What a great way to sign off the year, building on our track record in the awards to have 4 nominations in 2023. The Transform Awards are one of the most celebrated accolades in branding and we think they are so important because they’re judged by clients, for how brand projects perform, and not just on style or aesthetics.
The other key point is that the results and impact of the work are central considerations when judging. That is so important for us at RichardsDee as our primary purpose is to Design Meaningful Change for our clients and their businesses.
To be nominated across four categories and judged by amazing brands like Adidas, Shelter, Decathlon, Now TV, Nestle and Channel 4 is a testament to both our clients and our team working together to deliver programmes that have made a difference.
So congrats to everyone involved.
We’re delighted to be nominated for our work with the following clients:
This month we were excited to get moving and take part in the Grant Thornton 5K for 2022. This year the registration fee was split between The Irish Red Cross and supporting up and coming Athletes in Athletics Ireland’s junior programmes.
Plus, our athletes Maria, Rachel, Paul, Martin, Sadhbh, Ciara, David and Simon smashed their times in the race!
At RichardsDee, the team are working across a diverse range of branding programmes so we’ve created RD Rewinds; a way to showcase the projects we’ve been proud to lead over the month. First up, October!
SEAI Energy Awards
The SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards recognise and reward excellence in all aspects of energy efficiency and renewable energy. As proud brand partners to SEAI, we’ve worked on this critical showcase of energy innovation and sustainable energy for over five years. From event branding and stage design, to signage and presentation development, we were delighted to support on this year’s event which saw Veolia, Bus Éireann, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland and Wren Urban Nest amongst the worthy winners. A huge congratulations again to all those who were nominated, and to all of this year’s winners!
Furthr Festival
October 21st saw over 1,600 ambitious founders, investors and enterprises gather at Furthr Festival to explore global challenges and the role of tech in finding the solutions. With over 100 speakers across five stages it was a high octane day focused on big topics like opportunity drivers, scaling businesses, sustainable innovation and emerging tech. Having led the rename and rebrand of Dublin BIC to Furthr, we were delighted to develop the name, proposition, identity, architecture and experience for Furthr Festival. A destination that really celebrates where Innovation, Tech and Sustainability collide.
As RichardsDee closes in on its first decade in business, Celine was delighted to participate in the new season of Dublin BIC Start Up Nation Podcast with two formidable ladies Sheelagh Daly Entrepreneurship manager at Enterprise Ireland and Deirdre Lyons Founder & CEO at Examfly. Celine discussed the challenges she has faced, how she has learnt to deal with them along the way and her view on why brand should be prioritised from the beginning of the start up journey. Thanks Conor Carmody for the opportunity.
Always up for a challenge, we were delighted to take part again in the virtual Grant Thornton 5K 2021, this year proudly supporting #DoItForDementia with the registration fee split between The Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland and supporting up-and-coming athletes in Athletics Ireland’s junior programmes. Plus, our athletes Sadhbh, Ciara, David and Simon finished with a respectable team position of 40!
Appointed by Fáilte Ireland to name and extend the Wild Atlantic Way brand beyond the coast to Limerick, our approach was to build on Limerick’s unique location and character to position it as an ideal base for exploring Ireland’s world-renowned west coast.
The challenge was to create a solution that did not dilute the essence of the Wild Atlantic Way, but enabled Limerick to use the Wild Atlantic Way brand to elevate destinations, grow visitor numbers, and increase the nights stayed. Key to the project was negotiating the balance between two strong brands – Limerick’s distinctive “Atlantic Edge, European Embrace” brand and the brand equity of the rugged, exciting, and independent Wild Atlantic Way.
Our process began with a review to understand both Limerick’s and the Wild Atlantic Way’s current visual and verbal communications. We then designed an approach beginning with direct engagement with stakeholders and businesses across Limerick city and county in collaborative discovery workshops, informing a brand and architecture approach based on trade and customer needs.
From here, our task was to craft an architecture that developed the optimum relationships between Limerick and the Wild Atlantic Way, designed to consider future products, services, and experiences. Working parallel to the brand architecture was our approach to naming the gateway – how could we clarify Limerick’s positioning and make it clear that Limerick is not simply a throughway, but rather a base, and a destination in itself? Through exploring a wide range of names across naming typologies, we developed a compelling shortlist.
Working closely with Fáilte Ireland, we developed research stimulus to test our naming solutions with visitors across four European markets. In the end, the research revealed that the name “Wild Atlantic Way Gateway City” brought clarity to visitors both home and abroad.
To bridge the brands and establish an ownable and differentiated identity for the Gateway City, we also needed to create a design system and guidelines with proprietary visual assets, including colour palette, typefaces, image style, brand graphics, and messaging. We based the identity in the affinities between Limerick and the Wild Atlantic Way. Both have a deep connection to the water. Both are independent, fresh, and exciting. And, both have unspoiled connections to their unique heritage and histories. This informed the construction of the logotype capturing the relationship between the two and the definition of a natural and authentic photographic style. Core to the communications strategy was a narrative and structure for businesses to interweave their unique stories with the Gateway City narrative and build a compelling reason for visitors to come, stay, and enjoy all that Limerick can offer.
Invigorating rush
The source of surprise
Shows shaped by the sounds of the Shannon
Liberating swim, surf, or sail
A revitalising Wild Atlantic Way Gateway City
By invoking dualities between the ancient Wild Atlantic Way and the modernity of Limerick – the tranquil villages and bustling cityscape, and the traditional and edgy arts scenes – through creative connections in photography and balance between evocative and straightforward language, the two brands are united, rather than made uniform.
Limerick’s vibrant nightlife and edgy music scene
Centuries of language, literature, music, and dance
The down-to-earth determination of our city’s people
The famous warmth and wit of our Wild Atlantic folk
The sub brand was launched to trade across Limerick city and county and was revealed with enthusiasm and excitement for the future. The brand workshop ensured the Wild Atlantic Way Gateway City brand would be implemented consistently and create opportunities for businesses in the years to come.
The result is a unified, harmonious sub-brand adaptable to any business in Limerick with space for individuality and structure for consistency.
We are looking for a senior brand designer who has the creativity and hunger to Design Meaningful Change for our exciting and well known clients.
We are looking for a confident, creative senior brand designer who has the know-how and hunger to translate brand strategies, create original identities and deliver compelling ideas.
This is a key role with RichardsDee, working with a design team where your thinking and creativity will impact the direction of the design projects and allow you to challenge and hone your creative and strategic abilities.
The role requires someone who has proven themselves on challenging branding programmes with leading agencies, has a digital first approach and is looking to play a central role in the future of branding. Needless to say the role requires excellent typography, design and craft skills, together with the energy to discover new thinking, influences and references.
Requirements:
Curious, thoughtful and brave in creating concepts, solutions and ideas that are underpinned by the project challenges, yet is based on fresh thinking that sparks a clients interest.
Attention to detail in craft and execution through design development, testing and implementing.
Clearly communicate and articulate creative and strategic led thinking.
Design across many brand touchpoints with a customer first and brand led approach.
Passionate about language, with the ability to structure, write and create narratives for communications and to be able to build on tone of voice guides.
Interested in how brand and creativity can be a strategic business tool and how our work matters to help drive meaningful change.
Creatively curious and inspiring, uncovering the new references that help to create distinctive creative outputs.
Play an integral role to help grow our creative and strategic reputation building a culture to be proud of.
Digital first, in how brand identities need to live in a moving and digital world.
Have a minimum of 5 year experience.
This role does not need to be based in Ireland, but there will be requirement to attend meetings and workshops when required.
Looking for a meaningful change and to be part of a growing and ambitious company, then drop us a line at jobs@richardsdee.com
We are looking for a strategic, creative and business centric thinker who can solve complex client challenges and turn business strategy into brand strategy to help clients grow, transform and make an impact.
