Grip Design

What Grip Design does

Grip Design is a privately held, independent design agency headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that delivers project-based graphic design, branding, web development, and marketing services to enterprise clients. Its core work spans three service categories — print (identity and branding, packaging, wayfinding, publishing, collateral, apparel), interactive (web, mobile, UI/UX, e-commerce, social media, motion graphics), and brand strategy (messaging, positioning, naming, campaign development) — executed with standard professional design and web development tools. Named engagements include the Catalyst luxury property brand identity for Marquette Companies and the multi-year rebrand and responsive website for Chicago Chef Week, with both projects tied to specific client outcomes such as pre-leasing performance.

The firm operates two product lines alongside its custom agency work. "Make It Work" packages the agency's strategy-plus-execution offering across print and interactive disciplines, while "Logo Wow Now" is a standardized, self-serve logo product sold directly through the company's website with an installment payment structure and bundled merchandise. Revenue is generated through one-time project fees on the agency side and transactional sales on the product side; no subscription or retainer model is disclosed. Primary customer segments are real estate developers and hospitality/food service businesses in the Chicago/Midwest region, with a generalist horizontal offering for other businesses.

The company is unfunded, with no parent organization, subsidiaries, institutional investors, or public listing referenced in available data. Its only known channel beyond direct client engagement is a content-marketing blog covering design and small-business topics, and a careers page that historically has supported an internship pipeline for recent graduates. Geographic scope is regional, with explicit restrictions on Canadian orders for the Logo Wow Now product.

Name

Grip Design

Legal name

Grip Design

Website

https://gripdesign.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grip Design is a privately held Chicago-based design agency delivering project-based branding, web design, and marketing services to real estate developers and hospitality businesses primarily in the Midwest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Graphic Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (541430), Graphic Design Services (54143), Other Specialized Design Services (54149)

akta.pro primary industry

Packaging & Product Brand Design (BPAFAEAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Environmental & Experiential Brand Design (Retail/Exhibit/Signage) (MPAAAEAG)

Keywords

• Brand identity design
• Graphic design services
• Web design development
• Logo design product
• Brand strategy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Design and Branding Services: Project-based design services including identity and branding, packaging, wayfinding and signage, publishing, collateral, apparel, and menu systems. Work spans interactive/web/mobile, UI/UX design, e-commerce, social media, digital marketing, and motion graphics.
2. Logo Products: Logo Wow Now product line offering logo designs with installment payment options. Single logo purchase with optional second logo at discounted S&H rate.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Grip Design is a Chicago-based design agency that provides project-based creative services including brand identity, logo design, packaging, wayfinding and signage, publishing, and collateral. The firm also delivers interactive services (web, mobile, UI/UX, e-commerce, social media, motion graphics) and brand strategy (messaging, positioning, naming, campaign development). In addition to custom client engagements, Grip Design sells a standardized logo product called Logo Wow Now with installment payment options.

Product overview

Grip Design is a design agency offering a portfolio of interconnected design services. The core offerings include Logo Wow Now (a logo design product with merchandise) and Make It Work (concept and design agency services for results-driven marketing and brand strategy). Supporting these are specialized services in graphic design, Photoshop expertise, and design graphics tools training. Services span three main categories: Print (identity & branding, packaging, wayfinding, publishing, collateral, apparel), Interactive (web/mobile/tablet, UI/UX, app design, e-commerce, motion graphics), and Brand Strategy (messaging, positioning, naming, campaign development). The agency also delivers project-based work such as luxury property branding (Catalyst) and event rebranding (Chicago Chef Week).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Logo Wow Now: A product/offering involving logo design with installment payment options, blooper reels, and merchandise including coffee mugs, doormats, and snuggies.
• Make It Work

Products and services

• Logo Wow Now

Named customers4 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

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Global independent design firm with offices in multiple cities, offering identity, branding, packaging, and digital design. Comparable in service breadth but vastly larger in scale and geographic reach than Grip Design.
• Lippincott: Brand strategy and design consultancy with offerings in identity, naming, and brand experience. Comparable in strategy-led design services but operates at significantly larger scale with global clients.
• IDEO: Global design and innovation firm offering brand, product, and service design. Comparable in design-led approach to problem-solving but at much larger scale and with broader service portfolio.
• Landor & Fitch: Large global brand consulting and design firm offering brand strategy, identity, packaging, and experiential design. Comparable in service categories but at much larger enterprise scale and with global footprint.
• Siegel+Gale: Global brand strategy and design firm focused on simplicity, offering naming, identity, and brand experience services. Overlaps with Grip Design's brand strategy and identity offerings but at enterprise scale.

Others

• Fiverr: Global freelance marketplace where businesses can purchase logo design, graphic design, and branding services. Comparable to Logo Wow Now at the low end of the market, serving SMB and individual buyers seeking affordable design.

Direct peers

• 99designs: Online logo and graphic design marketplace competing directly with Grip Design's Logo Wow Now product line. Both serve SMB and individual buyers seeking affordable logo design, though 99designs does so via a crowdsourced contest model.
• Hatch Design: Independent design studio offering brand identity, packaging, and digital design services. Comparable in size and multi-disciplinary creative agency positioning to Grip Design.
• Mucca: Independent design studio offering branding, identity, packaging, and wayfinding services. Comparable in size and multi-disciplinary service model, with similar boutique agency positioning.
• Rule29: Chicago-area design agency offering branding, web design, and marketing services to mid-market and enterprise clients. Comparable in size, geography, and service mix to Grip Design, including real estate and hospitality work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grip-design

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Grip Design