11 brands we designed meaningful change for in 2021

2021 was an incredibly busy year in our studio. From new faces to new projects and group Teams calls to get-togethers, it’s fair to say there hasn’t been a dull moment. As the final few weeks of 2021 fade into a brand-new year with fresh surprises in store, we’re looking back on just some of the projects that we designed meaningful change for this year. And, if you have a strategy or branding project in mind for 2022, contact us at hello@richardsdee.com and you could find yourself on our list this time next year! 

01 — Indigo

With Indigo Telecoms Group’s acquisition of our previous client 4site, we collaborated with the teams to define, design, and implement a strategic new brand built for the future of communication. By evolving the name to simply Indigo and the positioning to ‘Engineering a Digital Future’, as well as crafting an identity reflecting the new company’s three core offerings, a colour palette reflecting and complementing their name, a digital stream representing a future of limitless possibilities, and a brand voice and messaging deeply rooted in their core values, we helped set Indigo on their path to accelerating their growth strategy.

02 — Reitigh

2021 also saw us win new clients such as Reitigh, one of Ireland’s leading software companies solving the most complex processing challenges in financial services for banking, investment, and insurance enterprises. We worked closely with their leadership team to devise a unique  set of values, a brand purpose, and a compelling promise as well as a strong design system and laser-focused messaging that brought their approach of ‘Always Simplifying’ to life. Plus, in the spirit of the festive season, we were even nominated for an ICAD Bell for our work! View more work here →

03 — Kerry

This year we helped Kerry look Beyond the Horizon with their stunning new pattern. Built in four layers to reflect Kerry’s From Food, For Food heritage, their strength in people, their  unrivalled capacity for innovation, and their promise to reach over 2 billion people with sustainable nutrition solutions by 2030, the new hand-illustrated pattern brings their brand to life in miniature wherever it’s used. View more work here →

04 — MII

One of our biggest projects of 2021 was our rebrand of MII. Building on the brand strategy developed by Genesis, we delivered a revitalised visual and verbal identity system across the MII brand from the mark to a suite of impactful typefaces and the website to event naming. By amplifying MII’s role as the voice of authority for marketing in Ireland and an accelerator of marketing talent, we equipped the team with a brand that evokes their limitless ambition and radiates confidence. Read our full case study here →

05 — HOHR

2021 saw us appointed as Brand Partners to the Leadership team at the €1.6bn entrepreneurial powerhouse House of HR. Our challenge was to redevelop the Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values and crystalise these into a powerful creative strategy and identity system. Our solution was a rebellious and powerful system connected deeply to the brand we had defined previously, setting House of HR up for a bold and impactful future. Read our full case study here →.

06 — St. Vincent’s

For the third year running we produced St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group’s annual report. Designed around the theme of ‘Next Steps: Towards the Future of Healthcare’, we collaborated closely with the team at St. Vincent’s to deliver artwork and final layout for 2020’s report. 

07 — Fáilte Ireland

2021 also saw us refresh the brand identity of Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s national tourism authority. Building on the strength of the iconic shamrock, we imbued the revitalised logo with a sense of authority by reaching back to the classic identity born in the 1960s, as well as modernised the identity by refreshing the typeface, harmonising the colours with Fáilte Ireland’s regional brands, and reversing the mark from a negative shape (white) to a positive shape (green). Rich in storytelling, the new logo asserts Fáilte Ireland’s role as the trusted shaper of the tourism industry in Ireland. View more work here →

08 — Energia

2021 marked another busy year with one of our closest clients, Energia. As their longstanding brand partners, this year we collaborated on a range of exciting projects that unifies their brand experience across all channels and underpinning their mission. We have a number of interesting Energia projects on the go in our studio for 2022 in what will be a challenging start of the year for the energy sector.. View more work here →

09 — Irish Water

2021 also saw a stunning new photography project take off with our friends at Irish Water. Together, we embarked on a project to update Irish Water’s image bank to capture the scale and breadth of their investment in Ireland’s water infrastructure. In 11 days, across 28 locations around Ireland, we collaborated with photographer Keith Arkins to capture aerial and ground photography that visually evoked Irish Water’s national status from coast to coast.

