Fried Design Company

What Fried Design Company does

Fried Design Company is an independent brand design studio operating as Sullivan Art Direction, LLC from Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 2018 and led by partners Josh Sullivan (Creative) and JuliRose Sullivan (Account), the firm operates with a 6-person creative team plus a wider ecosystem that includes sister company Punchbowl Studios (photography and content production) and Cast Iron Prints (art-first screen printing). The company specializes in branding, graphic design, illustration, packaging, web design, art direction, and copywriting, with concentrated vertical expertise in what it terms 'vice' categories: cannabis, bars and restaurants, beer/wine/spirits, and lifestyle brands.

The business runs a portfolio-led go-to-market, anchored by a comprehensive website with detailed case studies and active presence on Instagram, Facebook, Behance, the 'Hot Takes' blog, and 'The Brass Tacks' newsletter. Revenue is generated through project-based creative services priced across three disclosed tiers ('ramen budget', 'couple stacks', 'swinging for the fences'), supplemented by a direct-to-consumer merchandise store at shop.frieddesign.co offering branded apparel priced $20-$32. The studio has accumulated 100+ named clients spanning enterprise anchors (Burger King, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Bacardi, Kellogg's, Unilever, Patron), mid-market regional brands (Neshaminy Creek Brewing, Tanglefoot Festival), and smaller local businesses across cannabis, hospitality, alcohol, and lifestyle verticals.

Recent strategic activity includes the 2025 launch of a new in-house print shop with a dedicated Screen Print Manager hire, continued deepening of cannabis branding expertise, and an expanding sister-company ecosystem that internalizes production capabilities. The firm has won regional and national advertising awards every year since 2019, including multiple Best in Show and Judges Choice recognitions from the American Advertising Federation and Greenway Magazine's Cannabis Consultants of The Year designation.

Name

Fried Design Company

Legal name

Sullivan Art Direction, LLC

Website

https://frieddesign.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Fried Design Company is an independent brand design studio in Springfield, Missouri, providing branding, illustration, packaging, and web design services to cannabis, hospitality, beer/wine/spirits, and lifestyle brands, with a 6-person partner-led team and sister companies for photography and screen printing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (541430), Graphic Design Services (54143)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Brand design services
• Graphic design studio
• Packaging design
• Cannabis branding
• Creative agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Springfield, Missouri

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. Creative Services (Branding, Design, Illustration): Project-based design services including branding, graphic design, illustration, packaging, web design, art direction, and copywriting. Pricing tiers offered: 'ramen budget', 'couple stacks', and 'swinging for the fences' indicating range from small projects to comprehensive brand packages.
2. Merchandise Sales: E-commerce store selling branded merchandise including apparel (t-shirts, hoodies, crop tops) and accessories (hats, patches). Prices range from $20-$32.
3. Sister Company Operations: Related companies - Punchbowl Studios (photography) and Cast Iron Prints (screen printing) - mentioned as sister companies, potentially creating referral or bundled service opportunities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fried Design Company is an independent branding, graphic design, and illustration studio that provides strategic brand development, visual identity systems, packaging, web design, art direction, and copywriting services. The studio focuses on distinctive brand work for clients in 'vice-adjacent' industries—cannabis, bars and restaurants, beer/wine/spirits, and lifestyle brands—offering full-service creative capabilities from strategy through execution.

Product overview

Fried Design Company is an independent brand design studio offering a unified suite of creative services centered on branding, graphic design, and illustration. The core service portfolio spans six foundational offerings: Branding, Design & Illustration, Packaging, Web Design, Art Direction, and Copywriting. These services are organized around four industry specializations: Cannabis Brand Design, Bar & Restaurant Branding, Lifestyle Branding, and Beer, Wine & Spirits Design. The studio operates two sister companies—Punchbowl Studios (photography and content production) and Cast Iron Prints (screen printing)—that extend its creative ecosystem. Additionally, the company maintains a merchandise store (FDC Store) for branded apparel. The overall offering functions as a full-service creative agency model rather than a modular software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Branding

Quantifiable outcome

• Cattle Country Music Festival achieved over 60,000 attendees in inaugural year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• Punchbowl StudioscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company providing photography and content production services. Fried Design Company created Punchbowl Studios as an independent content production studio to serve existing clients' needs for social media and e-commerce content. Geoff Ridenour serves as photographer/retoucher.
• Cast Iron PrintscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company providing art-first screen printing services. Described as 'Art-first screen printing for brands that matter' with attention to detail for jobs of 50 to 5,000 pieces.
• SupperstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrand strategy agency. Worked collaboratively with Fried Design on Easy Mountain Cannabis Company project, providing brand strategy and voice sessions that Fried Design translated into visual design and illustration.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Mother Design: Design arm of the Mother creative network, focused on brand identity, packaging, and visual systems. Overlapping service offerings and target client base with Fried Design.
• Mucca: Independent design studio specializing in branding, packaging, and retail design for consumer brands. Comparable boutique agency profile with focus on physical and digital brand expression.
• Frank Collective: Independent creative agency known for branding and packaging design in cannabis, spirits, and lifestyle CPG. Closely comparable to Fried Design in vertical focus on regulated consumer categories and brand identity work.
• Open: Independent branding and design studio serving hospitality, lifestyle, and consumer clients. Overlapping service capabilities and cultural positioning with Fried.
• Hybrid Design: San Francisco-based branding and design studio serving consumer and lifestyle clients across packaging, identity, and digital. Comparable boutique creative agency model.
• Manual Creative: Independent branding and design agency offering strategy, identity, packaging, and digital design for consumer and lifestyle brands. Directly comparable offerings and target verticals.
• Beardwood & Co. Boutique branding and design studio in New York serving lifestyle, hospitality, and consumer brands. Similar size and project-based services model to Fried Design with overlapping client verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Lippincott: Established brand strategy and design firm with deep CPG, retail, and hospitality expertise. Represents the broader consulting-grade competitor set for enterprise branding work.
• Pentagram: Largest independently owned design consultancy in the world, offering branding, packaging, and digital design across virtually every vertical. Represents the scaled incumbent Fried Design competes against for major enterprise brand engagements.
• Landor & Fitch: Global brand consultancy offering brand strategy, identity design, and packaging at enterprise scale. A scaled alternative for clients evaluating Fried for large brand transformation programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/frieddesignco
• Instagraminstagram.com/frieddesignco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/frieddesignco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 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 Fried Design Company