Gardner Design

What Gardner Design does

Gardner Design is a privately-held branding and design agency founded in 1983 and headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, operating with a team of nine professionals including founder-owner Bill Gardner as Creative Director, four partners across marketing, digital, and art direction functions, a web developer, two designers, and a Director of Operations. The firm provides integrated design services across five core disciplines: identity design (logos, brand systems, and visual language), custom website design and development built in-house, environmental graphics (signage, wayfinding, and branded spaces), immersive events (multi-sensory experiences incorporating projection mapping, lighting, live painting, and interactive installations), and nomenclature/naming strategy with domain availability and trademark assessment.

The firm generates revenue through custom professional services engagements billed on a project basis; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Its client portfolio spans local SMBs (Alzavino Wine Tavern, Aero Plains Brewing, Local Roasters Co.) to major national enterprises (Kroger C-Stores, UCLA, IMA Financial Group, Facebook, Spirit AeroSystems, Cessna, Koch Industries, Cargill), across verticals including education, financial services, food & beverage, nonprofits, healthcare, retail, and government. Notable project scale includes a unified identity system for 750+ convenience stores across 18 states (Kroger C-Stores), environmental graphics and wayfinding for a $132M high school project (Junction City High School), and a website redesign with 100+ custom icons for a financial group managing $8B+ in premiums (IMA Financial Group).

Gardner Design markets primarily through an extensive portfolio website with detailed case studies, organic social media on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, earned media including Wichita Business Journal and Wichita Eagle coverage, and thought leadership from Bill Gardner's published books and speaking engagements at industry conferences such as HOW Design Live. The firm has no external investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed funding history, operating as an independent, founder-led studio with no demonstrated scaling of headcount or geographic footprint across its four-decade history.

Name

Gardner Design

Legal name

Gardner Design

Website

https://gardnerdesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Gardner Design is a Wichita, Kansas-based branding and design agency founded in 1983, serving SMBs to national enterprises across education, financial services, food & beverage, nonprofit, and retail sectors with identity design, custom websites, environmental graphics, immersive events, and nomenclature services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (541430), Graphic Design Services (54143), Interior Design Services (541410), Other Specialized Design Services (541490)

akta.pro primary industry

Visual Identity & Brand Design Systems (BPAFAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage) (MPAAAEAG), Packaging & Brand Identity Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAN), Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD), Creative Concepting & Campaign Development (BPAFAEAD), Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB)

Keywords

• Branding and identity design
• Custom website design
• Environmental graphic design
• Immersive event design
• Nomenclature and naming

Headquarters

HQ city

Wichita

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, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Professional Design Services: Gardner Design generates revenue through client engagements for brand identity, website design, environmental graphics, immersive events, and nomenclature/naming services. Projects are typically custom engagements tailored to client needs, ranging from startups to large enterprises like Kroger and national organizations like UCLA.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Gardner Design is a Wichita-based branding and design studio founded in 1983 that formulates corporate identities for organizations. The firm delivers identity design (logos, brand systems, visual language), custom in-house website design and development, environmental graphics and signage, multi-sensory immersive event experiences, and brand nomenclature/naming strategy.

Product overview

Gardner Design is a Wichita-based branding and design agency offering a portfolio of integrated services including Identity Design (logos and brand systems), Custom Websites (design and development), Immersive Events (multi-sensory experiences), Environmental Graphics (branded spaces and signage), and Nomenclature & Naming Strategy. Founded in 1983, the agency works with clients across diverse industries including healthcare, education, financial services, food & beverage, and technology to build purposeful brand identities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Identity Design Logo design, brand systems, and visual language development including color palette, typography, and repeatable brand elements for organizations seeking to build or refresh their corporate identity.
• Custom Websites Full-service custom website design and development, built in-house, featuring responsive design and brand-aligned aesthetics for organizational clients.
• Immersive Events Physical event experiences that engage multiple senses, including stage design, lighting, multimedia, projection mapping, live painting, and interactive installations for corporate and organizational clients.
• Environmental Graphics Branded spaces including signage, wayfinding systems, dimensional displays, and experiential installations for interiors and architecture.
• Nomenclature and Naming Strategy Brand naming and nomenclature development including domain availability evaluation, trademark safety assessment, and brand hierarchy architecture for organizations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Gypsum Hills Ranch website won honorable mention from Awwwards.com
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments7 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