This is a consultative role, focused on increasing client’s brand value through various branding strategies including brand positioning, brand architecture, brand valuation/analytics, internal brand engagement and digital brand strategy.
This is a key role in RichardsDee where interaction, insight and building trusted client relationships is key to success. You must demonstrate innovative brand thinking, curiosity and razor-sharp acumen working with our clients to build reputation, so they become leading brands in their markets today into the future.
Requirements
Lead market and client discovery activities including interviews, workshops, research and customer journeys.
See the bigger picture, exploring possibilities with clients in a collaborative way always grounding opportunities in the positive impact they will have on the business
Understand clients’ challenges and respond with recommendations that puts brand at the centre of growth and transformation.
Think strategically, creatively and be adaptable to shift thinking across sectors and industries.
Be an analytical, critical thinker with an expert-level understanding of branding, research, business and strategic planning
Build long term relationships with clients and be a trusted advisor on brand strategy.
Inspire our team and our clients’ confidence and ongoing commitment.
Have minimum 6 years proven experience leading large complex projects that have returned strong results
Be passionate about how brands can make an impact and help businesses progress for the better
Have your finger on the pulse of new thinking and innovative tools and how they can be applied for success
Develop and measure impacts for success
Play an integral role in the agency to expand our thinking, assume a leadership role with our teams and continue to build our reputation in building brand value.
Looking for a meaningful change and to be part of a growing and ambitious company, then drop us a line at jobs@richardsdee.com
Hospice Coffee Morning Together with Bewley’s is one of Ireland’s biggest, longest and most-loved fundraisers, having raised over €39 million in total for hospice care over the past 27 years.
Appointed as brand partners in 2016, we worked with the regional hospice groups and Bewley’s to revitalise the campaign strategy, positioning and the creative execution. The campaign subsequently went on to have its best years increasing registrations and donations by double digits, raising over €2m in a single year and winning an All Ireland Marketing Award for Corporate Social Responsibility along the way.
In order to provide essential care that is free for everyone, hospices needs to raise a staggering €26million every single year. This year the campaign faces restrictions and challenges to physically coming together so Hospice Coffee Morning are asking families and friends to connect virtually or hold a socially distanced coffee morning to raise vital funds ensuring that hospices can continue this critical work.
Tomorrow, September 24th will mark a very different kind of Hospice Coffee Morning but the team at RichardsDee will be celebrating the day with a cuppa and donating to https://hospicecoffeemorning.ie/donate/ and we ask that you do too.
We’re delighted to be partnering with Ireland’s number one paying visitor attraction, the Guinness Storehouse, to showcase the diversity of work from the Creatives Against Covid-19 campaign. For the first time, the breadth of global and local talent can be experienced together under one iconic roof.
SOON IS NOW is an exhibition of creativity, hope and love during lockdown which runs from 11th July to 31st August 2020. At the height of the pandemic, when the whole world was put on pause, Creatives Against Covid-19 called on the creative industry to design inspiring art prints of optimism and resilience.
Building the collection from a place of positivity, patience and hope, we chose the theme “Soon”. Soon, all the things we enjoyed most would resume. Soon, the pieces of our lives would fall back into place. In just 7 days, over 1,200 art prints from over 30 countries were designed and submitted to the campaign.
The art quickly became an antidote to bad news, an explosion of colour and creativity, filling hearts and Instagram feeds across the globe with moments of hope, joy and love. Bringing us together when we had to stay apart.
This exhibition marks the passing of time of the pandemic. We are one step closer to doing all the simple things we missed the most. As the Lockdown draws to a close, SOON IS NOW.
To show our heartfelt thanks to all of you who have purchased a Creatives Against Covid-19 print online, we are offering free entry to the Home of Guinness and a complimentary beverage. We’ll be sending print purchasers an email with a code to book your complimentary visit soon.
For those who haven’t yet purchased, and don’t want to miss this special exhibition, purchase your print today at www.creativesagainstcovid19.com
Guinness Storehouse MD Catherine Toolan said, “It was fascinating to see the outpouring of creativity inspired by this campaign – not just the variety of talent in the artwork, but also the strong message of unity during what continues to be an trying time. I was also intrigued to see the long-awaited pint of Guinness feature in many guises throughout the artwork, and it is a perfectly fitting venue to not only showcase the work, but also invite people to enjoy a pint poured at the Home of Guinness itself. We look forward to welcoming everyone in to see the exhibition!”
Catherine Toolan, MD Guinness Storehouse
“The Guinness Storehouse has always been a hub of creativity, from storytelling and advertising to hosting and supporting artists, musicians and visual creatives. It’s the perfect venue to showcase this global creativity. While celebrated across the globe, Guinness is intrinsically Dublin– just like Creatives Against Covid-19 which was born in Dublin and raised in the world.”
From 28th May to 8th July, the Creatives Against Covid19 “Have HeART” campaign will be showcased on 101 buses throughout the streets of Dublin thanks to the very generous support of Dublin Bus.
The goal of the campaign is to inspire Irish people to “Have HeART” by purchasing an original art print from the Creatives Against Covid19 online store. The proceeds from every purchase will be donated equally between ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid, helping vulnerable women and children affected by the current pandemic.
Supporters of the campaign are now able to spot some of their favourite artwork on the 50 sightline and 50 t-side bus ads as well as on the beautiful full wrap on Route 46a which travels right through Dublin city from the Phoenix Park in the north to Dun Laoghaire in the south.
Throughout the current crisis, Dublin Bus has been working bravely and tirelessly to keep Dublin city moving for essential workers. And now, thanks to their support, we hope that our campaign of optimism and resilience will brighten up the commute of those who work on the frontline every day.
“It has always been important to us in Dublin Bus to play an active part in communities across the city. Throughout this pandemic, we have played our part by providing a safe and reliable service for frontline employees and essential journeys. Our partnership with Creatives Against Covid19 has provided us with another opportunity to help our communities. This initiative is a great example of how people have pulled together during this challenging time to not only create inspiring messages of hope, but also to support some of the most vulnerable people in our society who have been made more vulnerable by this pandemic.”
Ray Coyne, CEO Dublin Bus
“We are so honoured to be one of the beneficiaries of this wonderful artistic fundraising campaign that has generated such an incredible outpouring of extraordinary, inspiring and beautiful works. The support of Dublin Bus means increased visibility across the capital, helping to drive sales. To all involved – thank you.”
Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid
Photo by Darren Hall
“ISPCC Childline is very grateful to have the generous support of Dublin Bus, creating a strong visual presence across the city and beyond for the wonderful Creatives Against COVID-19 campaign. The generosity of all those supporting the Creatives Against COVID-19 campaign is helping to safeguard Childline’s future and making a vital difference for children and young people.
John Church, CEO ISPCC Childline
“On behalf of the whole Creatives Against Covid19 team, I want to give a huge thanks to Dublin Bus for their incredible support of our “Have HeART campaign”. Their generosity has literally filled the streets of the capital with our message of hope and optimism. It’s particularly special for us to see our campaign come to life throughout the city where it first began.”
From Monday 18th May, many contributors to Creatives Against COVID-19 will have seen their art prints showcased across Ireland as part of a newly launched campaign facilitated by the marketing service group, Dentsu Aegis Network Ireland.
On behalf of the whole Creatives Against COVID-19 team, we’re delighted to announce that our media campaign ‘Have HeART’ is now live. Over the coming weeks, followers of the initiative will continue to see the campaign in major national newspapers including the Irish Independent, Irish Daily Mail and Sunday World Magazine. The campaign’s out-of-home ads are also visible nationwide in key locations including Dublin’s Heuston station, Dundrum Town Centre, Galway’s Corrib Shopping Centre and Kerry’s Manor West Shopping Centre.
