Seventeen brand guides to animation, motion and digital studios — how studios that make moving images and products present themselves.
Animation and digital studios often introduce themselves through motion: an opening ident, a character or a product people use every day. These guides cover their names, marks and dated changes of ownership.
How to use these guides
Each guide covers how the organisation presents itself — its name, mark, palette and type — alongside dated facts about who founded it, who owns it and how it has changed, drawn from independent sources. A company’s description of itself is attributed to the company, and where a business has closed or merged we say so plainly. The table at the end gathers the essentials.
Animation and motion studios
Aardman, Laika, Cartoon Saloon, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation, Buck, ManvsMachine, Psyop, The Mill and Framestore.
- Aardman — The studio Peter Lord and David Sproxton named in 1972 after a cartoon character, its Bristol headquarters on Gas Ferry Road from 2009, employee ownership from 2018 and a 2022 identity with a logo by Gavin Strange.
- Laika — The Oregon studio that grew out of Will Vinton Studios after Phil Knight bought it, took the name of the Soviet space dog in July 2005, opened with Coraline in 2009 and has been run by Travis Knight as chief executive since 2009.
- Cartoon Saloon — The Kilkenny animation studio formed by Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey and Paul Young, the Rebel project that became The Secret of Kells (2009), Wolfwalkers (2020) and the 2017 Lighthouse Studios joint venture.
- Illumination — The studio Chris Meledandri set up at Universal after leaving Fox Animation in 2007, the name announced in March 2008, Despicable Me (2010), the Minions and the Paris studio formed from Mac Guff in 2011.
- DreamWorks Animation — The animation arm of DreamWorks SKG, founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen, spun off in 2004, owned by Comcast’s NBCUniversal since 2016, and the boy-on-the-moon logo painted by Robert Hunt.
- Buck — The design and animation studio Jeff Ellermeyer, Ryan Honey and Orion Tait started in Los Angeles in 2004, a name shortened from Fullerene and Buckminster Fuller, and offices in New York, Sydney, Amsterdam and London.
- ManvsMachine — A motion and design studio founded in Shoreditch by Mike Alderson and Tim Swift, a name about concept meeting technique, Landor’s majority stake from November 2015 and a Los Angeles studio opened in 2016.
- Psyop — A production studio founded in New York in 2000 by Marco Spier, Marie Hyon, Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick and Eben Mears, a Los Angeles office, a German studio launched in 2022 and the Happiness Factory film for Coca-Cola in 2006.
- The Mill — The Soho visual effects studio founded in 1990 by Robin Shenfield and Pat Joseph, owned by Technicolor from 2015, folded MPC Advertising into its name in 2022, and relaunched under TransPerfect in 2025 after Technicolor’s UK collapse.
- Framestore — The London visual effects studio founded in 1986, named on a director’s suggestion, branded in turn by Sue Turner, Javier Mariscal and Matt Rudd, majority-owned by China’s CIH from 2016 and joined by Company 3 and Method in 2020.
Digital agencies
R/GA, AKQA, Instrument, ustwo, Work & Co, MetaLab and Huge.
- R/GA — R/Greenberg Associates, set up by brothers Richard and Bob Greenberg in New York in 1977, the streaking Superman titles of 1978, two decades inside Interpublic, and the 2025 sale to Truelink Capital that made it independent again.
- AKQA — A name taken from Ajaz Ahmed’s initials, the agency he started in a London basement in 1994, the 2001 San Francisco merger, WPP ownership since 2012, the 2021 New Standard design collective and the founder’s 2024 departure.
- Instrument — The digital agency Vince LaVecchia started with Justin Lewis and later JD Hooge, the 2011 move into a former aircraft hangar called the Outpost, its Nike and Google projects, the MDC Partners stake of April 2018 and life inside Stagwell.
- ustwo — The London studio Matt “Mills” Miller and John “Sinx” Sinclair founded in Shoreditch in 2004, a name meaning “us two”, the 2015 “fampany” renaming, studios abroad and its own games, from Monument Valley in 2014 to Monument Valley 2 in June 2017.
- Work & Co — The Brooklyn technology and design company opened in May 2013, its offices from Portland to Copenhagen, dated client work for Virgin America (2014) and the MTA (2020), and the Accenture deal announced in January 2024.
- MetaLab — The interface design firm Andrew Wilkinson started in Victoria, British Columbia, in 2006, its own apps such as Flow (2011), its work for Slack, the move under the holding company Tiny in January 2017 and the Metalab Ventures arm launched in 2024.
- Huge — A name that began as a joke in a Brooklyn apartment in 1999, a Dumbo studio, Interpublic ownership from 2008, a fuchsia accent behind the logo at Dock 72, and AEA Investors as owner since December 2024.
At a glance: founding, what each is known for and the latest change
Taken from each guide’s fact panel, as of October 2026. Follow the link for sources and detail.
| Brand | Founded | Known for | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aardman | Named: By Peter Lord and David Sproxton (1972) | Logo redrawn by Gavin Strange | Gas Ferry Road, Bristol |
| AKQA | By Ajaz Ahmed, London (1994) | A name made of initials | WPP |
| Buck | Los Angeles, by Ellermeyer, Honey and Tait (2004) | Animation and design, styled BUCK | Known for: Animation and design, styled BUCK |
| Cartoon Saloon | Kilkenny, Ireland, by three founders (1999) | Feature: The Secret of Kells | An animation studio based in Kilkenny |
| DreamWorks Animation | Parent founded: DreamWorks SKG, by Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen (1994) | The boy on the moon, painted by Robert Hunt | NBCUniversal (Comcast), within Universal |
| Framestore | London visual effects and animation studio (1986) | Computer Film Company: Acquired; traded as Framestore CFC | Company 3 and Method: Acquired with Aleph Capital and Crestview Partners |
| Huge | Brooklyn, New York (1999) | Owned by: Interpublic Group | Huge, Brooklyn Navy Yard |
| Illumination | By Chris Meledandri, with Universal (2007) | Name announced: Illumination Entertainment | Illumination, partner of Universal Pictures |
| Instrument | Started by: Vince LaVecchia (2005) | Digital work for Nike and Google | Part of Stagwell, Portland |
| Laika | Predecessor: Will Vinton Studios, Portland area | Renamed: Laika, after the Soviet space dog | Laika, after the Soviet space dog |
| ManvsMachine | Shoreditch, London, by Mike Alderson and Tim Swift (2007) | Broadcast idents and motion-led campaigns | Known for: Broadcast idents and motion-led campaigns |
| MetaLab | Victoria, British Columbia (2006) | Founder: Andrew Wilkinson | Venture arm: Metalab Ventures |
| Psyop | New York City, by five partners (2000) | Happiness Factory: Coca-Cola, with Wieden+Kennedy | Offices: New York, Los Angeles and Germany |
| R/GA | As R/Greenberg Associates, New York (1977) | Film titles, then digital work | Independent, majority-owned by Truelink Capital |
| The Mill | Soho, London, by Robin Shenfield and Pat Joseph (1990) | Technicolor: Acquired from Equistone | Relaunched under TransPerfect |
| ustwo | Matt Miller and John Sinclair (2004) | Monument Valley | Ustwo Fampany Ltd, London |
| Work & Co | Dumbo, Brooklyn (2013) | Founding partners: Liebel, Memória, Stewart, Ramaswamy, Eduardo | Part of Accenture Song |
See also all collections.