovative list with no year 1; we could not confirm it on Fast Company's site.
Strategy depth 15%9.056 of the 62 case studies are tagged Brand Strategy, 17 Research and 12 Naming, including Allbirds, Figure, Duckbill and Jot 10 3 15 20 21. The About page lists research, naming, brand strategy, brand architecture, change management and verbal identity 1. Co-founder Emily Heyward's book on launch branding came out from Portfolio in 2020 22, and the agency publishes a 2026 State of Brand report 23.
Access and fit 15%7.0The inquiry form asks whether you were referred, your stage (enterprise, growth-stage startup or pre-launch startup) and your scope, with no budget field 5. A dedicated pre-launch team works directly with founders, and a second track covers businesses defending or claiming category leadership 4. No price, minimum or timeline is published 5.
Range of delivery 10%8.5The About page lists visual, verbal and sonic identity, packaging, apps and product design, physical experience design, engineering, brand films, out-of-home and social 1. Across the 62 case studies, 20 are tagged Packaging Design and 16 Engineering 10; Corkcicle's cooler line came from its industrial design team, and the Webbys work included motion guidelines 24 25. Environments are thin: Rebag is the one case study tagged Interiors & Environments 26.
Transparency 10%6.0The About page names 13 leaders and lists services in four groups 1, and each of the 62 case studies lists the services delivered 10. Case studies carry no project team credits, and no prices, minimum budget or process steps are published 13 5. The addresses conflict: the site's structured data and LinkedIn give 160 Varick St, New York, while the Terms of Use give 20 Jay St, Brooklyn 7 8 27.

Strengths and weak spots

Strengths

  • Launch work from the first prototype: Red Antler named Allbirds and developed its brand from scratch, and built Casper's brand from the founders' early product development 3 2.
  • A dedicated pre-launch team works directly with founders, and the inquiry form has a path for pre-launch startups 4 5.
  • Strategy runs through the portfolio: 56 of the 62 case studies on its Work page are tagged Brand Strategy and 12 Naming 10.
  • One team covers identity, packaging, engineering, industrial design and ad campaigns, such as Hinge's Designed to be Deleted campaign 1 16 24.
  • Repeat founders: Figure's CEO Brett Adcock says he has worked with Red Antler on five companies 28.

Weak spots

  • No published prices, minimum budget or timeline, and the inquiry form has no budget field 5.
  • A thin design-award record: D&AD lists one award, a 2026 Wood Pencil, and ranks Red Antler 76th among design agencies for 2026 6.
  • Case studies list the services delivered but carry no project team credits 13.
  • Environments are thin: one of 62 case studies, Rebag, is tagged Interiors & Environments 26.

Alternatives to Red Antler

Head to head

Red Antler: common questions

How much does Red Antler charge?

Red Antler publishes no prices, day rates or minimum budget. Its inquiry form asks whether you were referred, your business stage and your project scope, and has no budget field 5.

Does Red Antler work with pre-launch startups?

Yes. Red Antler says its dedicated pre-launch team works directly with founders 4, and the inquiry form lists Pre-Launch Startup next to Growth Stage Startup and Enterprise 5. It met the Allbirds founders while they were prototyping their first shoe and developed the brand from scratch 3.

Who owns Red Antler?

Red Antler, LLC runs the website 27 and is privately held, according to its LinkedIn page 8. It belongs to Red Antler Group, led by co-founder JB Osborne, alongside Fat Earth and Wild Fruit 1. D&AD ranks it in its small independent agency tables 6.

Sources

  1. Red Antler. About | Red Antler: NYC Creative Agency founded in 2007. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  2. Red Antler. Casper. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  3. Red Antler. Allbirds. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  4. Red Antler. Clients | Marketing Agency for Startups at Every Stage. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  5. Red Antler. Contact | Red Antler. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  6. D&AD. Red Antler. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  7. Red Antler. Red Antler: Leading Branding Agency NYC | Expert Brand Strategy & Digital Experiences. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  8. LinkedIn (company page). Red Antler | LinkedIn. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  9. Red Antler. Red Antler sitemap. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  10. Red Antler. Work | Branding Excellence and Marketing Case Studies from Red Antler. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  11. The Drum (Carnyx Group). The Drum Awards for Marketing Americas: results, What's Your Next Brilliant Move. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  12. D&AD. Tendril (D&AD Awards archive). Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  13. Red Antler. Ramp. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  14. Red Antler. Archer. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  15. Red Antler. Figure. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  16. Red Antler. Hinge. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  17. Red Antler. AllTrails. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  18. Red Antler. McKinsey. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  19. Red Antler. Google Fiber. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  20. Red Antler. Duckbill. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  21. Red Antler. Jot. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  22. Penguin Random House. Obsessed by Emily Heyward: 9780593084311. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  23. Red Antler. The 2026 State of Brand. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  24. Red Antler. Corkcicle. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  25. Red Antler. The Webby Awards. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  26. Red Antler. Rebag. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  27. Red Antler. Terms of Use. Checked 9 Nov 2026.
  28. Red Antler. AI | AI Branding Solutions. Checked 9 Nov 2026.