Prime Studio

What Prime Studio does

Prime Studio is a New York City-based product and brand design consultancy founded in 1998 by Stuart Harvey Lee, operating with 11-50 employees from a Midtown Manhattan headquarters. The firm provides end-to-end design services spanning industrial design, structural packaging design, brand design, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing liaison, targeting consumer product companies ranging from first-time founders to global CPG enterprises such as Unilever, IKEA, DORCO, Bayer, Henkel, and Tumi. Notable client work includes Welly (modular first-aid tins, acquired by Unilever two years post-launch), DORCO Sleek (iF Design Award 2026 razor), Field Company (cast iron cookware), Hanni (first female razor brand in Sephora), Puracy (Clean Can refill system), Nectar (allergy care platform), and Stryx (sold to Foundry in 2023), among others. Prime Studio also contributed to the early Harry's brand identity, with Harry's subsequently reaching a $1.7 billion valuation.

The firm's commercial model combines project-based design engagements with a recently introduced advisory division, Prime Strategy, which offers three fixed-fee engagements (Founder Sprint at $9,500, Pre-Design Brief at $17,500, and Category Entry at $22,500) that serve as a structured entry point into larger design work. Pricing for core design services is not publicly disclosed and is project-specific. Go-to-market is sales-led, driven by referrals, an extensive public portfolio and case-study library, industry award recognition (iF Design, Good Design, Pentawards, IDSA, Clutch), and direct outreach; the studio also benefits from PR and earned media including editorial coverage in Forbes, Men's Health, Vogue, Food & Wine, and design publications. Client acquisition is further supported by founder thought-leadership positioning, including Stuart Harvey Lee's selection as a judge for the 2026 Dieline Awards. The firm has been bootstrapped throughout its 27+ year history with no external funding rounds disclosed.

Name

Prime Studio

Legal name

Prime Studio Inc.

Website

https://primestudio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Prime Studio is a New York City-based product and brand design consultancy founded in 1998, serving consumer product companies from first-time founders to global CPG brands (Unilever, DORCO, IKEA) with industrial design, packaging, brand identity, and strategic advisory services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Design Services (Project-based): Prime Studio generates revenue through project-based design engagements for consumer product companies. Services include industrial design, packaging design, brand design, and engineering support. Projects range from startup product development to established brand portfolio work.
2. Strategic Advisory Services: Prime Strategy division offers fixed-fee strategic consulting engagements including Founder Sprints, Category Entry projects, and Pre-Design Briefs. These create recurring engagement entry points with predictable revenue from defined scope deliverables.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Prime Studio is a New York-based product and brand design consultancy delivering integrated industrial design, structural packaging design, brand identity, and strategy services for consumer product companies. Through its dedicated Prime Strategy advisory division, the studio also offers fixed-fee strategic engagements (Founder Sprint, Category Entry, Pre-Design Brief) that define market positioning before design work begins. Services span concept research, design, prototyping, engineering, and manufacturing liaison for clients ranging from startup founders to global CPG brands.

Product overview

Prime Studio is a New York-based product and brand design studio operating since 1998, offering strategic design services across product design, packaging design, and brand design. The firm combines brand strategy with design expertise through its Prime Strategy advisory division, which offers structured engagements including Founder Sprint, Category Entry, and Pre-Design Brief. The studio's design portfolio spans consumer products including razors (DORCO Sleek, Hanni), first aid (Welly), sustainable packaging (Puracy Clean Can), cast iron cookware (Field Company), allergy care (Nectar), housewares (Squish), and jewelry (Cast), among others. Prime Studio works with clients ranging from startup founders to global brands like Unilever and IKEA, providing industrial design, structural packaging, brand identity, engineering support, and manufacturing liaison services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Prime Strategy: Prime Studio's focused advisory division for product brands that need clear decisions, strong differentiation, and a better path to launch. Offers three core offerings: Founder Sprint, Category Entry, and Pre-Design Brief.