The goal of the campaign is to inspire Irish people to ‘Have HeART’ by purchasing an original art print from the Creatives Against COVID-19 online store. The proceeds from every purchase will be donated equally between ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid, helping vulnerable women and children affected by the current pandemic.
While the campaign hopes to inspire kindness, goodwill and generosity While the campaign hopes to inspire kindness, goodwill and generosity towards the two charities, the reach of the campaign was greatly amplified with the assistance of our marketing partner, Dentsu Aegis Network Ireland.
“ISPCC Childline is hugely grateful for all of the wonderful support we have received through the Creatives Against COVID-19 campaign. That PML Group are ensuring a captivating out-of-home presence to showcase these uplifting pieces and raise awareness of ISPCC Childline is significant. The generosity of Dentsu Aegis Network Ireland supporting this campaign is really helping to safeguard Childline’s future and making a vital difference for children and young people.”
John Church, CEO ISPCC Childline
“We are so honoured to be one of the beneficiaries of this wonderful artistic fundraising campaign that has generated such an incredible outpouring of extraordinary, inspiring and beautiful works. The prints allow us to display something in our homes that will remind us in years to come of a time where we were all severely challenged but never lost hope. The support of Dentsu Aegis Network Ireland and PML means increased visibility and sales across the many platforms they are providing free of charge. To all involved- thank you.”
Sarah Benson, CEO of Women’s Aid
Dentsu Aegis Network are the first global marketing services group built for Dentsu Aegis Network are the first global marketing services group built for the digital economy. Designed to meet their customers’ needs, they are fueled by an ambition to drive sustainable business growth for clients brands and businesses. They strongly believe that the closer brands get to people, the more likely they are to thrive.
“We are grateful to Dentsu Aegis for their pro bono work on our campaign, securing the media coverage that has brought it to life across the country helping to spread our message of hope and driving sales to our online shop, helping us raise more funds for vulnerable women and children during the current crisis.”
Celine Dee, RichardsDee
“The team at Dentsu Aegis Network are delighted to assist Creatives Against Covid 19 to fine tune its online presence & digital campaign and courtesy of our media partners, to provide additional fund raising momentum across the radio, print and out of home (poster) mediums. The global and long lasting nature of these wonderful prints will serve as a reminder of this pandemic and the power of creativity to brighten people’s lives while raising much needed funds for Women’s Aid and the ISPCC.”
Liam McDonnell, CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network
“PML Group alongside Clear Channel Ireland and Exterion Media are delighted to be part of this excellent initiative helping the ISPCC and Women’s Aid by showcasing stunning creative across broadcast digital out of home. The response has been really strong to date given the strategic placement in high footfall locations.”
Creatives Against Covid-19 called on the creative industry to design and donate inspiring posters of optimism, resilience and hope. The result? Over 1,200 submissions, from over 30 countries, in just 7 days. The prints will be made available to buy, with all funds donated equally across Women’s Aid and ISPCC Childline.
To reframe this crisis into something more hopeful and optimistic, the Creatives Against Covid19 council chose the campaign theme ‘Soon’. This moment in our lives will not last forever. Soon we will be reunited with our families and friends. Soon all the things we enjoy the most will resume. And when they do, we will appreciate them so much more. Under the positive theme of ‘Soon’ we asked creatives to share messages of Hope & Optimism, Strength & Solidarity, Togetherness, Kindness, Resilience. We wanted the campaign to spread messages of hope for now and the future. And we wanted the prints to be beautiful pieces of original work that people would be proud to hang in their homes.
The campaign is a creative collaboration between Shauna Buckley, Emma Conway, Sarah Doyle, Ryan Kavanagh, Fuchsia MacAree, Rory Simms, The Project Twins and was originated by RichardsDee.
Creatives Against Covid-19 is a campaign calling on the creative industry to design and donate inspiring posters of optimism, resilience, and hope. The posters will be made available to download or buy in print, with all funds donated equally across Women’s Aid and ISPCC Childline.
This is the worst global crisis the world has faced since WWII threatening everyone indiscriminately, but especially vulnerable women and children. Social isolation is more dangerous for women and children living in the reality of abusive relationships. Trapped inside without the sanctuary of work or school, these people need our help now. ISPCC Childline are already reporting a 30% increase in vulnerable children seeking help and advice on online. Equally, Women’s Aid are deeply concerned about the safety of women and children affected by domestic abuse during this pandemic.
Creatives Against Covid-19 aims to mobilise the creative community to help raise much needed funds for women and children who are suffering and in need. We want to come together as a creative force and use our collective imagination and skills to design posters of hope, optimism and resilience. The posters will be created and donated by all creatives including; illustrators, designers, artists, photographers, typographers and writers. All posters will be available for purchase as digital downloads or as beautiful prints on www.creativesagainstcovid19.com.
To reframe this crisis into something more hopeful and optimistic, we have chosen the campaign theme ‘Soon’. This moment in our lives will not last forever. Soon we will be reunited with our families and friends. Soon all the things we enjoy the most will resume. And when they do, we will appreciate them so much more. We will emerge stronger from this crisis, showing more respect and kindness towards each other and our world. Under the positive theme of ‘Soon’ we can share messages of: Hope & Optimism, Strength & Solidarity, Togetherness, Kindness, Resilience. The posters will spread messages of hope for now and the future. The brief is available for download here https://tinyurl.com/wcj285g
The poster submission date is Thursday April 16th. Soon after the posters will go on sale on www.creativesagainstcovid19.com. All proceeds will be equally donated to ISPCC Childline and Women’s Aid.
The campaign is a creative collaboration between Shauna Buckley, Emma Conway, Sarah Doyle, Ryan Kavanagh, Fuchsia MacAree, Rory Simms, The Project Twins and was originated by RichardsDee.
We are delighted to have won four awards out of four categories entered in the ninth annual Transform Awards Europe. Established in 2009, the Transform Awards has evolved into a celebration of the indispensable talent that exists in international branding.
The 2018 Awards celebrated outstanding branding and rebranding projects from the UK and Europe. The awards consistently set a stronger benchmark for work in brand development while reflecting the growing significance of brand in strategic corporate communications.
Our work was recognised in the following categories:
Best Brand Evolution
Best Creative Strategy
Best Visual Identity in the Travel Leisure and Tourism Sector
Best Visual Identity from a Charity, NGO or Not-For-Profit
“We are delighted to have won four awards out of the four categories we entered at this year’s Transforms. The Transform Awards are important awards for us for many reasons; a key one being the way their jury is structured by client side professionals who vote on commercial performance and disruption balanced with excellence in execution. This is our second consecutive year of wins which speaks volumes about the energy, focus and determination of both our own teams and those of DoDublin, Dublin Bus, Bewley’s and Hospice with whom we celebrate this great achievement.” Celine Dee, Co-Founder, RichardsDee
Our work with Dublin Bus on DoDublin has been won awards for Best Brand Evolution, Best Creative Strategy and Best Visual Identity in the Travel Leisure and Tourism Sector.
Our work with Bewley’s and Hospice on Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for hospice won a bronze for Best Visual Identity from a Charity, NGO or Not-For-Profit category.
Transform is a publishing and events brand dedicated to the global rebranding and brand development industry. The Transform Awards celebrate the best in rebranding, employer brand strategy and brand development in Europe.
