If you're reading this, you're probably looking at options, maybe the best studios or agencies to design your brand? Good. That's exactly why I'm spending my Sunday morning writing this.
But let me be clear from the start: that's not my point. I'm not letting my coffee go cold to write you a lazy ranking with a clickbait title like "the best branding agencies in Mexico," and I'm definitely not going to trick you by sneaking Cherry Bomb into the top three, dressed up as a serious article so it reads less like an ad. I know exactly what it looks like when someone puts their own name in their own ranking and calls it an "objective article." I've seen that trick. I don't like it.
What you will find below, pinky promise, is a real selection of branding studios in Mexico worth knowing. But before I get there, let me explain why I didn't put "the best" in the title.
That phrase assumes something that might not be true: what someone considers "the best" isn't necessarily "the best" for someone else. Talking about "the best" means having an idea biased by our own understanding of the world. I can tell you "Definitely Maybe" is the greatest album of the universe (sorry, an Oasis fan here), but you might be thinking about Bad Bunny right now, and for the sake of this conversation, we're both right (although I'm more right, obviously).
What I'm getting at with all this nonsense rambling is that taste is subjective.
I can't give you a list of "the best branding studios in Mexico," but what I can give you is a look from someone with 15+ years inside Mexico's creative industry, specifically with an eye on branding. I've watched studios get born, I've watched others close (some of them stung personally), I've seen brands that look incredible in a case study and simply don't work in the real world (been there, I'll admit it).
That doesn't make me a judge of anyone. But it does give me a pretty clear idea of what separates a studio that cares about doing good work from one that's just chasing applause, chasing Instagram likes.
I've been in this design world for a long time. I live and understand Mexico's creative industry firsthand, which has led me to know not just my branding colleagues, but to have a full picture of other design fields in Mexico: illustration, motion graphics, 3D art, editorial. And what surprises and delights me is the diversity of ideas and talent that exists in my country. New studios show up every day, incredible new designers who aren't making it into the conversation when someone types "best branding agency" into Google, and that's exactly where I think this piece finds its reason to exist.
You're researching who should work on your new brand or project. Great. Don't think "the best studio or agency," think about which studio is the ideal fit for you.
Fit isn't an abstract concept. It's simple: either the studio gets your idea right away, or it doesn't. A studio that works incredible for a DTC brand (your new skincare line, a cereal, your mezcal brand, whatever you can imagine) might have no idea how to build a boutique hotel chain, and vice versa. It's not a level thing. It's about which profile matches your project best.
Style matters too, and not everyone thinks the same way. Some believe the strongest brand says less, lets the white space breathe. Others believe the exact opposite: color on top of color, a brand that won't stop shouting (in a good way) from the first second. Neither is wrong, they just speak to different audiences.
Tone runs along a similar path, though it gets more personal there. Some brands feel like that friend who talks to you casually from the first message, and others prefer to keep some distance, communicating status before closeness. Both work. It depends on what your business needs to connect with whoever you're selling to.
With that in mind, here's my list of branding studios in Mexico worth knowing, grouped not by ranking, but by the type of brand they fit best. It's not the best list. It's mine. You decide who's the fit.
They started in Monterrey back in 2008; these days they work out of Mexico City but their projects span half the world: Tokyo, Qatar, Monaco, Los Angeles. What began as a design studio turned into something harder to label, they blend branding with interior architecture, and it shows in the kind of work they gravitate toward: coffee shops, restaurants, physical stores where the brand doesn't just live in a logo but in the whole space. They understand something a lot of pure branding studios miss: if your business has a door people walk through, the brand lives in there too.
The name comes from an old tortilla factory in Monterrey, the space they started out in before anyone had a clear plan for what to do with it. They solve creative problems with an aesthetic that avoids both postcard-Mexican and whatever's trending, they lean more international, harder to box in. They handle branding as a full service, from naming to packaging, and they're one of the few studios out of Monterrey that's earned a seat next to the big consultancies, sometimes beating them for the job. They've got the craft and the track record, and they don't need to shout to be believed.
This one's one of my favorites, and I'm not hiding it. Laura Méndez founded it in Guadalajara in 2008, and it has a lens we don't have at Cherry Bomb: feminine, classic, with a vintage touch that never feels like it's chasing a trend. Their work celebrates simplicity with a hint of nostalgia, pieces that feel like they've always existed, even when they were designed last week. They specialize in branding and packaging, mostly for natural or ethically made products, where that almost handmade care fits perfectly. They have that rare gift of making something feel like you already wanted it in your pantry before you'd even met it.
