Designers Unit

What Designers Unit does

Designers Unit is a Paris- and London-based multidisciplinary design agency founded in 2018 by David Lebreton (industrial/exhibition design, previously co-founder of studio 5.5) and Emmanuel Labard (graphic design and visual communications for cultural institutions). The firm delivers integrated design services across five practice areas: exhibition design, wayfinding/signalétique, communications, digital art, and interior design, serving museums, heritage sites, memorials, and public cultural institutions, as well as private commercial clients in luxury, hospitality, and retail.

Its service offering spans concept-to-execution: project management, artistic direction, scenography, spatial and product design, interactive device design, typologies, content inventories, visual identity, publishing, motion design, illustration, data visualisation, cartography, and artist support for media installations. A network of longstanding external partners supplements the seven-person core team (two founding partners, one director, two art directors, one graphic designer, one administrator) for projects of varying scale.

The business model is project-based professional services revenue, with work awarded through competitive tenders (notably French public sector procurement), direct commissions, and consultations. Client mix spans government bodies (Centre des Monuments Nationaux, Ville de Paris, Ministère de la Culture/Oppic, Royal Commission for Al'Ula, Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole), major museums (Musée d'Orsay, Mucem, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Barbican Center London, Brussels City Museum), memorials (Mémorial de la Shoah), and private companies (Évian Resort, John Lobb). Marketing is portfolio-driven via the bilingual unit.paris website, Instagram, LinkedIn, and selective industry events such as MIPIM. Revenue, pricing, and financials are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Designers Unit

Legal name

Designers Unit

Website

https://unit.paris

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Designers Unit is a Paris- and London-based multidisciplinary design agency founded in 2018 that delivers exhibition design, wayfinding, communications, digital art, and interior design services to cultural institutions, heritage sites, and select private-sector clients across Europe and the Middle East.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Design Services

NAICS

Interior Design Services (541410), Industrial Design Services (541420), Graphic Design Services (541430)

akta.pro primary industry

Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interior Design Services (BPAHAKAB), Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM), Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Exhibition design
• Wayfinding systems
• Museum design
• Visual identity
• Heritage interpretation

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Design and creative services: Project-based professional services revenue from exhibition design, wayfinding, communication, and interior design projects for cultural and commercial clients.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Designers Unit is a Paris and London-based design agency providing integrated design services across five practice areas: exhibition design, wayfinding/signalétique, communications, digital art, and interior design. The agency delivers complete design solutions from concept through execution for cultural institutions, heritage organizations, government bodies, and select private companies, with projects ranging from small-scale interventions to large-scale international exhibitions and wayfinding systems.

Product overview

Designers Unit is a Paris and London-based design agency, not a software or SaaS company. The agency offers an integrated suite of design services organized into five practice areas: Exhibition Design (including project management, artistic direction, set design, spatial and product design, interactive device design, and graphic design for museums and cultural institutions); Wayfinding/Signalétique (visitor flow analysis, blueprint development, orientation strategy, typography, content inventory, and product design); Communications (art direction, visual identity, graphic standards, communication campaigns, publishing, digital, motion design, illustration, data visualization, and mapping); Digital Art (artist support, artistic direction, media installation, and digital artworks); and Interior Design (spatial and product design, interactive device design, and graphic design). Their services are delivered as professional agency services to cultural institutions, heritage organizations, and commercial clients rather than as packaged software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Exhibition Design End-to-end exhibition design services for museums and cultural institutions, including project management, artistic direction, set design, scenographic atmospheres, visitor journeys, media installations, spatial and product design, interactive device design, and graphic design. Designed for cultural institutions, museums, and heritage organizations needing integrated exhibition design.
• Wayfinding / Signalétique Wayfinding and signage design services covering visitor flow analysis, blueprint development, orientation strategy, project management, artistic direction, support typologies, information hierarchy, content inventory, product design, and graphic design. Designed for cultural institutions, public sites, and organizations with complex visitor navigation needs.
• Communications Visual communication and graphic design services including art direction, project coordination, visual identity, graphic standards, communication campaigns, editorial/publishing, digital content, motion design, illustration, data visualization, mapping, and derivative products. Designed for cultural institutions and private companies needing brand and visual communication support.
• Digital Art Digital art services including artist support, artistic direction, project coordination, media installations, spatial and product design, and graphic design for digital artworks. Designed for cultural institutions, museums, and artist collaborations.
• Interior Design Interior design services including project management, artistic direction, spatial and product design, interactive device design, and graphic design. Designed for cultural institutions and private companies needing interior space design.

Named customers15 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

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Network of longstanding external partnersminorOthersThe agency maintains a network of longstanding external partners who collaborate on project delivery to ensure quality and innovation regardless of project size. These partners supplement the core creative team's capabilities for specialized requirements.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• CCHE Lausanne: Swiss multidisciplinary design and architecture studio with exhibition, signage, and interior work for cultural clients — comparable in integrated service offering, with geographic overlap in Geneva and the broader Swiss Romande market.

Direct peers

• 2x4: New York-based design consultancy specializing in brand identity, exhibition graphics, and wayfinding for museums, cultural institutions, and luxury retail — overlapping with Designers Unit's communications, visual identity, and wayfinding practice areas.
• Mottin: Paris-based design studio combining graphic design, exhibition design, and visual identity for cultural, public, and editorial clients — competes with Designers Unit in French tenders and on integrated visual-identity-plus-exhibition scopes.
• Projectiles: Paris-based exhibition and scenography agency serving French cultural institutions, museums, and public-sector clients — the most direct French competitor to Designers Unit for scenography, museum design, and wayfinding mandates in the home market.
• Studio Egret West: London-based cultural and exhibition design consultancy serving museums, galleries, and public institutions with integrated exhibition, graphic, and spatial design — a near-mirror of Designers Unit's multidisciplinary service model.
• Casson Mann: London-based exhibition and museum design studio with a comparable focus on cultural institutions, museums, and heritage interpretation projects across the UK and internationally — overlapping directly with Designers Unit on Barbican-type mandates and similar institutional client base.
• Atelier Brückner: Stuttgart-based exhibition and scenography studio working on major cultural, science, and brand-center projects across Europe and the Middle East — a direct competitor for institutional tenders where the brief calls for scenography, communication, and digital media integrated under one roof.

Emerging players

• Form: Stockholm-based design and exhibition studio working with Nordic and European cultural institutions on exhibition, identity, and wayfinding — a partial-overlap peer for cultural-sector exhibition design and integrated communication projects.

Others

• Hara Design Institute: Adjacent design and cultural-institution consultancy active in Asia and globally on cultural space design and visitor experience strategy — not a direct competitor but a thematically comparable design-thinking reference in the museum/cultural sector.

Broad incumbents

• Ralph Appelbaum Associates: Global leader in museum and cultural-institution master planning and exhibition design, with offices in New York, London, and Beijing — competing with Designers Unit on flagship cultural tenders but operating at significantly larger scale and scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/designers-unit
• Instagraminstagram.com/unit.paris

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Designers Unit