“Internationally, rebranding and brand development has become a catalyst for successful business. As opportunities ripen, this year’s Transform Awards Europe 2018 celebrates the leaps and bounds that brand development work is continuing to make. The winners represent not only the impact of imagination, but also how creativity can elegantly meet strategy, thriving on nostalgia, mystery and striking imagery.” Andrew Thomas, Transform
On this global celebration of the political, cultural, social and economic achievements of women, we make our pledges as individuals and as a studio, to each other and to society, to accelerate gender parity. The World Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report has told us that gender parity is over 200 years away. This morning the Irish Times published another report on the serious under representation of female CEO’s in businesses across our country, yet we know that an organisation with 30 percent female leaders could add up to 6 percentage points to its net margin1 and companies with more women at the top consistently outperform those that don’t.2
It is evident in our own industry, with female leaders unrepresented in creative agencies in Ireland which is why we call for Gender Balanced Leadership and are strongly supporting #WhyDesign, the IDI’s gender balance initiative for the Irish Design Sector.
Shared responsibility and collective action for driving gender parity is what makes International Women’s Day successful and there has never been a more important time to stay focused, motivated and #PressforProgress.
We are excited to announce that we have been shortlisted for FOUR Transform Europe Awards. The global brand development awards recognise creativity and strategic thought, and place real emphasis on the impact of the work.
“The calibre of submissions has been outstanding and this year has been very competitive. It is absolutely fantastic to see RichardsDee once more reach the shortlist in not just one, but four categories.” Andrew Thomas, Transform
Our work with Dublin Bus on DoDublin has been shortlisted for Best Brand Evolution, Best Creative Strategy and Best Visual Identity in the Travel Leisure and Tourism Sector. Read the full case study here.
Our work with Bewley’s on Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for hospice has been shortlisted for Best Visual Identity from a Charity, NGO or Not-For-Profit category. Read the full case study here.
“We are delighted to be shortlisted again for awards that recognise the transformative impact branding has on business, and industry. The Transform Awards are important awards for us for many reasons; a key one being the way their jury is structured by client side professionals who vote on commercial performance and disruption balanced with excellence in execution. This is our second consecutive year in the shortlist which is testament to the energy, focus and determination of both our own team and the clients who trust us with their brands” Celine Dee, Co-Founder, RichardsDee
About Transform Awards
Transform is a publishing and events brand dedicated to the global rebranding and brand development industry. The Transform Awards celebrate the best in rebranding, employer brand strategy and brand development in Europe.
“Internationally, rebranding and brand development has become a catalyst for successful business. As opportunities ripen, this year’s Transform Awards Europe 2018 shortlist catalogues the leaps and bounds that brand development work is continuing to make. The shortlists quintessentially represent not only the impact of imagination, but also how creativity can elegantly meet strategy, thriving on nostalgia, mystery and striking imagery.” Andrew Thomas, Transform
We are delighted to have our branding project for the Institute of Designers included in the 6 best design industry logos and recognised against global peers such as Adobe, SXSW and D&AD.
To be recognised with these brands and to give the IDI the profile it deserves is a great testament to the work the team at the studio are delivering.
Creative Bloq is an art and design site which provides daily news, inspiration and reviews for creatives of all kinds. In partnership with international media group and leading digital publisher, Future plc, Creative Bloq is the go-to source for creative professionals to keep up with the latest trends in art and design from across the globe.
Special thanks to Tom May for including our design in the article.
Did you know that creatives are 25% more likely to suffer from a mental health issue in their lifetime, or that now, 1 in 10 people in Ireland are affected by depression?
Creating a stronger design community means facing these issues, putting a spotlight on mental health and how we deal with it as colleagues and agency principals.
It is our responsibility as a community to support each other which is why we are proud to give our time for Mind Over Matter on November 2nd, a national day of design in aid of mental health. The day is dependent on the design community giving their time, and businesses engaging and paying a fee that is donated directly to Aware.
How it works For a fee of €60 anyone from an established business to a start-up or an entrepreneur can book a consultation hour with a designer. The fee goes straight to Aware, while during the hour you will find innovative solutions and discover new opportunities, while raising money for a great cause in your region.
We are delighted that three of our team are volunteering their services on the day
Why talk to a designer?
Designers are natural problem solvers who make it their business to be on the pulse of international design practices and thinking. It’s their dedication to innovation and creativity that translates into added value for your business, whether that’s through branding, production, user experience or manufacturing.
By embracing design it has been proven time and time again to add value to your business in ways that can end up creating competitive advantage and improving your bottom line.
Where Two locations in Dublin and locations in Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Tullamore, Dundalk and Kilkenny. Check out the Mind Over Matter website to find a venue close to you
Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice together with Bewley’s, is 25 years old this year. In over two decades, Ireland’s longest running one day charity event has raised over €32 million for hospice care nationwide and served over 16 million cups of coffee.
We were appointed to refresh the campaign strategy and creative in 2016 which led to the campaign achieving the best results ever and winning an AIM Award for CSR. The bar was set high for our 2017 campaign which took place yesterday in homes, businesses and hospices all over the country. We planned our RD coffee morning months ago which included a highly competitive studio bake off, and we were delighted to host our agency neighbours in Portobello who supported us to raise funds for our local hospice, Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross.
With more passionate brand ambassadors coming on board, strong commitment from hospices all over the country and of course Bewley’s commitment to drive this campaign forward every year, we are excited to see the results of 2017 in coming weeks.
If you haven’t already donated, there is still time simply text COFFEE to donate 50300.
In March, Bewley’s won gold at the AIM’s for Corporate Social Responsibility for Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice.
Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning for Hospice is Ireland’s longest running one day charity event and has raised over €32 million for hospice over the past 20 years.
As Bewley’s brand partners, we developed the campaign strategy, refreshed positioning and the creative execution and worked tirelessly with a working group comprised of of St. Francis Hospice, Our Lady’s Hospice, regional hospices, Bewley’s and MKC to ensure the campaign achieved the success and recognition it deserved.
Socialise hosted their Studio Edition at the Sugar Club on Wednesday night and we were delighted to be one of the agencies invited to present. The line-up was all about nine – 9 of Dublin’s top branding and design studios with 9 minutes each to present.
With an audience of almost 200 people, we presented the work we have completed on the re-brand of Bewley’s, telling the story from initial brand strategy through to the development of the brands assets and applications – such as packaging. Seeing a full house of designers, brand agencies, creatives, etc. was, in itself, inspiring and exciting. Being able to share our work with Bewley’s was a great way to reflect on a project that started over three years ago and is still a work in progress.
RichardsDee’s work on the rebrand of Bord na Móna was awarded Bronze at the eighth annual Transform Awards Europe. RichardsDee’s excellence in rebranding and brand development was recognised in a room of global branding agencies. With fierce competition, the calibre of entries broke all previous awards records, with a 35% increase in both the companies entering and the actual number of entries.
Established in 2009, the Transform Awards has evolved into a celebration of the indispensable talent that exists in international branding. Covering Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, North America and Europe, the Transform brand itself is truly global, with no other outlet as committed to providing such comprehensive coverage of the brand environment. The awards recognise the creativity and strategic thought exercised and provide the opportunity to celebrate with clients and colleagues at the most prestigious awards event for brand communications.
‘The Transform Awards evaluate exemplary work in brand development, and acknowledge the growing significance of brand in strategic corporate communications. Developing and sustaining a strong brand is imperative for success and we are honoured that our work with the brand team at Bord na Móna has been recognised on an international stage’
-Celine Dee, RichardsDee
The awards ceremony, hosted by comedian and actor Russell Kane, was held at the Brewery, in Moorgate, London.
“Each brand that has been involved in this year’s awards, global or local, has demonstrated outstanding creative ability and strategic thought while working closely and collaborating with their agencies.”
Last November, BWG Foods amalgamated their two Value Centre branches in Dundalk and Carrickmacross and relocated to Ecco Road, a 60,000 sq ft warehouse which underwent a €5 million renovation to become a new flagship store for them. The new Dundalk branch showcases upgraded IT and supply chain systems, and maximises the use of instore digital display to deliver real time offers to customers. The branch is further equipped with an expanded chilled and frozen product range and relaxing coffee spot for customers to enjoy a well earned break.
