A brand design for a sealant company that lifted sales revenue by 744 per cent has been named the winner of the Grand Prix in this year's DBA Design Effectiveness Awards.
The Graft brand design, undertaken by studio The Engine Room for the home construction company Polyseam, was awarded the 2017 grand prize at a ceremony on Wednesday night at London venue The Brewery. Dezeen is media partner for the awards.
Held annually, the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognises British branding, packaging and interior design projects that have had a tangible and measurable effect upon business success.
Forty-two projects made the shortlist this year, including examples from the Financial Times, Diageo, Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel Corporation, World Vision UK, Lloyds Banking Group, forceMAJEUR Design, Jones Knowles Ritchie, Design Bridge, Four-by-Two and Pearlfisher.
At the ceremony, the shortlisted parties were given either Gold, Silver or Bronze awards by a jury of business leaders.
Two further awards – Top of the League (recognising the most impressive cumulative performance from an agency over the last three years) and the International Export Award (presented for the most effective piece of work undertaken by an agency for an overseas client) – went to Elmwood for its Redefining a Mexican Icon brand identity, created for Heineken Tecate.
Gold Award winners included BrandMe's premium repositioning of Orangina, which increased sales by 66 per cent over two quarters for Lucozade Ribena Suntory, reversing a 20 per cent decline.
Another was Jones Knowles Ritchie's brand identity for Green Park Brands' Hippeas, an organic snack food. The DBA said it had achieved unprecedented levels of distribution for a start-up, with listings in 16,000 UK and US stores.
Other Gold award winners were Family (and friends), for a brand redesign that tripled the income of the struggling Organic Seed and Bean Company, and Thompson Brand Partners for its NHS Leeds South and East Clinical Commissioning Group website design, which is now seen as a best-practice example for mental health services.
The Design Effectiveness Awards are run by the UK's Design Business Association, a trade association that promotes the strategic and economic value of design to business and government. Four hundred agencies and business are members.
"Design uniquely cuts to the heart of every business it touches," said DBA CEO Deborah Dawton. "So when it comes to our nation's competitiveness, infusing design universally into business should be a priority in order to drive long-term growth and economic advantage for the UK. The DBA Design Effectiveness Award winners prove why."
The 2017 DBA Design Effectiveness Awards judging panel included Mike Brown, commissioner of Transport for London; Josh Berger, president and MD of Warner Bros; Andy Palmer, chief executive at Aston Martin; Graham Bednash, consumer marketing director at Google; Conran Bird, the government's GREAT campaign director; Mauro Porcini, SVP and chief design officer for PepsiCo; and Deborah Meaden, the entrepreneur behind Meadenspeak, among other leading figures.
The full list of 42 winners is below.
Food producers
The Way of the Noodle for Kabuto Noodles by B&B studio (Gold)
Selwyn's Sells Seaweed from the Seashore for Selwyn's by Brand Union (Silver)
MOMA for MOMA by BrandOpus (Silver)
Twinings Sweet Greens for Twinings by BrandOpus (Bronze)
Twinings Discovery Collection for Twinings by BrandOpus (Bronze)
Flora ProActiv for Unilever by Design Bridge (Silver)
SKYR for Arla Foods Elmwood (Gold)
Saving the Organic Seed and Bean Company for Organic Seed and Bean Company by Family (and friends) (Gold)
Hippeas for Green Park Brands by jones knowles ritchie (Gold)
Whitworths Shots for Whitworths by Springetts Brand Design Consultants (Silver)
McVitie's Cakes for McVitie's Cake Company by Springetts Brand Design Consultants (Bronze)
Monty Bojangles Taste Adventures for The Monty Bojangles Company by Springetts Brand Design Consultants (Bronze)
Beverages
Orangina: Shaking Up a Classic for Lucozade Ribena Suntory by BrandMe (Gold)
The Rise of Mercury Hard Cider for Carlton & United Breweries by Denomination (Bronze)
Redefining a Mexican Icon for Heineken Tecate by Elmwood (Gold, International Export Award and Top of the League)
Buchanan's for Diageo by forceMAJEURE Design (Gold)
Horlicks India Restage for GlaxoSmithKline by GSK Nutrition (Gold)
Cawston Press Sparkling Cans for Cawston Press by Pearlfisher (Gold)
Harrogate Spring Water for Harrogate Water Brands by Thompson Brand Partners (Gold)
Green's Gluten Free Beer for Green's Beers by WPA Pinfold (Gold)
Public sector
Brunel University London Design Strategy for Brunel University London by Brand Ethos & Reason Design (Bronze)
MindMate for NHS Leeds South and East Clinical Commissioning Group by Thompson Brand Partners (Gold)
Financial services
Freedom Finance Repositioning for Freedom Finance by Conch Associates (Bronze)
Lloyds Clapham Junction for Lloyds Banking Group by M Worldwide (Bronze)
Wilson Browne Rebrand for Wilson Browne Solicitors by White Clarke Creative (Bronze)
People Charter & Internal Branding for Homeserve by WPA Pinfold (Silver)
Mobile telecommunications
Intel at MWC 2016 for Intel Corporation by 2LK (Bronze)
Media
FT.com Customer Retention Journey for Financial Times by 999 Design (Gold)
Entertainment Unlimited for HOOQ Digital by Elmwood (Silver)
Support services
Sapience HR Rebrand for Sapience HR by Absolute (Silver)
Food and drug retailers
SOpharmacy for SOpharmacy by Creative Leap (Bronze)
Booths Bags for Life for Booths by Smith &+ Village (Silver)
Booths Own Label for Booths by Smith &+ Village (Gold)
Charity
The Snowdon Trust for The Snowdon Trust by Elmwood (Silver)
Growing The Donkey Sanctuary for The Donkey Sanctuary by The Allotment (Silver)
The Story Shop for World Vision UK by The Yard Creative (Silver)
Personal goods
Dune 'Catwalk Concept' for The Dune Group by Four-by-Two (Silver)
Travel and leisure
See Humans Fly for Glasgow Life by Front Page (Silver)
Household goods and home construction
Comfort Intense Fabric Conditioners for Unilever by PB Creative (Silver)
Armstead for AkzoNobel by Springetts Brand Design Consultants (Silver)
Construction and materials
GRAFT Brand for Polyseam by The Engine Room (Gold and Grand Prix)
Software and computer services
Dimension Data for Dimension Data by Prospect (Bronze)