Find design agency

find-design-agency

Drive the ServiceGraph API (https://api.servicegraph.co) to find, shortlist, and enrich US design and creative agencies via the pro_services dataset. The catalog tags firms with industry:design_creative and a ~13-tag service sub-taxonomy spanning graphic design, UX/UI, product design, brand identity, packaging, illustration, motion, and creative direction.

Always pin industry:design_creative. Sub-disciplines are typically structured service_provided tags (graphic-design, ui-ux-design, product-design, branding, etc.). Two known drifts: the UX/UI tag is ui-ux-design, not ux-ui-design; and there is no industrial-design tag — use product-design plus a hardware keyword. Confirm exact names via /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields?include_values=1.

Any HTTP client works (curl, fetch, requests). Examples below use curl.

Sibling skills — defer when scope is different

• Marketing-led engagements where design is one of several services (PR + content + paid + design) → find-marketing-agency. This skill is for design-led engagements where the design work IS the primary deliverable.
• Build-the-website work (coded marketing site, ecommerce, custom CMS) → find-web-developer. Design agencies often partner with web devs; if the user wants the built artifact, fire web-developer.
• Custom software with design needs (SaaS app, internal tool) → find-software-developer when the deliverable is software. Pure design (Figma files, brand systems, print collateral) stays here.

When NOT to use this skill

• Consumer/personal design — weddings, hobby projects, Etsy side projects, custom holiday cards, personal portfolio sites. Catalog is B2B procurement only.
• DIY — "design me a logo", "make me a hero illustration", "redesign my app's onboarding flow".
• In-house designer hires (Lead Designer, UX Researcher, Brand Designer).
• Design-software product comparisons (Figma vs Sketch vs Adobe XD, Webflow vs Framer).
• Knowledge questions ("explain the difference between UX and UI").
• Non-US firms / individual freelance designers.

MCP server (preferred for authed calls)

If your harness has the ServiceGraph MCP server loaded (tools containing servicegraph), prefer those — OAuth 2.1 + PKCE keeps the token in the harness sandbox. Otherwise use the REST flow below.

API surface (dataset id: pro_services)

Every endpoint requires the bearer (Authorization: Bearer vk_…). No anonymous tier.

Endpoint	Cost	Use it for
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields[?include_values=1]	free	Confirm design_creative industry value and sub-tag names.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=…	free	Validate filter.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent	free	{intent} → DSL filter + sanity count.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=…&limit=	free	Brief firm cards + per-row unlock hint + total.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex	free	One row brief; detail only if unlocked.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks	10 credits / firm	{apexes:[...]} ≤100; atomic; 30-day TTL on detail.
GET /v1/me/credits	free	Balance.

Cost model. Discovery / validation / search / brief reads are free. Detail (url, phone, email, social, address, full platforms map) costs 10 credits per firm and lasts 30 days.

Auth

vk_* API keys minted in the dashboard. Keep the token out of the LLM context — never read .env* into your context; dispatch via shell.

1. Try the call first through a shell wrapper that sources .env.local:

   ( set -a; [ -f .env.local ] && . ./.env.local; set +a;
     curl -sS -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY" \
          'https://api.servicegraph.co/v1/datasets/pro_services/fields' )
   

2. On 401 prompt the user:

   "Open https://servicegraph.co/profile/api-keys, create a key, and add SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY=vk_… to .env.local here (or export it). Tell me when done. Please don't paste the key into chat."

3. Retry after the user signals ready.

Filter DSL

GitHub-search-style.

filter   := orExpr
orExpr   := andExpr ("OR" andExpr)*
andExpr  := notExpr (("AND")? notExpr)*    # whitespace = implicit AND
notExpr  := ("NOT" | "-") notExpr | atom
atom     := "(" filter ")" | predicate
predicate:= IDENT op valueOrList | bareword
op       := ":" | "=" | ">=" | "<=" | ">" | "<"
valueOrList := value ("," value)*
value    := IDENT | NUMBER | tagAtEvidence
tagAtEvidence := IDENT "@" ("low"|"medium"|"high")
bareword := IDENT | NUMBER          # → keyword:<bareword>

Four rules that bite: AND binds tighter than OR (use parens); comma list = OR within one predicate; negation is -x or NOT x; bareword = keyword search (quote multi-word phrases).

Design-flavored examples (validate yours with /check):

industry:design_creative service_provided:ui-ux-design saas
industry:design_creative service_provided:branding state:NY
industry:design_creative service_provided:packaging-design cpg
industry:design_creative service_provided:product-design hardware
industry:design_creative service_provided:graphic-design "annual report"
industry:design_creative motion animation
industry:design_creative service_provided:branding@high rating>=4 has:clutch
industry:design_creative service_provided:ui-ux-design@high fortune

Sub-discipline → tag mapping (verify exact names via /fields):

User asks for	Use
Graphic design (logos, print, layouts)	service_provided:graphic-design
Logo design specifically	service_provided:logo-design
UX/UI design (digital products)	service_provided:ui-ux-design (note the ui-ux-, not ux-ui-)
Product design (digital + research)	service_provided:product-design
Brand identity / visual identity	service_provided:branding
Packaging design	service_provided:packaging-design
Print design / collateral	service_provided:print-design
Web design (visual)	service_provided:web-design (distinct from web-development)
Interior design	service_provided:interior-design
Illustration / motion design / creative direction	no structured tag — keyword-only (illustration, motion, animation, "creative direction")
Industrial design (physical products)	no structured tag — closest is service_provided:product-design plus keyword hardware / industrial

Verticals (SaaS, fintech, healthcare-tech, CPG, hospitality) and credentials (AIGA, Awwwards) are keyword-only.

