Shahid / Kraus & Company is a full service branding, advertising and design agency established in 1993. Renowned for creating new brands as well as reinventing existing ones, Shahid / Kraus & Company explores, creates and avails the use of powerful images and graphics, ultimately designed to create desire with consumers. Creative development focused on telling a story, evoking a lifestyle and building emotional bonds has resulted in many memorable campaigns for a diverse group of clients. Shahid / Kraus & Company utilizes a variety of media; including print and digital advertising, television, outdoor, collateral, packaging and corporate identity.
The Company
Sam Shahid
Creative Director / President / Principal
Sam Shahid has been leaving his mark on the world of fashion and advertising for four decades and counting. When he became the creative director for the in-house advertising agency for Calvin Klein in the early 1980s, he helped to turn the brand into the internationally recognized name it remains today with advertising campaigns that are remembered for their clean yet sensational visuals. In the early 1990s he did the same for Banana Republic, before opening up his own creative design firm and advertising agency Shahid & Company in 1993, and through the following years he’s used this platform to create original and striking campaigns for brands as divergent as Versace and Perry Ellis, Gucci and Valentino, and his continued indelible work with Abercrombie & Fitch still inspires today. Throughout the Aughts he was also the Creative Director of Interview Magazine, and on top of all these accomplishments he’s also designed a library’s worth of fine art books for artists and photographers such as Bruce Weber, Kelly Klein, Herb Ritts, and Ellen Von Un Werth amongst others.
Matthew Kraus
Creative Director / Senior Vice President / Principal
From photography, typography, art book design, and film to branding for both new and existing brands—Matthew Kraus is passionate about everything creative. 20+ years ago he was fortunate to start at one of New York’s top boutique agencies, Shahid & Company, and to serve as art director and lead designer for diverse clients such as Interview Magazine, Abercrombie & Fitch, David Yurman, Musée Magazine, Versace and more. He has also art directed and designed a full bookshelf of books for Rizzoli, powerHouse Books, Steidl, Bruce Weber, Jessica Lange, Collier Schorr, Joel Grey, the Guggenheim Museum, and many others.
With over 25 years of design experience, Matthew is thrilled to be partnering with Sam Shahid to continue helping brands and artists communicate their vision.