WIN

What WIN does

WIN (legally WINDESIGN GmbH, operating as WIN Creating Images) is an independent packaging design agency founded in 1997 by Cate Wind and headquartered in Aachen, Germany. The company employs 100+ creative, strategic, and technical experts across five offices — Aachen, Berlin, Cologne, Zug (Switzerland), and New York — and has a 29-year track record serving global consumer brands and FMCG clients including Lindt, Migros, dm-drogerie markt (Balea), HUGO BOSS, Trojka, Zoeva, and Pommery. The firm operates six wholly-owned legal entities across Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States and is structured as a privately held, founder-controlled group with no disclosed external equity investors.

The agency's technology stack centres on an integrated creative-services platform that combines brand strategy, packaging design, corporate design, communication design, photography, trend research, and AI transformation under one roof. Its proprietary technology includes the WIN AI Inno Creator (AI Innovation Sprint), a tool used in client workshops to generate and filter scalable innovation routes; a local AI environment with custom-trained models tailored to packaging and brand-strategy tasks; and AI-powered heatmap and eye-tracking tools for evidence-based design validation. Documented commercial outcomes include €33.8M in first-year sales uplift for the Lindt HELLO sub-brand, a 3-day sellout of M-Budget TASTEA across more than 200 Migros stores, and Trojka's geographic expansion from Switzerland into eight countries following a packaging redesign.

WIN generates revenue through professional services engagements — project fees and retainers billed per client — with no publicly disclosed pricing. The go-to-market motion is enterprise field sales complemented by thought leadership at industry events (ISM Cologne, ProSweets Cologne), an active LinkedIn and Instagram portfolio presence, and a project-portfolio-driven website. Customer segments centre on global consumer brands and FMCG companies seeking premium packaging design and brand strategy, heritage brands modernising for younger demographics, and brands/agencies seeking AI transformation services. Multiple award recognitions (Red Dot, German Design Award, Pentawards, Dieline, EPDA, World Brand Design) and a deep, multi-decade client roster anchor the firm's reputation in the European packaging design market.

Name

WIN

Legal name

WINDESIGN GMBH

Website

https://win-ci.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

WIN Creating Images is an independent packaging design agency founded in 1997, employing 100+ creative and strategic experts across offices in Aachen, Berlin, Cologne, Zug, and New York. The firm delivers integrated brand strategy, packaging design, photography, trend research, and AI transformation services to global FMCG and consumer brands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Packaging Design Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181), Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Advertising (7310), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Packaging & Brand Identity Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAN)

Keywords

• Packaging design services
• Brand strategy consulting
• Corporate identity design
• AI brand transformation
• Trend research workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Aachen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Brand Strategy & Design Consulting: WIN generates revenue through professional services engagements including brand strategy, packaging design, corporate design, communication design, and concept development. Projects are billed on a per-engagement basis, typically as project fees or retainers for ongoing brand management.
2. AI Transformation Services: WIN offers AI strategy, infrastructure, and content transformation services to brands and agencies, providing consulting engagements focused on AI integration into brand and marketing workflows.
3. Trend Research & Workshops: WIN provides trend research, workshops, trend reports, inspiration walks, and category analysis as billable service offerings, contributing to the overall revenue mix.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

WIN is a brand and packaging design agency that sells integrated creative services spanning packaging design, corporate design, communication design, brand strategy (Brand Compass, Concept Sessions, Innovation Sprints, Breakout Sessions), food and beauty photography with retouching, AI transformation services (strategy, infrastructure, content, innovation sprint), and trend research/workshops. Engagements are delivered by 100+ experts across offices in Aachen, Berlin, Cologne, Zug, and New York to enterprise and mid-market consumer brands. The agency combines strategy, design, photography, AI tooling, and trend intelligence into a unified brand-building system sold as project-based or retainer professional services.