Alejandro Flores founded it in Mexico City in 2016, and in under a decade they started playing in leagues almost no Mexican studio touches: PepsiCo, the NBA, Marriott, the NFL, Diageo. They were the only Mexican studio invited two years running to Make a Mark Monaco, a luxury packaging event that doesn't take applications, only direct invitations from industry leaders. Their strength is premium branding at a global scale, the kind of project where the client already shows up with big-brand budget and needs a studio that speaks that language without losing craft. They've already proven you can compete on the international stage without leaving Mexico.
The name says it all: "cariño" means affection in Spanish, in their case, graphic affection. It's a micro-studio out of Guadalajara, running since 2018, focused exclusively on building brands, nothing extra, nothing to distract from it. Their work has that sweet spot without tipping into cheesy, brands that feel made with real care, not off a template. They're one of those small studios that prove you don't need a huge team, or a huge budget, for something to feel genuinely cared for.
She's not a studio, she's one person, and she still earned her spot on this list. Originally from Mérida, she specializes in illustration applied to branding and packaging, treating every brand as its own universe before she ever starts drawing. Her strength is in conceptualization: she doesn't repeat style from project to project, every identity comes from understanding what makes that particular brand unique. When a brand needs illustration that carries the full conceptual weight, not just pretty decoration, Pao is one of the best options out there in Mexico.
Based in Mexico but also operating out of Spain and Saudi Arabia, this is a multidisciplinary studio that defines itself without beating around the bush: they're strategic brand partners, for brands that mean business. Their portfolio has that polished, ambitious edge, brands that want to play big from day one. This isn't the studio for someone chasing something intimate or handmade, it's the studio for someone who already brings a vision of scale and needs a team that thinks just as big, with the ambition to cross borders built in from the start.
Full honesty on this one: they're one of the ones I know least in depth on this whole list, but their style caught my attention enough to put them here. Based in Mexico City, they do art direction and design with a playful, almost comic-book touch, one that doesn't take itself too seriously without losing precision. Their name already says it all: design is a journey best enjoyed with friends. I haven't followed them closely the way I have Menta, but every time I stumble on their work, I end up staring at it longer than I planned to.
Based in Mérida, they found their sweet spot in coffee shops and food brands: cups, packaging, signage, all done in a heavily illustrated, almost character-driven style that gives every brand a literal face, sometimes with little eyes and everything. Their strength is making something as everyday as a to-go coffee feel memorable, with hand-lettered type and a playful tone that never feels forced. They pull off making a food or beverage brand feel lovable before it feels sophisticated, which for that kind of business is usually exactly what's needed.
I said at the start I wasn't going to sneak Cherry Bomb in disguised as objectivity, and I'm not. Honestly, we're not that bad!
Cherry started in 2010 with basically no money, no safety net, no connections, no portfolio beyond our own student work, made-up projects, and two half-broken computers, but with a lot of love for design, and confidence in our own work, and in each other. Sixteen years later we're still here, working with the same care for big names and small founders alike, all over the world. We've grown alongside our portfolio, our skills, and our team. We build brands that feel alive instead of correct, and we ask uncomfortable questions because we care more about understanding your brand for real than getting to something pretty fast.
We work one on one with every client, so if you decide to work with us, know that yours becomes the most important project of our career, because for us, they all are. We're strategic first, colorful second, though people almost always remember the colorful part. Welcome, if what you're after is feeling cared for, not just well executed.
And that's it, that's my little list, favorites declared and awkward honesty included. There were plenty of other names that, so you wouldn't be stuck reading for hours, didn't make the cut... maybe that's a part two, somewhere down the line. The rest is on you: look closely at the work, talk to two or three of us who feel like the right fit for your vision, and trust the fit.
You've seen the work. You've felt the aura.
Stop flirting ✨
You've seen the work. You've felt the aura.
Stop flirting ✨
You've seen the work. You've felt the aura.
Stop flirting ✨
You've seen the work. You've felt the aura.
Stop flirting ✨
You've seen the work. You've felt the aura.
Stop flirting ✨
You've seen the work. You've felt the aura.
Stop flirting ✨
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