Identifying firms — apex

Firms are identified by their apex domain (ideo.com, not www.ideo.com/about).

Recipes

A. UX/UI for a SaaS product

User: "UX/UI design agency for our SaaS product."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:ui-ux-design+saas&limit=10
# Present, get pick of 3. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
  { "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }

B. Brand-identity studio in a state

User: "Three brand-identity studios in NY for our rebrand."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:branding+state:NY+-company_size_signal:large_50plus&limit=10

-large_50plus keeps the shortlist to studio-size shops. Note: a rating gate (rating>=4) collapses the boutique-branding pool sharply — these firms are vetted by portfolio, not Clutch/Google, so prefer @high evidence + non-solo as the quality proxy.

C. Packaging for CPG

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:packaging-design+(cpg OR consumer)&limit=10

D. Product design with hardware experience

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:product-design+hardware+industrial&limit=10

E. Indirect intent — "design our visual identity and packaging"

User: "We need someone to design the visual identity and packaging for our new line of beverages."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:branding+service_provided:packaging-design+(beverage OR cpg)&limit=10

Or use the intent translator:

POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent
  { "intent": "design firm for visual identity and packaging for a new beverage line" }

If the list is thin, drop packaging-design — many brand-identity studios deliver packaging as part of the system.

F. Graphic design for corporate use cases

User: "Graphic design firms experienced with annual reports and investor decks."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:graphic-design+(annual OR investor OR corporate)&limit=10

G. Quality threshold + Fortune 500 clients

User: "Three UX/UI agencies with at least 4-star ratings and Fortune 500 clients."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:ui-ux-design@high+rating>=4+fortune&limit=10

H. Brand-system overhaul

User: "Creative agency for a brand system overhaul — logo, typography, color, voice."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:branding@high&limit=10

If the user mentions "voice" / copywriting, the line with find-marketing-agency blurs — stay here unless they explicitly ask for strategy/campaigns.

I. BYO apex list — enrich domains

User pastes 8–20 design firm domains:

1. GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex per domain — free brief (404 = not in catalog, no charge).
2. User picks N to fully enrich. POST /unlocks = 10×N credits, atomic, detail returned.
3. Re-runs within 30-day TTL are free.

A 404 often means the firm is tagged under industry:marketing_agency instead — design/marketing overlap is heavy.

Gotchas

• Always pin industry:design_creative. Without it, design keywords (branding, ui-ux-design) appear in marketing_agency rows too.
• Tag drift: it's ui-ux-design, not ux-ui-design. There is no industrial-design tag — use product-design plus a hardware keyword.
• Defer to find-marketing-agency for marketing-led engagements. If the user wants brand + content + paid + social as one engagement, that's marketing-agency territory.
• Defer to find-web-developer for the build phase. Design agencies make Figma files; web devs ship code.
• Refuse consumer-personal design. Weddings, custom holiday cards, hobby Etsy logos — not in catalog.
• DIY asks ("design me a logo", "make a hero image") are NOT procurement.
• Design-software comparisons (Figma vs Sketch) are NOT procurement.
• Rating gates on boutique studios are sparse. rating>=4 on a branding@high non-solo pool collapses sharply — boutique design shops are vetted by portfolio, not Clutch reviews. Prefer @high evidence + non-solo + state as the quality proxy.
• Briefs DO include apex, name, location, ratings. They DON'T include url, phone_primary, email_primary, legal_name, address_full, full platforms — those require an unlock.
• not_found / not_in_dataset 404 = not in pro_services. Skip; not charged.
• Unlock is atomic. N apexes either all charge (up to 10×N credits) or none on 402.
• Within-TTL re-views are free (was_cached:true).

Errors

JSON envelope: {"error": {"code": "...", "message": "..."}}.

Status	Code	What to do
400	filter_parse_error	position included; fix and re-validate with /check.
400	kind_in_filter	Strip any kind: from filter.
400	field_not_in_dataset	Drop the disallowed field.
400	invalid_apex	Re-normalize.
401	unauthorized / invalid_audience	Re-prompt for fresh vk_….
402	insufficient_credits	needed and balance; nothing charged.
404	not_found / not_in_dataset	Skip; not charged.
429	rate_limited	Honor Retry-After.

End-to-end example

User: "Three UX/UI design agencies for our SaaS product, ideally with 4-star ratings and healthcare-tech experience."

GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields?include_values=1
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=industry:design_creative+service_provided:ui-ux-design@high+saas+healthcare+rating>=4
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=...&limit=10
# Present briefs. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
  { "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }
GET /v1/me/credits