Product overview

WIN (WIN Creating Images) is a brand and packaging design agency offering integrated design services under one roof. The company operates as a creative consultancy — not a software product company — providing Packaging Design, Corporate Design, Brand Strategy (Brand Compass, Concept Sessions, Innovation Sprints, Breakout Sessions), Photography (Food & Beauty Photography, Food Stylings, Photo Studio, Retouching, Social Media), AI Transformation services (AI Strategy & Leadership, AI Fundamentals & Infrastructure, AI-Powered Content & Media, AI Innovation Sprint), Trend Research (Trend Reports, Workshops, Inspiration Walks, Category Analysis), and Communication/Consultation/Print Production. The portfolio spans work for clients across beauty, food, beverages, lifestyle, and spirits categories, including Migros, dm/drugstore private labels (Balea), Lindt, HUGO BOSS, Zoeva, and Pommery. WIN has 100+ experts across five locations (Berlin, Cologne, Aachen, Zug, New York) and 29 years of experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Packaging Design Standalone packaging design service for consumer brands covering structural and visual packaging design across food, beverage, beauty, personal care, and lifestyle categories. Delivered as project-based engagements by WIN's design teams across five offices.
• Corporate Design Corporate identity and visual brand system design service for enterprises, covering logo systems, corporate visual identity, brand guidelines, and communication design for brand owners across categories.
• Brand Strategy Strategic brand-building engagements including Brand Compass, Concept Sessions, Innovation Sprints, and Breakout Sessions to help brand owners define positioning, innovation routes, and brand direction before and during design execution.
• Food & Beauty Photography In-house photography services covering food styling, beauty product photography, studio shoots, retouching, and social-media-ready imagery for consumer brands, delivered from WIN's photo studios.
• AI Transformation Services Consulting service for brands and agencies covering AI strategy and leadership, AI fundamentals and infrastructure, AI-powered content and media, and the WIN AI Innovation Sprint workshop. Uses WIN's proprietary WIN AI Inno Creator ideation tool and locally hosted custom-trained AI models.
• Trend Research & Workshops Trend intelligence offering for brands covering trend reports, workshops, inspiration walks, and category analysis to inform packaging and brand strategy decisions.
• Communication, Consultation & Print Production Communication design, consultation, and print production services that complement WIN's packaging and brand design work, supporting brand owners from concept to print-ready output.

Quantifiable outcome

• Lindt HELLO vegan sub-brand generated 33.8 million EUR in sales uplift in the first year after launch, with 50% of customers being new to Lindt.
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SonovyminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 November 2025Sonovy, a global music technology company, joined the WIN Supporters program to support the independent music ecosystem with transparency, technology, and distribution solutions. Sonovy offers distribution to over 150 digital platforms, rights management, and royalty reporting for artists and labels. The partnership positions WIN as a supporter of independent music while aligning with WIN's broader ecosystem and community-building approach.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Pentagram: Pentagram is a globally recognised independent design firm offering branding, packaging, and visual identity services to enterprise clients. It is comparable to WIN as an independent, partner-led design agency competing for premium brand and packaging engagements.
• Design Bridge: Design Bridge is a global brand and packaging design agency, part of Superunion, serving major CPG clients across food, beverage, and beauty. It is a direct competitor to WIN in premium packaging design with comparable enterprise client profiles.
• MetaDesign: MetaDesign is a German-headquartered brand and design consultancy with deep expertise in corporate identity, brand strategy, and packaging design for global brands. It is one of WIN's closest direct peers, operating in the same DACH market with comparable integrated strategy-and-execution offerings.
• Bulletproof: Bulletproof is an independent brand design agency with packaging design expertise, serving global FMCG, beverage, and beauty clients. It is comparable to WIN in business model (independent, packaging-focused), client mix (CPG/FMCG), and project-based engagements.
• Strichpunkt: Strichpunkt is a Stuttgart-based brand and design agency specialising in corporate identity, packaging, and editorial design for German and international clients. It is a strong comparable for WIN in the DACH market with a similar integrated brand-design model.
• Kolla Design: Kolla Design is a Berlin-based brand and packaging design agency serving FMCG and lifestyle clients. Comparable to WIN as a German independent specialising in packaging design, with a similar mid-sized boutique profile and enterprise client mix.
• Landor & Fitch: Landor & Fitch is a global brand consultancy with strong packaging design and brand strategy capabilities for FMCG and retail clients. Comparable to WIN in serving enterprise CPG accounts and offering integrated strategy, design, and brand architecture services across multiple geographies.

Broad incumbents

• Interbrand: Interbrand is a global brand consultancy and part of Omnicom, offering brand strategy, naming, packaging, and brand valuation services to large enterprises. Comparable to WIN on the brand strategy and packaging design dimensions but broader in scope and substantially larger in scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/win-creating-images
• Instagraminstagram.com/win.creating.images

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries6 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 WIN