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Ten WorkscoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerFabrication partner for environmental graphics and displays. Collaborated on Rudd Foundation headquarters environmental graphics and Kansas Health Foundation experiential installations including Lite-Brite wall, interactive pegboard, and rotating panels.
• Shelden ArchitecturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArchitecture firm partner for projects involving physical space transformation. Partnered on Rudd Foundation headquarters renovation and Kansas Health Foundation interior transformation projects.
• Kent AVsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSound, lighting, and projection mapping vendor for immersive events. Provided technical production for Emprise Bank Employee Meeting and Kansas Health Foundation HealthRise events.
• Justin McClure CreativesupportingTechnology or IntegrationVideo and motion design collaborator. Partnered on HealthRise 2025 event providing video and motion design alongside Gardner Design's creative direction.
• Youngman DesigncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNomenclature and graphic design partner. Collaborated with Gardner Design on WishWell campaign naming and visual identity for Kansas Health Foundation crowdsourcing initiative.
• AmbiancesupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEvent logistics and planning partner for Emprise Bank Employee Meeting immersive event.
• HOXXOH (Douglas Hoekzema)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMiami-based muralist/artist known for innovative sprinkler painting technique. Created eye-catching shipping container murals for WishWell campaign at Somewhere Fest that became popular photo opportunities.
• Cole NewmansupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerLive painter artist for HealthRise inaugural event. Created spirograph-inspired live pendulum painting synchronized with custom music score.
• Dot StrategiessupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEvent logistics and planning partner for Kansas Health Foundation inaugural HealthRise event.
• Alex WakimsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic composer who created custom score for HealthRise inaugural event live painting performance.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Manual (creative agency): Manual is a creative agency offering brand strategy, identity, web design, and content production for B2B and consumer clients. Closely analogous to Gardner Design's integrated identity + web + digital offering with comparable team size and client profile.
• Mast Studio: Mast is a brand identity and design studio focused on strategy, identity systems, and digital experiences for mission-driven and enterprise clients. Directly comparable to Gardner Design's visual identity and web design services with a similarly small partner-led team.
• Character (design agency): Character is a San Francisco-based brand design agency specializing in identity design, packaging, and brand strategy for emerging and enterprise brands. Comparable in size and discipline mix to Gardner Design, particularly its identity, packaging, and nomenclature offerings.
• Lippincott: Lippincott is a brand strategy and design consultancy with deep capabilities in corporate identity, brand naming, and integrated brand systems. Directly comparable to Gardner Design's full-stack brand offering but serving a higher-end enterprise clientele.
• RSM Design: RSM Design is a brand experience and environmental graphics firm specializing in placemaking, wayfinding, and branded environments. Closely comparable to Gardner Design's environmental graphics and immersive event capabilities for civic, education, and corporate clients.
• Siegel+Gale: Siegel+Gale is a brand strategy and design firm offering brand identity, naming, and experience design services to enterprise clients. It is comparable to Gardner Design in its integrated brand-systems approach and enterprise client mix, though larger and globally distributed.
• Proverb (design agency): Proverb is a brand design agency offering naming, identity, and digital design services for consumer and B2B brands. Comparable to Gardner Design's nomenclature, identity, and digital service lines with a similar boutique operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Pentagram is the world's largest independent design consultancy, with partner-led studios delivering identity, web, environmental, and brand strategy. It is the canonical reference point for Gardner Design's partner-led, multi-disciplinary model but operates at vastly larger scale and geographic reach.
• Landor & Fitch: Landor & Fitch is a global brand consultancy with deep expertise in brand identity, environmental design, and naming — directly overlapping Gardner Design's identity, environmental, and nomenclature service lines but with a much larger global footprint.
• Interbrand: Interbrand is one of the world's largest brand consultancies, offering brand strategy, identity design, naming, and brand valuation services. Overlaps heavily with Gardner Design's identity and nomenclature offerings and competes for the same enterprise clients, but at global scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/wearegardnerdesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gardnerdesign
• Instagraminstagram.com/gardnerdesignusa
• Xx.com/gardnerdesign

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

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 Gardner Design