As agency partners to BWG Foods, we devised a branding system that would reflect the investment in this state of the art facility. Using floor plans, we mapped out the customer journey and defined the key customer touch points in the 60,000 sq foot store. We worked with the Value Centre team to define the optimum store experience, we developed signage hierarchies and applied the new system through all customer touchpoints from carpark to aisles.
We were inspired by the vast physical space and used this as our starting point when approaching the store design. Rather than hiding elements such as brick walls, concrete floors and container like panels, we celebrated these as cornerstones of new visual system. We devised a system that was Big, Bold, Statement. An approach that was simple in approach, strong in impact. The brand messaging was guided by what Value Centre offer which is exceptional value, support and a local service to their loyal customer base.
This new branch design has been very well received and will inform future branch refurbishments for the group through 2017 and beyond.
We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted for a very prestigious Transform Europe Award. The global brand development awards recognise creativity and strategic thought, and place real emphasis on the impact of the work.
The rebrand of Bord na Mona has been shortlisted in the ‘Best brand development project to reflect changed mission/values/positioning’ category with four other global brands and the awards ceremony is being hosted in London on March 30th.
‘We are delighted to be shortlisted for awards that recognise the transformative impact branding has on business, and industry. The positive results reflect the energy, focus and determination of the combined Bord na Móna and RichardsDee team throughout the process’
We are always keen to support the design community and recently we set a brief and design workshop for ICAD’s Upstarts programme. The Upstarts programme is a great initiative for designers to pair with mentors and grow as creative and strategic thinkers.
The brief we set was based on whiskey gift packaging and the designers were given only one week to develop their ideas and present back to us. The energy and enthusiasm always impresses us and given the short period of time for the project, each designer developed and produced great thinking and creativity. We are looking forward to participating again next year and hoping to keep up with what these creatives do in the years to come.
Having won some great new accounts this year, we set about recruiting the best of the best to add to our ever growing team, and we are delighted to welcome our three latest superstar designers – David, Kyle and Fiona to RichardsDee.
David joins us as a Digital Producer, having spent the last 8 years crafting digital brand engagement projects at various branding and design agencies in London. He has delivered internal engagement campaigns for Reckitt Benckiser, digital advertising campaigns for KLM Air France, as well as building responsive websites, creating identities and apps, and designing wayfinding systems for clients ranging from multinationals and professional services to not for profits and start-ups.
Fiona, our latest Senior Designer has a masters degree in graphic design from St. Joost, in the Netherlands where she immersed herself in the internationally renowned design culture there, which has had a huge impact on her design sensibilities. Fiona has over 6 years experience working on publishing, branding and and digital design projects, working with clients from the food, wine, fashion, cultural and hospitality industries . Some of her previous clients include Brown Thomas, Arnotts, M&S, Food&Wine Magazine, Irish Tatler & Irish Tatler Man and Dundrum Town Centre.
Kyle joins the team as a Brand and Digital Designer. From South Africa, he has over 5 years experience working on a diverse range of projects for FMCG clients and international fashion brands. With a strong focus on brand identity development, digital campaigns and brand activations, he brings passion and great energy to the team.
Bewley’s has a long and proud association supporting Irish artists and recently appointed Irish illustrator and pattern designer, Paula McGloin to develop illustrations that could be used across a brand new Bewley’s limited edition coffee mug and gift set. The illustration draws inspiration from the exquisite Harry Clarke stained glass windows in the Grafton Street Cafe which features lavish details of oriental birds and decorative flowers. Paula used these references as the basis for her illustration to create an intricate pattern of teapots, cups, cup cakes, oriental fans, birds and butterflies.
As Bewley’s brand partners, we worked from the outset with Paula to develop the packaging and activations materials for launch and are looking forward to seeing it in store very soon.
The Coaching Equation is an international professional coaching and mentoring consultancy that works with people at all levels to improve and transform their leadership and management skills. We were appointed develop an identity for The Coaching Equation that was approachable and modern, yet structured enough to support the proven methodologies employed to deliver results. It was important that the new identity reflected both the founder’s personality (positive and results driven) and style (classic with an edge), whilst positioning the company as a credible alternative to the primary competitive set who have advocated for very corporate identities.
The Coaching Equation is about discovering each individual’s happiness / success formula. As every individual is different, The Coaching Equation takes a holistic approach to uncovering the right combination and balance for that individual. To that end, the central idea around the logo is the ‘Power of Balance’. A script font is used to add a personal touch, reinforcing the approachability of the consultants. The lettering in the main word mark has been manipulated to play on symbols derived from mathematical equations and primary shapes, and elevates the results-driven nature of the advice on offer. The divider line reinforces the idea of the ultimate success formula and plays to the holistic approach taken by the company when working with the individual (professional and personal, happiness and success). The result is an identity that is precise and to the point, but with a very distinct and differentiated personality.
Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, one of Ireland’s leading visitor experiences welcomes almost half a million tourists and schoolchildren annually. We have been working with Saint Patrick’s on it’s identity and communications and were delighted to have played a role in its first real move into technology.
This week the Cathedral launched it’s new ‘Discovery Space’ in the south transept which is designed to bring a more interactive and immersive experience to the 800 year old building and its history. We worked closely with the internal team to translate core elements from the new identity system across a large touchscreen table and other digital devices which offer photography, audio and information on the cathedral’s layout, history and heritage.
We developed communications for the wonderful new Discovery Boxes that launched on the day which are specifically designed to engage young visitors. The Discovery Boxes are built using recycled wood from the cathedral’s disused pews and contain games encouraging children to Build A Cathedral and Try Brass Rubbings.
Few can claim to work with an 800 year old cathedral and we’re looking forward to sharing the new brand identity and communications in coming weeks.
Trinity Biotech is a NASDEQ quoted diagnostics company, specialising in the development, manufacture and marketing of clinical diagnostic products.
The organisation is highly acquisitive frequently adding new companies and products to their vast portfolio. Their increase in product lines and business units meant they needed a new digital platform with increased capabilities to accomodate the growing areas within their business.
The new site needed to elevate Trinity Biotech’s leadership status within global diagnostics, maintain a prominent investor relations section, ensure ease of naviagation, and deliver expanded functionality for the integration of future brands and products.
The launch of the new Trinity Biotech Website sees us developing another successful digital platform with our digital partners PointBlank.
Irish Country Magazine has evolved and steadily grown in readership to become Ireland’s leading lifestyle magazine for women. It is a magazine with intelligent narrative and stunning imagery. It understands what modern Irish women nationwide want and embraces their multi-faceted lives, their interests and their spirit.
In keeping with the success and evolution of the magazine’s reach, ICM approached RichardsDee to develop a new media pack that captures the essence of the magazine. We also developed a gift pack around the concept of growth which was delivered the same day that the ABC official figures were revealed, to help celebrate the fantastic results for this homegrown publication.
So the festive season is almost upon us and while the sensation that is the Coca Cola Santa is evident nightly on our big screen, #MontyThePenguin is playing a blinder in dividing the masses on our small screens. It is the season for brands to be jolly and is also the one time of year where we seek out and want to engage with things that get us into the festive mood.
So whilst some great and some questionable Christmas packaging floods our supermarket shelves, we thought we’d shine a spotlight on one of our favourite Limited Edition packs, which we had a wonderful time creating back in August.
The old adage goes ‘Seeing Is Believing’ however with Bewley’s Christmas Chai Tea, the proof is most definitely in the taste. The unique festive blend of Chai encompasses cinnamon, nutmeg, rich vanilla and hints of sweet fruit…..It is a must for the basket this season.
We used a number of festive treats as the basis for our illustration which we then fused with colour, typography, gold foils, beautiful descriptors and ended up with a Limited Edition pack that is destined to get you in the festive mood.
