Best for: Brands that want a bold creative vision and a strong identity built through strategic thinking and storytelling — particularly consumer brands, media companies, and growth-stage businesses moving upmarket.
COLLINS earns its Agency of the Year status the hard way — their work across Spotify, Robinhood, and Dropbox shows a studio that doesn’t just refresh brands, it repositions them around a sharper idea of what they’re worth. The caveat is price and fit: this is conceptually ambitious work built for brands ready to be challenged, not just polished.
Reviewed by Chelsea Greene
The Full Read
COLLINS has spent nearly two decades building a case that design is not decoration — it is commercial leverage. The studio’s stated goal is to make companies “as valuable as they are unignorable,” and the portfolio backs that up: Spotify, Dropbox, Nike Run Club, Mailchimp, Robinhood, Figma, Equinox, Target (across multiple own-brand lines), Bose, ESPN, Sweetgreen, Twitch, Girl Scouts, San Francisco Symphony. The range is unusual. COLLINS moves fluently between consumer culture and institutional identity without losing its voice.
COLLINS consistently produces work that is not only visually captivating but also deeply grounded in strategy. They know how to elevate a brand and create long-lasting impact. Where they separate from peers is the ability to combine commercial logic with creative imagination — the thinking and the making are genuinely integrated, not sequenced.
The awards record reflects this. COLLINS has been named Agency of the Year by Ad Age eight times — 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 — across multiple categories including Design Agency of the Year and, most recently, Business Transformation Agency of the Year. They also received a D&AD Design Company of the Year recognition in 2021. That kind of sustained recognition across a decade is rare at any level.
The honest caveat: premium pricing and a focus on high-profile clients can limit accessibility for smaller businesses or startups looking for comparable expertise at a lower entry point. Client feedback is primarily found in industry publications rather than independent review platforms, which means the Reviews score sits at 2/3 despite strong general reputation.
Net-net: COLLINS earns its placement on creative ambition, strategic depth, and a portfolio that holds up across sectors. If the brief involves cultural relevance, upmarket repositioning, or a brand that needs to stop being ignored — this is the room.
How COLLINS Engages: 11 Programs
COLLINS structures its work around 11 named programs rather than a generic service list. Each targets a specific commercial problem.
This model is worth paying attention to. Most agencies sell services. COLLINS sells outcomes. Knowing which program fits your situation before the first conversation sets the engagement up differently.
Brand Refresh
Stay Relevant. Stay Valuable.
Reposition
Don’t Become the Best. Become the Only.
Premiumization
Elevate Every Signal.
Expansion
Enter New Markets with an Edge.
Turnaround
Make Your Next Move Your Turning Point.
Scale-Up
Go From Growing Pains to High Performance.
Brand Creation
Build the Next Hottest Thing.
Architecture Restructure
Greater Portfolio Value. Less Confusion.
Value-Market Fit
Expand Your Value. Command Your Market.
Exit (IPO/Sale)
Be Designed to Attract. Positioned to Sell.
Brand Merger
Turn an Addition Into a Multiplier.
Selected Work
A snapshot of recent named projects. Full case studies on the agency’s site.
Robinhood
Brand Strategy · Visual Identity · Product Design
Rebuilding Robinhood’s brand and product experience around a future-focused financial platform.
Spotify
Brand Identity · Visual Identity
Evolving Spotify’s visual identity to work across a rapidly expanding global platform.
Dropbox
Brand Strategy · Visual Identity
Repositioning Dropbox from file storage to a creative collaboration platform.
Figma
Brand Strategy · Visual Identity
Redefining Figma’s identity to reflect its growing role as the hub of product design.
Mailchimp
Brand Strategy · Visual Identity · Verbal Identity
Evolving Mailchimp’s brand to reflect its expansion beyond email into a full marketing platform.
San Francisco Symphony
Brand Identity · Visual Identity
A new identity for one of the world’s great orchestras, built to bridge classical tradition and contemporary culture.
Nike Run Club
Brand Strategy · Visual Identity · Digital Design
Refreshing Nike Run Club’s brand to build a stronger community around everyday runners.
Bose
Brand Strategy · Visual Identity
Repositioning Bose as a premium audio brand with a new visual identity built for the digital era.
Hire COLLINS If You Need…
- Bold, conceptually ambitious creative work — not safe, not average
- A studio that understands the commercial case for brand investment
- Upmarket repositioning or premium tier entry
- Consumer brand work that needs cultural resonance, not just visual polish
- Pre-IPO or M&A brand readiness — the Exit program is one of the few of its kind
Skip COLLINS If…
- Your budget is below $100K — their process requires genuine investment to deliver
- You need a product-first or digital-native studio with UX and engineering depth
- You’re looking for measurable digital performance metrics as a primary output
- You need a rapid turnaround on a limited scope
Independent Verification
Awards
Ad Age 2019 — Design Agency of the Year
Ad Age 2020, 2021 — Design Agency of the Year
D&AD 2021 — Design Company of the Year (via Communication Arts)
Ad Age 2023, 2024, 2025 — Agency of the Year
Ad Age 2026 — Business Transformation Agency of the Year
Press
Ad Age — A-List coverage across multiple years
Communication Arts — agency feature, 2022
Platform Ratings
DesignRush — Google Reviews 5.0 · 6 reviews
Client feedback for COLLINS sits primarily in industry press and published case studies rather than independent review platforms — an important transparency note reflected in the Reviews score.
If COLLINS Isn’t the Right Fit
Clay Global
Stronger for digital-native brands that need product, web, and brand under one roof. More UX and engineering depth
Pentagram
Senior-partner model better suited to institutional, editorial, and global brands. Stronger for long-established organisations than growth-stage businesses.
Wolff Olins
Global brand consultancy built around transformation at scale. Better fit when the challenge involves organisational change alongside identity.
Frequently Asked Questions
COLLINS works across 11 named programs — from Brand Creation for new ventures to Exit (IPO/Sale) preparation for companies heading to market. The strongest fit is typically brand repositioning, premium tier moves, and consumer brand work requiring cultural impact.
Public minimum is $100K+. Most engagements for full program work run considerably higher. The hourly rate ($200–$300) reflects senior-only staffing throughout.
The portfolio spans consumer goods, media and entertainment, financial services, technology, retail, sport, and cultural institutions. Named clients include Spotify, Dropbox, Nike, Robinhood, Figma, Equinox, ESPN, Target, Girl Scouts, and San Francisco Symphony.
COLLINS’s website describes each of the 11 programs with a clear problem statement. The initial conversation with their team is typically a diagnostic to identify fit. The program structure is what makes COLLINS different from agencies that pitch generic services.
New York (primary) and San Francisco.
Ready to see if COLLINS fits your project?
Visit the agency’s site to view their full portfolio, or compare them against the rest of our top picks.