Caserne
Caserne is a Montréal-based independent design studio founded in 2012, delivering brand strategy, visual identity, campaign, packaging, and digital design services to global enterprise brands, cultural institutions, and consumer companies.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersMontréal, Canada
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Caserne does
Caserne is an independent, founder-led design studio headquartered in Montréal, founded in 2012. It is organized around five core service pillars — Brand Strategy & Positioning, Visual Identity, Campaign, Packaging, and Website/Digital — delivered by a creative team of approximately 15 designers, strategists, and account managers led by creative directors Ugo Varin Lachapelle and Léo Breton-Allaire and design director Sébastien Paradis. The studio's commercial model is project-based fee-for-service: clients engage Caserne through direct relationships for defined engagements spanning strategy, positioning, identity systems, art direction, packaging, motion, web design, and development, with quote-based pricing that is not publicly disclosed.
Caserne's client roster spans global enterprise brands, cultural institutions, and emerging consumer companies, with named engagements including Apple, Google, 2K Games (Cloud Chamber), Cirque du Soleil, The North Face, UNESCO, Amnesty International, Stûv, MTY Food Group, Moment Factory, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. Marquee projects include the Club Piscine rebranding (41 franchise locations), Midi tequila packaging (North America distribution), Stûv's "art of slow living" repositioning, and Aura Invalides in Paris with Moment Factory. The studio also operates two Montreal offices and owns FORUM, an annual design assembly with a recurring partner ecosystem.
The studio has accumulated repeat industry recognition, including three consecutive ADCC Canadian Design Studio of the Year awards (2023–2025), and ongoing wins at the Art Directors Club, Type Directors Club, Dieline, Idéa, AppliedArts, and Grafika. Its most recently surfaced product, Tech Icons, is a London-based media platform for technology investors that uses AI for research/analysis and AI artists for editorial visuals — a peripheral AI-augmented offering rather than a core competency. Caserne is privately held and founder-owned with no disclosed institutional investment.
Caserne firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Caserne
- Legal name
- Caserne
- Website
- https://caserne.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Caserne is a Montréal-based independent design studio founded in 2012, delivering brand strategy, visual identity, campaign, packaging, and digital design services to global enterprise brands, cultural institutions, and consumer companies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Caserne industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Design Services
- NAICS
- Graphic Design Services (54143), Industrial Design Services (54142)
- SIC
- Service Industries For The Printing Trade (2790)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM)
Keywords
Where Caserne is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Montréal
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Caserne business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Design Services: Project-based design fees for brand identity, visual identity, campaigns, packaging, web development, and related creative services. Clients include global brands across food/beverage, cultural institutions, fashion, technology, and nonprofit sectors.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Caserne product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Caserne is an independent design studio offering comprehensive brand and design services organized around five core service pillars: Brand Strategy & Positioning, Visual Identity, Campaign, Packaging, and Website/Digital. The studio serves enterprise clients globally with project-based engagements spanning brand architecture, logos and wordmarks, editorial design, campaigns, packaging design, web design and development. Caserne works with major brands including Apple, Google, 2K Games, Cirque du Soleil, and The North Face.
Product overview
Caserne is an independent design studio founded in 2012 in Montreal, Canada, offering a comprehensive suite of design services structured around five core service pillars: Brand Strategy & Positioning (positioning, brand architecture, naming, tone of voice, narrative), Visual Identity (logos, wordmarks, iconography, editorial design, print), Campaign (creative direction, social media, motion design), Packaging (industrial design, consumer research, packaging design, prototyping), and Website/Digital (strategy, UX, web design, development). The studio serves a global client roster including 2K Games, Apple, Google, Moment Factory, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and The North Face, among others. Caserne's portfolio encompasses over 35 named project engagements spanning brand identity work (Cloud Chamber for 2K Games, Stûv, CCR, Club Piscine), packaging (Midi Tequila, Chasse-Marée, Dam Drinks, Carrot Dogs), editorial and exhibition design (MBAM Flemish Masters, MAC, Théâtre La Licorne), campaign and digital work (CISM Radio, Muni, Supermarché Avril), AI-integrated media platforms (Tech Icons), and cultural events (FORUM annual design assembly). The studio's own brand FORUM is also among its notable creations, representing its role in fostering the creative community. Notably, the studio has been recognized as Canadian Design Studio of the Year by the ADCC three years in a row (2023, 2024, 2025).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Brand Strategy & Positioning Strategic consulting services including brand positioning, brand architecture, naming identity, brand tone of voice, and brand narrative development for enterprise clients seeking brand transformation.
- Visual Identity Visual identity design including brand identity, logos and wordmarks, iconography, editorial design, and printed materials for brands and organizations.
- Campaign Campaign development including platform creation, creative direction, social media, and motion design for brand campaigns.
