Best for: Entrepreneurial brands in hospitality, spirits and beverage, wellness, fashion, and technology that need a studio to build a complete brand world — strategy, identity, and experience — around a singular creative vision. Particularly strong for boutique hotels, craft spirits, and challenger consumer brands where story and cultural identity are the product.
Satellite has been doing this in Chicago since 2006 and the portfolio reflects nearly two decades of focused creative development. The hospitality work is especially strong — Anvil Hotel, Cotton House Hotel in Barcelona, Villa Beluno in Patagonia, Château Grande — and the spirits portfolio, which runs from Jack Daniel's and Bacardi to craft distillers, shows an agency that understands how culture, narrative, and packaging work together in a category where they have to. The honest caveat is a boutique studio with no published client reviews and deliberate concentration in lifestyle and hospitality sectors. For brands in those categories that want cinematic, narrative-first brand thinking, Satellite is a credible and experienced choice.
Reviewed by Chelsea Greene
The Full Read
Satellite Agency was founded in Chicago in 2006 and has spent nineteen years building a practice around a single conviction: the greatest thing a brand can do is bring people together. The studio's philosophy — "Belonging Is Good" — is not a tagline but a strategic position. They argue that the most durable brands function as badges of shared identity, turning customers into believers rather than buyers, and that the creative work has to reflect that purpose at every level.
The portfolio divides cleanly into three areas of demonstrated strength. In hospitality, Satellite has worked with some of the most characterful boutique properties in the world — the Anvil Hotel in Jackson Hole, Villa Beluno in Patagonia, the Cotton House Hotel in Barcelona, the Château Grande in New Jersey, Hotel Gran Vía in Madrid, and Tavern on the Green in New York. The agency is a Marriott Preferred Vendor for Autograph Collection and Luxury Collection properties. In spirits and beverage, the range runs from Jack Daniel's and Bacardi at the premium end through to craft producers — Tom's Town Distilling, Mulholland Distilling, Star Union Spirits, Great Lakes Brewing Co. — where packaging, identity, and property experience are often a single brief. In technology and services, clients include IBM Watson, HERE Technologies, Squarespace, and Case-Mate — brands where the challenge is translating complex capability into human-centred brand expression.
The creative model is collaborative and network-based. Rather than a fixed large team, Satellite works with a curated collective of specialist creative talent: Kevin Cantrell as Creative Director, Miguel Cano as Brand Director, alongside specialist typographers, illustrators, photographers, 3D designers, and motion directors depending on the brief. This structure allows the studio to bring genuinely world-class craft to each project without the overhead of a full-service agency — and it shows in the quality of the typography and graphic work in particular.
What Satellite Agency Does
Brand Strategy
Brand architecture, positioning, ownable pillars, story and narrative, naming, customer journey mapping, and creative strategy — the foundation before any visual work begins.
Brand Architecture · Brand Positioning · Naming · Brand Narrative · Customer Journey · Creative Strategy
Brand Identity & Design
Identity design, visual brand systems, custom typography, advertising design, packaging design, campaign design, and merchandise — built as complete brand worlds rather than isolated logos.
Brand Identity · Visual Identity · Custom Typography · Packaging Design · Campaign Design · Merchandise
Digital Design
Information architecture, UI/UX, website design, social content, responsive design, data visualisation, and development.
Website Design · UI/UX · Information Architecture · Responsive Design · Development
Environmental & Experience Design
Event branding, office and workplace branding, experience design, guest journey design, signage and wayfinding, and installation design — the physical brand that customers inhabit.
Event Branding · Workplace Branding · Experience Design · Guest Journey Design · Signage & Wayfinding · Installation Design
Marketing & Content
Campaign strategy, social and print design, content production, photography, video, animation, and copywriting.
Campaign Strategy · Social Content · Photography · Video · Animation · Copywriting
Hospitality Specialisation
Hotel and restaurant brand strategy, identity systems, guest experience design, and marketing assets — including Marriott Preferred Vendor status for Autograph Collection and Luxury Collection properties.
Hotel Branding · Restaurant Branding · Guest Experience · Marriott Autograph Collection · Boutique Hotel Branding
Spirits & Beverage Specialisation
Brand strategy, packaging design, custom bottle design, distillery and brew-pub branded property experiences, and digital for spirits, wine, beer, and beverage brands.
Spirits Branding · Packaging Design · Custom Bottle Design · Distillery Branding · Brew-Pub Branding
Selected Work
A snapshot of recent named projects. Full case studies on the agency's site.