Annual reports have a core function; to effectively present the company’s financial strengths to shareholders, business audiences, employees, and the general public.
Annual reports also have a great opportunity to tell a story; a story that is positive, confidence building and scene setting for the year ahead.
We placed emphasis on story telling whilst collaborating with SEAI on their 2013 Annual Report.
SEAI work tirelessly on initiatives for business, industry, consumers and government, yet these initiatives while hugely successful are often not evident or visible. Our creative objective was to elevate the impact these achievements have and demonstrate how integral they are to our everyday. Playing with size, scale and a bold approach to presenting the numbers resulted in a visually engaging Annual Report that has received very positive feedback since launch.
The SEAI Sustainable Energy Awards took place last week at The Shelbourne Hotel and what a night it was. Having designed the presentation and communications, we were delighted to form part of an eclectic mix which included Gavin Duffy (quite the photo bomber), a man in a kilt, the minister, a diplomat or two, our agency friends from SEAI and some of Ireland’s most ambitious businesses.
The awards encourage, recognise and reward excellence in energy management and they celebrate individuals, groups and organisations who demonstrate a commitment to include energy management as part of their overall management structure.
We were particularly impressed with the worthy winners of the Ambition category Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árainn Teo (CFOAT). The group were set up in 2012 and are on track to develop the Aran Islands as energy independent, energy self-sustaining and carbon neutral by 2022. Surely that’s as high as ambition goes!
Tuesday, November 4th marks the start of one of the biggest events in tech on the planet, the Web Summit. We are beyond excited to mix, mingle, observe and party with some of the most exciting entrepreneurs of our times. It will be a week where work is replaced with creativity, ideas, originality and ambition. It will be a week that’s right up our street.
Tech is a traditionally male dominated space and the conversation about women’s roles and place in the tech community has been been a hot topic the last few years. Again this year, the Web Summit launched an initiative to change the ratio of men to women and encourage equality in the industry by giving away €250,000 worth of free tickets to female developers, designers and founders.
The Women’s Leader’s lunch has been another successful initiative however some may counter that men are a central part of the solution and given the power they still yield in tech, they should be continuously encouraged to spear head gender diversity and encouraged to participate in, rather than be isolated from, conversations.
In Ireland, we can boast many outstanding females who lead international tech companies including Sonia Flynn, Managing Director of Facebook Ireland, Louise Phelan, VP of Global Operations EMEA for PayPal and Cathriona Hallahan, Managing Director Microsoft Ireland to name a few. However with a gender gap that doesn’t look likely to close anytime soon, we are using this post to shine a light on and celebrate some of the great women that will be speaking at the Web Summit this week.
Here is our top 5 female speakers at the Web Summit…
1. Cathryn Posey, Founder, Tech by Superwomen
Cathryn Posey is the founder of Tech By Superwomen, a movement she started to elevate and celebrate women in tech in 2011. Aside from being an international speaker, she is recognized as an authority on issues impacting women in technology.
Why are we excited to see Cathryn?
In conjunction with women like Sheryl Sandberg, Cathryn Posey is at the forefront of a movement that challenges the tech establishment and urges women to push themselves into spaces that they were once not welcome/expected to gravitate towards (and pushing men in tech to see the value in this), while educating them how to navigate gender gaps and stereotypes that they may encounter. We love that she’s effectively supplying a kit of parts that empowers and inspires women to succeed and thrive in the tech world.
Ayah is the creator of littleBits, an award winning kit of pre-assembled circuits that snap together with tiny magnets that has been dubbed “LEGOs for the iPad Generation”. She is also founder of Karaj, Beirut’s lab for experimental art & architecture and last year was named by CNN as one of the top 10 Startups to watch in 2013.
Why are we excited to see Ayah?
Ayah has succeeded in making science and engineering accessible, fun, creative and social for people of all ages, from all disciplines. The concept behind littleBits, is empowering, exciting and leverages the creative power of a community of makers, eager to learn and share their ideas and inventions in a space free of jargon/tech speak.
3.Gale Anne Hurd, Producer, The Walking Dead & Terminator
In 1982, at just 27 years old, Gale formed her own production company, Pacific Western Productions and went on to produce a number of massive movies including The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986) and The Abyss (1989). She has been celebrated many times, and in 1998 was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award for helping to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. Most recently she produced the 2010 The Walking Dead.
Why are we excited to see Gale?
We’re hoping to hear Gale’s views on how the entertainment industry has changed from her early days as a producer, and what benefits (and challenges) the accessibility of digital media of today has brought. It will be also interesting to hear whether she really is a die hard Arsenal FC fan!
4. Antonia McCahon, Global Head of Digital Marketing , Pernod Ricard
When Antonia was appointed Global Head of Digital Marketing at Pernod Ricard, her vision was ‘Shifting Digital Marketing and taking it to the next level.’ Since then her focus included thinking people first vs. brand or touch point. In the past year, her team has placed huge focus on creating great social experiences for people in both the physical and social worlds, always delivered in an upbeat and positive way.
Why are we excited to see Antonia?
Within four months of starting in Pernod, Antonia set up the digital acceleration task force recruiting 80+ ‘digital champions’ from within the group. We’re interested to hear how a diverse group of people from legal, commercial development, finance, marketing and sales have collaborated to proactively encourage the adoption of digital within the company.
Iseult started FoodCloud while in her third year at Trinity College Dublin. The idea was born out of the realization that there are 450,000 people in Ireland who suffer from food poverty, while at the same time there is over one million tonnes of food wasted each year. The result of this wastage means that Ireland ranks among the top 5 wasters of food in Europe.
FoodCloud solves this issue by using technology to connect the businesses that have too much food with charities that have too little.
Why are we excited to see Iseult?
Social entrepreneurship is a fascinating concept and one that we believe will have an increasing and fundamental impact on our world during this Internet Century. FoodCloud is not only one of the most exciting organisations in this space but it is also run by two very inspiring Irish women.
We hugely admire social entrepreneurs like Iseult in RichardsDee and are desperate to see more tech startups that are powered by idealistic optimism and who are ready to tackle the great social issues of our time.
Here in Ireland, food and drink has always played a large part in all our lives – but in recent years it has become more important than ever in terms of the economy. Ulster Bank has watched this growth and change with interest, analysing the special industry requirements and unique business needs of this sector, and in response, has developed a suite of products and supports specifically for ‘Food & Drink’ businesses across the island of Ireland. As Ulster Bank’s branding partner, our task was to bring these to life in a meaningful and engaging way.
Food & Drink is part of a suite of propositions that Ulster Bank has developed for SMEs, which includes specific support for those just starting out, i.e. Start-Ups as well as those in the Agri sector. Given the natural element of cross-over between these 3 areas, we needed to ensure that the marketing collateral we developed felt part of the same family, whilst clearly signalling Ulster Bank as a credible player who understands the needs of the SMEs within the Food & Drink industry, ultimately positioning Ulster Bank as the ‘bank of choice’ within the sector.
Food and drink is a very emotive industry and the focus on quality, care and attention given to the produce is key. The choice of imagery and copy taps into the passion and dedication of business owners in this sector, and elevates Ulster Bank’s intimate understanding of just what Food & Drink businesses need from their banking partner to help their businesses grow and achieve their full potential.
Growing up in a house of sports fanatics, I vicariously became a bit of a fan myself. But these days my interest lies more in the the sport sponsorship and branding side of things, rather than whether Rory McIlroy bogeyed the 1st or not.
With the football over and the British Open Golf Championship nicely wrapped up by Rory, I found myself mesmerised by the number of sponsors (or Patrons as they are known) and I ask myself the question, “does sport sponsorship deliver?” With Patrons of “The Open” such as Doosan, HSBC, MasterCard and Rolex surely it must.