Products and services

• Product Design Strategic product design services including industrial design that blends creativity with practicality, optimized for manufacturing efficiency and market appeal. Targeted at consumer product companies seeking to develop or refresh physical products.
• Packaging Design Sustainable packaging design services creating memorable visual impact and elevated product presence at retail and during use, drawing on years of diverse industry experience. Targeted at consumer product companies needing retail-ready and sustainable packaging solutions.
• Brand Design Brand design services that uncover core company identity and translate purpose, values, and personality into a cohesive visual language. Targeted at consumer brands needing distinctive branding and differentiated positioning.
• Strategy & Positioning Brand strategy and market positioning services defining where brands sit relative to competition, identifying white space, and building positioning platforms. Targeted at consumer brands seeking clarity on market entry or category positioning before design execution.
• Prime Strategy Advisory division focused on strategic decisions before design begins, helping brands define what to build, who it is for, and how to win. Includes three structured offerings: Founder Sprint, Category Entry, and Pre-Design Brief.
• Founder Sprint Three-week engagement for first-time founders to pressure-test ideas, define customers, articulate product differentiation, and create a realistic development roadmap. Fixed fee $9,500. Delivers market positioning brief, value proposition, competitive landscape snapshot, development roadmap, and funding and timeline guidance.
• Pre-Design Brief Three to four week engagement for brands ready to define a product precisely before design begins. Fixed fee $17,500. Delivers feature definition and prioritization, use case and consumer interaction mapping, visual design language positioning, competitive aesthetic audit, and a complete design brief ready for handoff.
• Category Entry Four to five week engagement for brands entering established markets needing competitive positioning. Fixed fee $22,500. Delivers competitive category map, white space analysis, product definition framework, feature and use case prioritization, and development roadmap.

Quantifiable outcome

• Welly grew to 44,000+ stores and was acquired by Unilever 2 years post-launch
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mythology (formerly Partners and Spade)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Collaborated with branding agency Mythology (formerly Partners and Spade) on the Welly first aid brand project. The three teams - Cast, Mythology, and Prime Studio - worked closely together to develop the brand and packaging. This partnership built on previous collaboration on Harry's brand.
• The Bread and ButtercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrand identity for DORCO SLEEK was crafted by The Bread and Butter, reflecting a modern and forward-thinking design approach that complemented Prime Studio's industrial design work.
• Product EvocoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnered with Product Evo to bring the Puracy Clean Can System design to final production, providing manufacturing expertise and commercialization support.
• The SpyGlass CollectivecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorked closely with fashion industry powerhouse Alia Ahmed-Yahia from The SpyGlass Collective throughout the Moxie Made brand identity development project.
• FoundryminorOthersStryx, a men's cosmetic brand developed with Prime Studio's design support, was sold to Foundry in 2023, four years after launching.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Pentagram is a partner-led design firm with deep brand and packaging design practices serving major CPG and consumer clients. It overlaps with Prime Studio on brand identity and packaging design but skews more toward 2D brand work than mechanical industrial design.
• Ammunition Group: Ammunition is a product and brand design studio known for consumer electronics, beauty, and lifestyle work for clients like Beats, Hers, and Smitten Kitchen. It is comparable in size, NYC presence, and integrated product-plus-brand capability.
• frog (formerly Frog Design): frog is a global product design and strategy consultancy with a long CPG and consumer electronics track record. It competes for similar industrial design and packaging briefs and is now part of Capgemini Engineering, giving it deeper enterprise distribution than Prime Studio.
• IDEO: IDEO is a globally recognized product and brand design consultancy combining strategy, industrial design, and engineering. Like Prime Studio, it serves both startups and Fortune 500 CPG/consumer clients and operates a portfolio model across categories such as home, health, and personal care.
• Bresslergroup: Bresslergroup is an integrated product design and engineering consultancy (now part of Arcadis) that combines industrial design, mechanical engineering, and user research. Comparable end-to-end model serving consumer and medical clients.
• Map (Map Project Office): Map is a London-based product design consultancy working across furniture, consumer goods, and packaging for global brands. Comparable in combining industrial design, packaging, and brand-level strategy for premium launches.
• Smart Design: Smart Design is a New York–based product design consultancy with comparable capabilities in industrial design, packaging, brand, and engineering for consumer product companies. It serves a similar startup-through-enterprise client base across health, beauty, and home categories.
• NewDealDesign: NewDealDesign is a San Francisco industrial design studio with strengths in consumer products, packaging systems, and connected devices. Comparable scope and category breadth, particularly in household and personal care goods.
• RKS Design: RKS Design is a California-based industrial and product design consultancy with a similar mix of consumer product, healthcare, and packaging clients. It overlaps on human-centered research, mechanical engineering support, and full-scale commercialization.

Broad incumbents

• Landor & Fitch: Landor & Fitch is a global brand and design consultancy with deep CPG relationships and packaging design capabilities. It overlaps with Prime Studio's brand and packaging work but operates at significantly larger scale across a broader services portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/prime-studio
• Instagraminstagram.com/primestudio_nyc
• Xx.com/primestudio_nyc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Prime Studio