Cottonhouse Hotel — Barcelona
Brand Strategy · Brand Identity · Environmental Design
Full brand system for the Cotton House Hotel in Barcelona — "Weaving Past & Present" — a Marriott Autograph Collection property housed in a historic 19th-century building.
Anvil Hotel — Jackson Hole
Brand Strategy · Brand Identity · Environmental Design
Brand world for the boutique hotel in Wyoming — "You're a Stranger Here But Once." Full identity system for a property defined by its relationship to the American West and the spirit of adventure.
Villa Beluno — Patagonia
Brand Strategy · Brand Identity · Photography
Brand identity for the Patagonian hotel — "We Belong Here." A property brand built around the extraordinary landscape and the sense of earned belonging that comes with being in one of the world's most remote destinations.
Château Grande Hotel — New Jersey
Brand Strategy · Naming · Brand Identity · Advertising · Interactive Design
Comprehensive brand system for the boutique hotel — "For Life's Biggest Moments." Strategy, naming, identity system, motion, advertising, art direction, and interior brand pull-through.
Tavern on the Green — New York
Brand Strategy · Brand Identity · Environmental Design
Brand identity for the legendary New York restaurant — "A Generational Celebration." Full identity system for one of the most iconic restaurant venues in American dining history.
Palmer Beverage Systems
Brand Strategy · Brand Identity · Digital · Campaign
Full B2B brand platform for the beverage equipment and services company — "Champion of Bev'preneurs." A brand built around the community of independent beverage entrepreneurs Palmer serves.
HERE Technologies
Employer Branding · Workplace Branding
Employer brand and workplace branding for the global mapping and location technology company — connecting people to the brand's purpose of improving mobility for everyone.
Mulholland Distilling
Brand Strategy · Brand Identity · Packaging
Brand and packaging design for the LA-based spirits brand — "The Spirit of L.A." A brand built around the mythic quality of Los Angeles and the culture of creative risk-taking the city represents.
Vineyard Vines
Brand Identity · Campaign
Brand work for the American lifestyle apparel company — original illustration and campaign creative.
Hire Satellite Agency If You Need…
- A narrative-first studio that builds brand worlds — not just logos — grounded in a genuine story about what a brand stands for and who it brings together
- Deep hospitality branding expertise — the agency is a Marriott Preferred Vendor with a track record across boutique hotels on four continents
- Spirits, beverage, or wellness branding with genuine cultural understanding — the portfolio includes major producers and craft independents
- A curated collaborative model that brings specialist talent to each project rather than generalist in-house teams
- A Chicago-based agency with both local market knowledge and an international client track record
Skip Satellite Agency If…
- You need a large agency with published client reviews, transparent pricing, and enterprise-scale headcount
- Your brand is in B2B technology, healthcare, finance, or institutional sectors without a hospitality, lifestyle, or consumer angle
- You need primarily performance marketing, media buying, or PR at scale
- You want a studio with a long, publicly documented case study archive — Satellite's portfolio is curated and selective
If Satellite Agency Isn't the Right Fit
Mucca
A New York-based brand identity and packaging studio with strong credentials in hospitality, food and beverage, and lifestyle.
Pentagram
A multi-disciplinary independent design partnership with deep hospitality and cultural institution credentials alongside comparable creative ambition.
Ragged Edge
A London-based branding studio known for bold, commercially effective brand identity for ambitious consumer and lifestyle brands.
Frequently Asked Questions
In 2006 in Chicago. The agency operates from 3717 N Ravenswood Ave, Suite 238, in Chicago's Ravenswood neighbourhood.
Erik Attkisson is Managing Director and brand strategist. Kevin Cantrell serves as Creative Director, Miguel Cano as Brand Director. The studio works with a curated network of specialist creative talent — illustrators, typographers, photographers, 3D designers, and motion directors — assembled per project.
Hospitality (boutique hotels and restaurants), spirits and beverage, wellness, fashion, and technology. The strongest concentration is in hospitality and spirits, where the studio has worked across both major brands and independent operators over nearly two decades.
Yes — the agency is listed as a preferred vendor for Marriott's Autograph Collection and Luxury Collection hotel brands, having produced brand strategy and identity systems for properties in both collections.
Rather than maintaining a large fixed team, Satellite works as a curated creative collective — the core leadership team of Attkisson, Cantrell, and Cano work alongside specialist creative talent appropriate to each project, including named collaborators in illustration, papercraft, typography, photography, and 3D and motion design.
Ready to see if Satellite Agency fits your project?
Visit the agency's site to view their full portfolio, or compare them against the rest of our top picks.