Code and Theory honored by Fast Company's Innovation by Design for four consecutive years. Accolades include being named to the Design Company of the Year list and receiving the Enduring Impact award for companies with 15-plus years of success. NEW YORK, September 15, 2026 (Newswire.com) - 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

Instrument, a Stagwell company, has appointed Jack De Caluwé as Chief Creative Officer. De Caluwé returns to Instrument after nearly nine years with the agency, where he previously helped shape its creative culture. In his new role, De Caluwé will lead creative work across brand, product, digital experiences, campaigns, and emerging technology. He joins from R/GA, where he served as Executive Creative Director. Throughout his career, De Caluwé has worked with brands including Nike, Apple, The New York Times, Patagonia, Netflix, Stripe, Dropbox, and Uber. His work has earned recognition from the Webby Awards, CLIO Awards, and The One Show. During his previous tenure at Instrument, De Caluwé led creative programmes for clients including Electronic Arts, Google, Notion, and ServiceNow. In 2026, Instrument was named Design Studio of the Year at the Campaign US Agency of the Year Awards.

Instrument names Jack De Caluwé Chief Creative Officer. August 24, 2026 11:07 AM Gift Article Award-winning creative leader brings over two decades of experience spanning brand, digital, campaigns, film, and emerging technology. PORTLAND, OR / ACCESS Newswire / August 24, 2026 / Instrument, a Stagwell (STGW) company and part of the Code and Theory Network, today announced that Jack De Caluwé has joined the agency as Chief Creative Officer. De Caluwé returns to Instrument after previously spending nearly nine years at the agency, where he helped shape its creative culture and some of its defining work. As Chief Creative Officer, De Caluwé will lead Instrument's creative work across brand, product, digital experiences, campaigns and emerging technology. He will partner with executive leadership to evolve Instrument's creative direction, mentor and develop talent, deepen relationships with executive clients, and raise the creative bar across the organization. Most recently, he served as Executive Creative Director at R/GA. Over the course of his career, De Caluwé has led creative for some of the world's most influential brands, including Nike, Apple, The New York Times, Patagonia, Netflix, Stripe, Dropbox and Uber, with a global career spanning Australia, Europe, and the United States. His work has earned recognition from the Webby Awards, CLIO Awards and The One Show, among others. While previously at Instrument, De Caluwé helped lead programs for clients, including: TOP VIDEOS * Electronic Arts (EA): Evolved EA into a flexible, future-ready brand platform built to stay recognizable and coherent as technologies, experiences, and audience expectations evolve. * Google: Helped lead creative across Google, pushing the brand into new territory across product, campaigns, and experiences. * Notion: Led the creative work on "For Your Life's Work," Notion's first international brand campaign, positioning the platform for both work and life across North America, Europe, and Asia. * ServiceNow: Led the development of a distinct agentic AI identity and scalable design system, positioning ServiceNow as a leader in enterprise AI across products, partners, and platforms. Instrument has spent 20 years at the intersection of creativity and technology, helping organizations navigate change and unlock new opportunities for growth. In 2026, it was named Design Studio of the Year at the Campaign US Agency of the Year Awards. Instrument has also recently added to its senior creative team: Terence Hobson, Group Executive Creative Director, Brand Studio, joining from EA SPORTS, and Yan Sze Li, Group Executive Creative Director, Product Studio, joining from M·A·C Cosmetics. De Caluwé says: "We're in one of those rare moments where the canvas is being stretched in every direction. Technology is opening up new ways to make things, culture is evolving in real time, and creativity has never had more room to surprise people. I wanted to be somewhere that sees that as an invitation rather than a disruption. Instrument is that place. I want us to be a studio where you can feel something is always happening. The kind of place people keep bookmarked for when they need a reminder of what's possible. A place willing to take big swings, make things with real character, attract restless talent, and chase ideas into unexpected places. That's the creative practice I want to build and the role I want Instrument to play in whatever comes next." Laurel Burton, CEO of Instrument, says:"Jack is a force multiplier for ingenuity and innovation, always pushing beyond familiar patterns to create space for unexpected ideas. That's the role we want to play for our partners: challenging conventional thinking to create iconic work. With Jack returning to Instrument, we're not only advancing our clients' work, but strengthening our creative identity, attracting top talent and increasing the creative force we bring to every partnership." About Instrument Instrument is a design and technology company. We build brands, products, and experiences guided by one belief: make the complex simple. For more than 20 years, we've partnered with companies like Google, Nike, Electronic Arts, ServiceNow, Uber, and ŌURA. We use technology with intent-applying tools like AI to deepen the work and move faster, without losing what makes it good. Instrument is a part of the Code and Theory Network, Stagwell's (STGW) digital transformation network.