- Packaging Packaging design services including industrial design, consumer research, packaging design, infographics, and prototyping for food, beverage, and consumer product brands.
- Website / Digital Web and digital services including digital strategy, wireframing, information architecture, UX, web design, and web development for brand digital presence.
- FORUM Annual Design Assembly Annual design assembly created and organized by Caserne that brings together global creative leaders in Montreal with a bilingual and multicultural identity.
Companies that use Caserne
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Caserne technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability4 records
Caserne partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Moment FactorycoreCaserne collaborated with Moment Factory on the Aura Invalides immersive experience project in Paris, developing visual identity and communication materials for the heritage site lighting installation. Also collaborated on the Arcade immersive experience project.
- Rouge CardinalcoreStrategic and creative collaboration with Rouge Cardinal on the Club Piscine rebranding project. The partnership combined strategic media expertise with creative design to evolve the iconic Quebec brand.
- Scorpion DaggerminorCollaboration with Scorpion Dagger for the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts 'Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools' exhibition campaign, creating video capsules for social media.
- Études StudiominorCollaboration with Études Studio for FORUM MMXXIII special collection, developing a limited edition product line.
- Atelier Zébulon PerronminorArchitecture firm collaborated with Caserne on Olive+Gourmando expansion project.
- L'ÉLOIminorPartner in FORUM 2024 annual design assembly event.
- HypercodexminorPartner in FORUM 2024 annual design assembly event.
- UQAMminorUniversity partner for FORUM 2024 annual design assembly event.
- On (running shoes)minorCo-organized Forum Run social event with On running shoes brand during FORUM design conference.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Caserne competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mucca: Mucca is an independent design studio known for packaging and brand identity work with strong typographic focus; comparable in scale and design-led differentiation to Caserne, particularly in the F&B packaging category.
- COLLINS (formerly Brand Union San Francisco): COLLINS is an independent brand and design consultancy serving technology, cultural, and consumer clients with work comparable to Caserne's Cloud Chamber and cultural-institution engagements.
- Pentagram: Pentagram is the world's largest independent brand-identity and design studio, operating as a partner-led model similar to Caserne's. It is the most direct global benchmark for boutique brand identity work at scale.
- Sagmeister (formerly Sagmeister & Walsh): Sagmeister is an award-winning independent design studio focused on brand identity, typography, and packaging for cultural and commercial clients — a close comparable in studio size, award profile, and creative ambition.
- Manual: Manual is an independent creative and design agency working with technology and consumer brands on brand identity, campaigns, and packaging — a comparable mid-sized alternative to the larger holding-company agencies.
- Wolff Olins: Wolff Olins is a global brand consultancy with a strong creative identity practice serving Apple, Google, and other marquee technology and cultural clients — directly comparable in client profile and brand-strategy emphasis to Caserne.
- Mucho: Mucho is an independent brand-identity and packaging studio with award-winning work across global cultural and consumer clients — closely comparable to Caserne in studio size, typographic craft, and category focus.
- Koto Studio: Koto is an independent brand-identity studio known for tech-sector rebrands (e.g., OnePlus, GoCardless); comparable in boutique positioning and emphasis on conceptual, strategy-led identity work.
Broad incumbents
- Landor & Fitch: Landor is one of the largest brand-consulting and design firms globally, serving enterprise clients across packaging, brand identity, and brand strategy — a scaled incumbent that competes with Caserne for marquee rebranding mandates.
Regional players
- Bruce Mau Design: Bruce Mau Design is a Canadian design studio known for large-scale brand systems and cultural projects; comparable as a regional Canadian peer with similar institutional and cultural-institution client work.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Caserne social profiles
Digital presenceCaserne financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Caserne leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Caserne funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Caserne M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Caserne
What does Caserne do?
Caserne is an independent design studio offering comprehensive brand and design services organized around five core service pillars: Brand Strategy & Positioning, Visual Identity, Campaign, Packaging, and Website/Digital. The studio serves enterprise clients globally with project-based engagements spanning brand architecture, logos and wordmarks, editorial design, campaigns, packaging design, web design and development. Caserne works with major brands including Apple, Google, 2K Games, Cirque du Soleil, and The North Face.
Is Caserne a public or private company?
Caserne is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Caserne founded?
Caserne was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Caserne based?
Caserne is headquartered in Montréal, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Caserne make money?
One revenue line is on record: design Services.
Who are Caserne's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mucca, COLLINS (formerly Brand Union San Francisco), Pentagram, Sagmeister (formerly Sagmeister & Walsh), Manual, Wolff Olins, Mucho and Koto Studio. Landor & Fitch is listed as a broad incumbent. Bruce Mau Design is listed as a regional player.
Does Caserne have an API?
No public API is recorded for Caserne.
What industry is Caserne in?
Caserne's product category is Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAM, Industrial/Product & Furniture Design. Its NAICS code is 54143 and its SIC code is 2790.