Some might say sport sponsorship is one of the least targeted parts of a marketing plan, but not if it is part of your brand story. Your job as a sponsor is not to involve people in your brand story; it is to involve your brand in theirs.
A brand’s sponsorship strategy and activation initiative must focus on delivering valuable fan experiences that enhance peoples’ enjoyment of their favourite sports. In this way, sponsorship becomes a product that delivers a powerful service benefit and by extension, has a precious halo effect for the brand in question.
So brands need to ask themselves:
How can we add value to the event experience or brand experience for attendees?
How can we leverage brand exposure for non-attendees (media audiences, customers, etc.)?
How can we extend the brand experience?
Are we doing anything that diminishes that experience or distracts them?
This leads me back to the infamous Tiger Woods conundrum. Having been fined more times for swearing than all other members of the PGA Tour combined and that “club throwing” incident at the US Masters, is he a valuable use of Nike’s sponsorship funds? You bet he is, as Nike continues to show him the money.
Actually the case of Tiger Woods is an interesting one. In many cases, you could argue that a brand aligning itself too closely to a key personality is a bit like putting all your eggs in one basket. It’s is a risky strategy as humans, we are all fallible. But risks can be managed if a brand has a smart strategy. Nike for example, has always focused on Tiger Woods the golfer (unlike other sponsors such as Gillette who have played up his clean image) and aligned the brand’s efforts around his sporting prowess. As such when Tiger Woods, the man, caught the headlines for all the wrong reasons, they were able to compartmentalise the short-term storm around his infidelity, and even used the high media value to launch an entirely new product line in the process.
Perusing the list of Open Patrons, I noted the absence of alcohol and tobacco products. While this comes as no major surprise, the industries continue to sponsor some of the world’s biggest sporting events. Interestingly just recently the RaboDirect Pro 12 rugby (cider makers Magners were their predecessors) has been renamed the Guinness Pro 12. The IRFU has been quoted as saying that sponsorship generates €9m annually for the sport and there have been warnings a clampdown would damage Ireland’s hopes of hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
But what I’m sure you really want to know is whether sport sponsorship changes perceptions of your brand in the way that you are trying to influence it. Whether you have increased preference, purchase, intention or loyalty.
The alternatives available as to how individuals spend their free time and the brands they are exposed to have become limitless. While it took years for some Marketing Managers to recognise that simply putting their brand on a t-shirt or on the backdrop of a winners’ podium wasn’t the best use of resources, smarter Marketing Managers realised that it takes more than this. It is about your brand story. Finding ways to stand out is no longer an option but a necessity.
The brand story goes beyond what’s written on your website or your brand on the winners’ podium at The Open. Your story isn’t just what you tell people; it’s also what they believe about you based on the signals your brand sends.
Everything you do, each element of your brand, from the colours of your brandmark and the quality of your packaging or business cards, to the staff you employ is part of your brand story and every element should reflect the truth about your brand. So if you get this right and align yourself with the right sponsorship, then the answer to my question is: yes, sports sponsorship does deliver as long as your brand story is strong.
While I may not be glued to all the major sporting events this year, I’ll certainly be looking at the brands on show. In full swing, you could say.
Having recently returned from Melbourne after living there for twelve years, I thought I would share with you my love for Melbourne street art. For those who haven’t visited, Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city full of art and style. It is brimming with fabulous galleries and exhibitions and there’s always something to go and see. But one of its hidden artistic secrets lies not in a gallery or exhibition space, but on the walls of its ever-changing streets and lane ways.
The City of Melbourne recognises the importance of street art in contributing to a vibrant urban culture and issues permits for street art sites. Street art includes stencils, paste-ups and murals and does not include graffiti or tagging (writing a name) which are illegal.
The City’s street art has become internationally renowned and has become an attraction for local and overseas visitors experiencing Melbourne’s creative vibe.
You’ll often walk by the laneways and catch a glimpse of tourists snapping away at Melbourne’s beloved hidden treasures. So put the image of tagging or illegal graffiti out of your mind and enter Melbourne’s streets and laneways for a truly inspiring experience.
The bluestone-cobbled lane is located opposite the Melbourne landmark of Federation Square in the City. Artists such as HA-HA, DrewFunk and Klara appear on the lane’s multi-coloured walls, over layer-upon-layer of previous artwork. In the lane are a couple of cool little bars and restaurants that make visiting the lane even more enticing.
Located just off Bourke Street Mall which is the main retail street in Melbourne, Union Lane comes as a bit of a shock when you first see it. There aren’t any of the usual trendy bars or cafes to attract you in, but it is breathtaking. Just about every piece of wall is covered by a giant mural, which measures about 550 square metres.
Named after the world-famous Australian rock-band, ACDC Lane is another Mecca of street art in the City. It has the name of being the “black-sheep” of the Melbourne street art world, due to its somewhat dark works.
Most of Melbourne’s street artists are part of a studio called Blender Studios. Set-up in 2001, it (and its walls) are a major creative hub with many of the artists trialling their work on the building’s walls. Located in Franklin Street in the City’s centre, it is well worth a visit too.
Legal street art contributes to a vibrant urban environment and can change continually on a day-to-day to basis. So next time you are heading towards the southern hemisphere, include Melbourne in your itinerary. Sydney may have the Bridge and Opera House, but for a blast of funky creativity, Melbourne’s laneways are the place to be.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Claire Cowley as Account Director. Prior to joining us, Claire worked for FutureBrand Melbourne, Blenheim Brand Melbourne and Brand Union Dublin.
Based in Melbourne for 12 years, Claire has vast experience managing projects for brands in Australia (ANZ Bank, Tetley Tea, Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, Metro Trains Melbourne) and Ireland (eircom, Bailey’s, Rape Crisis Centre). Claire brings to the team her experience working with clients and managing their needs from brief to delivery. This is a great appointment for us as we continue to grow and strengthen our offering.
“This appointment will enable us to strengthen our account management offer. With Claire’s global branding agency experience, clients will benefit from projects being managed with all the necessary detail from conception to realisation,” says Celine Dee, Client Director RichardsDee.
UPDATE: In April, we appointed Adam Clarke as Digital Director. Since that time, Adam has been working with a range of RichardsDee clients on all things digital – including the pan-European roll out of a confectionary brand through social media, product website development for tdsvisitor and digital strategies for a multinational food services organisation.
RichardsDee take a brand level approach to understanding when, why and how you should communicate online. What is your requirement & how can we help?
Through our industry-spanning work with clients of all sizes, we find that most organisations have questions in the following areas:
Digital Footprint:
How does my company appear online? Is there anything we could be doing (better)?
Digital Products:
We need assistance on planning a digital product (such as our website). How do we ensure that it is planned and developed in-line with our brand and delivers on our commercial objectives?
Digital Campaigns:
How should I reach and engage my audience online? How can digital support and maximise an existing communication, campaign or event?
If you would like Adam and the team at RichardsDee to take a look at your business challenge or brand requirement from a digital perspective, please contact us on +353 1 662 4472 or email adam@richardsdee.com
About Adam & RichardsDee:
Adam has over 12 years experience launching and promoting brands online through digital products and services including Danone, Britvic, Jaguar, Topaz, Sage, Bord Gais and Jameson.
Prior to joining us, Adam was a stakeholder at Strategem iLabs where he headed up all client digital strategies and product developments. He has also held senior positions in agencies such as Cawley-Nea/TBWA and Agency.com.
From digital product creation, online media campaigns and social activations; Adam’s key strength is in the development and application of commercial digital strategies. This is a very significant appointment for us as we continue our growth, it strengthens our offering and expertise in all areas of brand building as well as strengthening our senior team. Adam brings with him the right blend of experience, skills and leadership that will help our clients take digital branding to the next level. His extensive experience and expertise will be a fantastic asset to RichardsDee’s growing digital offering.
