The Albany Gazette - Code and Theory Honored by Fast Company's Innovation by Design for Four Consecutive Years

NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / September 15, 2026 / Code and Theory has received the dual honor of being named a Fast Company Design Company of the Year and selected for its "Enduring Impact" award, which recognizes the best design among companies with 15-plus years in business.

The accolades mark the agency's fourth consecutive year in which Code and Theory has been selected for Fast Company's Innovation by Design Awards.

Technology has made it easier to make things, but most businesses find it harder to make things that matter. It's a gap that keeps growing and one that Code and Theory is uniquely built to close. For 25 years, the agency has brought creativity and technology together through a differentiated balance of 50% creatives and 50% engineers. Code and Theory has evolved that model into a digital transformation engine built to handle disruption, combining human creativity, forward-deployed expertise and agentic solutions to drive tangible business outcomes.

Over the past year, that work has delivered measurable results across industries:

• TIME: Transformed the legacy publisher into a modern, AI-powered platform, increasing digital revenue by 159% year over year.
• Stanley Black & Decker: Created one design system for more than 30 brands across 55 markets, helping increase e-commerce conversion by 40%.
• JBL: Created the industry's first AI-native discovery system, built for the way search works now, growing AI-driven referrals by 2,434% year over year.
• T. Rowe Price: Unified 47 fragmented sites on a single system, saving 100,000 team hours and $15M in avoided costs.
• NFL: Reinvented NFL.com to help fans find what they want faster, increasing NFL+ discovery by 104% year over year and tripling acquisition.

The 2026 awards also recognize work from across the Code and Theory Network. Instrument and ŌURA have been named in the UX Design category for Instrument's reimagining of the ŌURA app experience. Instrument's Playspace, an open, living archive of experiments, tools and interactive sketches, has also been honored in the Experimental and Conceptual Design category. The platform gives teams a place to test ideas, build prototypes and turn emerging technologies into tangible, usable experiences.

This recognition builds on a broader history of Fast Company honors for the Code and Theory Network. In 2025, Code and Theory was named to Fast Company's World's Most Innovative Companies list in the Design and Teamwork categories, while Instrument was named to Fast Company's list of Best Workplaces for Innovators. Code and Theory's previous Innovation by Design honors include three distinctions for NBC's Big Board, the NFL app and Design Company of the Year (2025).

This year, Code and Theory was honored alongside Google, Canva, SharkNinja and Design Bridge and Partners in the Design Agency of the Year category as well as Adobe, L'Oreal and CVS Health in the Enduring Impact category.

Dan Gardner, founder of Code and Theory, says: "It's a crazy moment to be able to be creative and use technology to design what's never come before. Our teams are more excited about the future than ever because moments like this don't come around very often. As we head into our 25th anniversary, I can say that being recognized for the work we're doing at a time like this is a real honor for our clients and all of the great talent at Code and Theory."

Brendan Vaughan, Editor-in-Chief at Fast Company, says: "The Innovation by Design Awards have always recognized the ideas that challenge convention and show what's possible when design is treated as a strategic force, not an afterthought. Congratulations to this year's honorees, who demonstrate how thoughtful design can solve meaningful problems and create new possibilities for people and businesses."

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with fellow business publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.

About Code and Theory

Code and Theory is the digital transformation agency where the C-suite comes together to create change. Our differentiated balance of 50% creatives and 50% engineers at scale allows us to bring strategy, creativity and technology together in one integrated offering. This enables our clients to gain competitive advantages in how they operate, market and serve their customers. Code and Theory is Stagwell's (STGW) digital transformation network, which includes its flagship agency, Code and Theory, along with Create. Group, Current, Instrument, Kettle, Left Field Labs and Truelogic. Code and Theory is the most decorated agency of the past three years, with 20 top agency honors, including Ad Age, Adweek and Fast Company. Our clients include Amazon, IBM, JPMorganChase, Microsoft, NBC and the NFL. For more, visit codeandtheory.com.

Media Contact

Kenneth Hein
[email protected]

SOURCE: Stagwell

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(W.Walker--TAG)