About the agency
Boston brand identity studio specializing in positioning, identity systems, and placemaking.
Great brands are not made. They are uncovered.
For over three decades, Adams Design has shaped brands for developers, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, institutions, and emerging companies. Each project begins with positioning, defining what a brand stands for, how it should be perceived, and what gives it relevance within its context. From there, we create identity systems designed to carry that idea across print, digital, advertising, and the built environment.
LEADERSHIP
Brenda Adams
Founder & Creative Director
Brenda Adams is the founder and creative director of Adams Design. She established the studio in Boston after building her career in Dallas and Boston, leading brand programs and creative teams within respected advertising and design firms.
Her work has received industry recognition in both branding and advertising, spanning large-scale residential developments, hospitality destinations, nonprofit organizations, and corporate brands.
She is known for shaping identity systems that define how places and organizations are introduced and understood, often long before they are fully realized.
She continues to lead the studio’s work from positioning through execution, guiding each project with a focus on clarity, distinctiveness, and long-term relevance.
She brings the same strategic thinking to mission-driven and community-centered organizations as she does to commercial development, believing that good design should create connection as much as recognition.
SELECTED AWARDS
Recognition spanning brand identity, advertising, placemaking, and print design.
POINT OF VIEW
Branding begins long before design.
We define what a brand means, how it should be understood, and what gives it distinction within its market and culture. The identity follows from that clarity.
APPROACH
Discovery
Understanding the audience, environment, and competitive context that shape perception.
Positioning
Defining what the brand stands for and how it should be understood.
Identity
Creating identity systems that express the idea with clarity, character, and cohesion.
Application
Extending the identity across print, digital, advertising, and environment with precision.
STUDIO
A focused studio with direct creative leadership and a curated network of collaborators.
A focused studio with direct creative leadership and a curated network of collaborators.
We operate as a core team, assembling award-winning creative partners based on the needs of each project, from photography and illustration to signage, fabrication and production.
This structure allows us to bring the right expertise to every engagement while maintaining consistency, quality, and creative control throughout.
TEAM
Shelby Hypes
Liz Lennon
Sandy Adams
Rebecca McGrotty
Brian Johnson
SECLECTED CLIENTS
Trusted by developers, nonprofits, institutions, hospitality brands, and cultural organizations.
EXPERIENCE
30+
Years shaping brand identity, positioning, and placemaking
300+
Identity systems developed across industries and environments
National
Work spanning Boston, New England, and major markets throughout the U.S.
We create brands that define perception, hold their place, and stay with people.
Considering a new brand or repositioning an existing one?
Let’s start the conversation.