“The primary role of digital in our industry is to overcome business challenges and deliver growth for clients. I joined RichardsDee because the team are committed to aligning Business and Brand Strategies to create experiences that impact and engage. It is this unique focus on delivering results through expertise, strategy and creativity at brand level that will allow us to create success for clients in the digital realm.” Adam Clarke.
To speak to Adam about upcoming digital projects please call 01 662 4472 or email adam@richardsdee.com
There have been numerous articles written in recent weeks about the passing of the legend Wally Olins. He was a thinker, a challenger, an innovator, a motivator and a pioneer and it is near impossible to assess the impact that Wally Olins has had on businesses and brands over the years. It is also near impossible to estimate the impact he had on folk like me; encouraging me and my ilk to establish branding agencies that are ambitious and have world domination in our sights.
Reading a piece by Wally on why he left advertising in the early 60’s consolidated in my mind why I would work in branding and not advertising as my career progressed. Describing his tenure in the London Ad Agency Geers Gross he said “The work didn’t get to the heart of anything. When you’re thinking about the totality of an organization, an organization doesn’t just communicate through advertising but through its environments, through its products, and through its behaviors—and I wanted to get involved in all that.” A pretty compelling statement to persuade anyone who’s sitting on the branding versus advertising fence.
Indigenous agencies like ours often look to case studies of global giants for insights, inspirations and learnings however there I believe there is more to learn from looking at the man, not the work, in this case. So here are the top six things I’ve learnt from this great man, and will continue to apply to RichardsDee as our brave little agency evolves and grows.
Be Brave Wally Olins epitimised brave. Outside of taking the brave move and setting up the very first brand and design consultancy in the UK in 1965, he encouraged his clients to be brave. Encouraging British Telecom in 1991 to adopt the logo of the ‘prancing piper’ and rebrand as BT was brave. The launch of Orange was bold. As was persuading Bovis, a British construction company, to adopt a hummingbird (more reflective of tropical islands than the UK) as a brand icon. Was his work controversial? Yes. And was it brave? Very much so. As brand consultants, we can’t sit on our brand laurels. We must be brave and continue to push the boundaries on work and thinking.
Be Direct
Under the ‘What I’m Like’ heading on his blog, Wally describes himself as follows: “I try to be direct and clear. I simply tell my clients the truth as I see it, without too much gloss or varnish because that’s what I’m there for. Of course it’s nice to be nice. But it’s also nice to be straight’. In our game, it’s easy to meet a client and take a brief and deliver very efficiently on that brief. But surely that’s just a hygiene factor in our industry? As brand advisors, it’s incumbent upon us to give our view, challenge our clients and continuously add value to the process.
Be Personable
Anyone that knew Wally would describe him as intelligent and charming with a wicked sense of humour. His colleagues and clients say he ‘was one of those people with whom spending time was an absolute joy’. Even though he defined an entire industry and created a system for how branding projects the world over are approached, he never let his ego grow greater than his ability to connect with people on a real basis.
Be Great
His work challenged industries, his recommendations challenged clients’ views and opinions. But he was also not afraid to challenge the industry he loved so much. In 2009 he created much controversy referring to the larger design consultancies as “machines devised to produce mediocre rubbish” and calling some of their actions “despicable”. He carried his ethos of delivering great work into Saffron, an agency that continues to punch above its weight against the world’s largest and longest established firms.
Be Benevolent
Outside of the extensive work he conducted within the Not For Profit space, he was well known for his personal generosity and optimism. Saffron describe him as follows ‘Whether advising a young student looking for advice on getting ahead in branding or advising presidents on ways to enhance their nation’s brand, Wally was always willing to give more than he expected to receive’. There’s a lesson in this for all of us. Whether it’s in the nurturing of interns within our agencies or subsidizing work for Not For Profit organisations, we can all be doing more.
Be True To You
Wally was an advocate of everything being “on brand” and he applied brand thinking cities, countries, people, museums, Not For Profit organisations and people. However he always maintained he never applied his branding principles to himself. Be that the case or not, outside of his massive contribution to branding, his bow tie, thick-rimmed spectacles, bright check shirts will never be forgotten.
Completing the Value Centre Wine Guide that will be used by the sales team to promote the great range made us more than a little thirsty!
We made heroes of the wines, elevated the countries of origin, focused on exclusive ranges and brought the Value Centre wine buyer to the fore elevating the wine credentials and expertise associated with the range for 2013.
Craving a glass of vino having finalised our latest wine guide brochure!
We were commissioned by Bewley’s to develop an international customer acquisition campaign.
Customer acquisition campaign strategy
Targeting distributors whose customers had a thirst for authentic brands, we elevated the benefits of stocking Bewley’s in a compelling and engaging way. The piece was fully personalised and contained a letter and brochure. The campaign opened a dialogue with new customers, raised awareness of Bewley’s in new markets and resulted in the acquisition of new distributors.
Having recently completed a successful international customer acquisition campaign for Bewley’s, we’re ready for a cup of tea!
Our identity for the Children’s Rights Alliance has also been nominated in the IDI Design Awards. A case study of this project can be found in Our Work section.
A few weeks ago our design team had the great pleasure to attend the Offset 2013 conference at the Grand Canal Theatre.
Offset 2013 is a hub of design inspiration and positive energy, fast proving to be a world-class design conference drawing some of the most talented image makers and designers from around the world to speak at our doorstep.
Highlights were delivered by Ji Lee and JR. Ji Lee now Facebook’s creative strategist, showcased a host of impressively pro-active and experimental personal projects to demonstrate that “idea is nothing, doing is everything”. His Bubble Project where he created speech bubble stickers and stuck them to advertisements to encourage the public to add their comments brought him much attention, including this ABC news item in which Ji Lee appears, hilariously disguised which you can see here.
As with most design conferences some speakers were more comfortable on stage than others, and naturally inclined to candidly reveal their journey from humble beginnings to star creative than perhaps others. It stands to reason that the speakers who work in a team or in a busy studio are probably naturally more adept at articulating their thought processes than those that work alone. However, some of the most revealing talks were delivered by lone practitioners who revealed to the audience their earliest influences and shared their creative journey – showing that their styles and approach to their work has developed over time to become more accomplished and confident.
Other great talks that our creative team really enjoyed were of a slew of other brilliant creatives that spoke at this year’s event such as The Stone Twins, Natasha Jen, Bob Gill, Ben Bos, Kate Moross, Ciarán Ó’Gaora, Craig & Karl and many others but hopefully you get the picture.
So there you have it, OFFSET 2013, summed up. A HUGE thanks to the team at The Small Print – Richard and Bren, we’re already counting down the days ‘til OFFSET 2014.
A few weeks ago our design team had the great pleasure to attend the Offset 2013 conference at the Grand Canal Theatre.
RichardsDee are pleased to announce the appointment of Amanda Smith as Strategy and Innovation Director (Brand Strategist). Amanda joins us from leading global branding agency Landor.
With over 14 years of international branding experience ranging from large-scale global brands to highly targeted niche marketing, Amanda brings with her a vast knowledge of brand and communication strategies, consumer research and all stages of the creative process, from ideation to implementation.
Brand Strategist and client management consultant
Operating in hybrid strategic consultant and client management role, Amanda will be instrumental in building meaningful strategic and creative approaches to solve specific business and brand issues for all our clients.
This is a very significant appointment for us as we continue our growth, it strengthens our offering and expertise in all areas of brand strategy as well augmenting our senior team,
“This appointment will enable us to strengthen our brand strategy and ?innovation offer, services typically associated with larger and more established agencies. With Amanda’s top-tier global branding agency and brand strategist experience, clients will not only benefit from our “creative” driven approach to brand and business challenges, but also from thought leadership in strategy, planning and consumer insight.” Says Simon Richards – Creative Director
