Graham Hanson founded GHD Partners, formerly Graham Hanson Design, a branding and design agency, in 1997. Long time corporate clients include Google, American Express, Saks Fifth Avenue and General Motors. GHD also works with architects and developers throughout the United States on residential, commercial, hospitality and mixed-use projects. The agency is continually developing projects for museums and other cultural organizations, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Museum of Arts & Design, The American Institute of Architects, The Museum of Natural History, Carnegie Hall and the Kuwait National Museum.He has served on the Executive Committee of the American Institute of Graphic Arts/NY as vice president and serves frequently on design related juries. He was the recipient of the 2002 Design Achievement award from Iowa State University and was named as one of 150 distinguished Visionaries on occasion of the University's 150th anniversary in 2007. He served on the National Board of Directors of the Society for Environmental Graphic Design from 2012 to 2016.In 2018, a 192-page monograph, titled “20/20”, was published by Visual Profile Books, showcasing the 20-year legacy of GHD Partners. The book, written by architect Roger Yee with introduction by design educator Jeff Bellantoni, illustrates 20 signature projects executed over the first 20 years of the firm.

Prior to founding Graham Hanson Design in 1997, he was with Vignelli Associates, where he designed the identity and an environmental design and wayfinding system for the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain; a signage system for Harbor Circus, a large-scale mixed-use retail complex in Kobe, Japan; and projects with Philip Johnson for The Museum of Modern Art in New York.