At Design Hierarchy, we exist to help artists, humanitarians, and philanthropists bring their boldest ideas to life. We craft identities, ideas, design systems, and stories that move with culture and speak with clarity in an increasingly complex and noisy world. Rooted in human insight.Expanded by AI. Through decades of shaping some of the world’s most iconic brands, we’ve learned what moves people, and what makes brands matter. We take that legacy of creative excellence and apply it to the tools of tomorrow, designing trusted, intelligent AI systems that help brands deepen their connection with culture, with clarity and intent.
The Founder and Creative Director Ahmer Kalam is an award-winning creative director behind iconic campaigns for JPMorgan Chase, Intel, & Marriott. With over two decades in leadership roles at WPP, IPG, and Denstu, his work has earned Emmy nominations, Cannes Lions, and a place in MoMA’s permanent collection. Today, he leads Design Hierarchy, a creative studio.
The Founder and Creative Architect Ahmer Kalam is an award-winning creative director whose work bridges global brand storytelling, social-impact movements, and cultural transformation. For more than two decades, he served in leadership roles across WPP, IPG, and Dentsu, shaping narrative and brand systems for some of the world’s most influential institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Intel, Marriott International, Mastercard, and Citibank. His commercial work has received Emmy nominations, Cannes Lions, Clios, and a place in MoMA’s permanent collection, along with over 100 international accolades for creative excellence. Today, Ahmer leads hierarchy.design, a studio dedicated to building the narrative architecture behind global causes and philanthropic ecosystems. His work spans peacebuilding, maternal health, Indigenous cultural revival, wellness, solar access, emergency response, and immigrant economic empowerment. He has contributed story systems, identity frameworks, and movement design to initiatives connected to the Obama Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the V Foundation, Synergos, Daughters of the Earth, Every Woman Treaty, Safe Horizon, IXIM (accelerating conscious living), and PBS (#MeTooNowWhat). He has also supported energy-access and cultural projects with Little Sun and the Olafur Eliasson Foundation, and health equity campaigns, including Merck for Mothers and global efforts to end maternal mortality. Ahmer’s commitment to justice, dignity, and human flourishing is rooted in the women who raised him, his mother, whose strength shaped his earliest understanding of protection and belonging. Across industries and continents, Ahmer’s work is anchored in a single belief:When design, narrative, and conscience converge, movements gain clarity, cultures shift, and new possibilities for collective healing emerge.