10 — Childline

Just over a year ago, we won one of the most meaningful rebrands of 2021 – ISPCC Childline. Selected as brand partners to Ireland’s largest children’s charity, the past year saw us enter the worlds of children and ISPCC Childline teams across Ireland through workshops to discover how we could help ISPCC and their service Childline reclaim their roles as children’s advocates and allies. By crafting a visual and verbal identity deeply rooted in the vernacular of children while clarifying the relationship between the brands, ISPCC and Childline are established as the definitive destinations for resilience and support for generations of children to come.

11 — Studio Photoshoot

Earlier this year when we had the chance to safely – if briefly! – get back into the office, we took the opportunity to refresh our RichardsDee photography with the brilliant Josh Mulholland. Check out our sweet O’Connell Street space and the wonderful faces new and familiar that make it such a meaningful place to be. All it’s missing is a Christmas tree!

RichardsDee shortlisted for FOUR Transform Awards

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 EvolutionBest 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

Cannes Young Lions: Part Two

The Work— Part 2, Competition Day

Inevitably, fresh-faced we were not, and at 5am we were up and at it again, ready to tackle the main day of the competition, the minuscule sleep adding some clarity to our thoughts from the previous night.

After raiding the local Starbucks at opening time of all of its coffee and croissants we made our way to the basement of The Palais. There we were shown to our booth and we moved into ‘production mode’.

Surprisingly, the day itself ran relatively smoothly (if we do say so ourselves!). We had devised a schedule and broken down the key targets we needed to hit to meet our 8 o’clock deadline, which proved very beneficial. Through the day we managed to stick to this, using it as a helpful guide if we felt we were spending too much time on any one element of the project.

At one point during the afternoon when the effects of the previous sleep-deprived night were setting in, a representative from Getty Images arrived at our booth with a camera person to ask us a few questions about how the project was developing and how we were feeling, ‘tired’ was our answer. But a few miniature pastries from the lunch table did the trick for a sugar-kick and we managed to push through to the finish line, with time spare to proof read and ensure our printed piece was correct.

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Our final design system revolved around the concept of ‘A Unified Force For Good’, speaking to the idea of the collective mobilisation of the diverse people who come together in many ways to form the global population of women, who inspire and strive to create positive, real change for women and girls.

Taking inspiration from and evolving the assets currently in place in the UN Women logo, our new system for ‘Daughter’ sub-brands utilised a flexible system of graphic shapes and typography, created from these existing assets, but transforming them to allow for the development of new forms, and varied meanings.

We did it! We were finished! We handed over the fruits of our labour, a single A3 document, and it was now out of our hands, ready to be presented to an impressive panel of judges from internationally renowned design agencies like Brand Union, Future Brand and Planeta to name but a few.

Time for an Aperol Spritz.

Another Aperol Spritz. Pizza. Sleep.

The Win

As an eternal pessimist (realist, OK?), I (Emma) had no inkling that we would be in with a chance of winning the much coveted Gold Young Lion. Kyle was more confident, hoping that we may place somewhere, possibly a bronze. As we sat in front of the panel of judges, IAPI representatives by our side, we suddenly got a wave of nausea over us as they announced the winners and we felt something we hadn’t admitted  to ourselves all the way through the process…we really wanted this. Bronze was announced, not us. Silver, not us again, no chance. An then, to our utter disbelief the word ‘Ireland’ was called out as the winner of the Gold. The feeling that accompanied this disbelief was one of incredible euphoria, and immense pride that we had achieved this win while representing Ireland.

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We thanked the judges, shook hands, hugged our teammates and the IAPI team, shed some tears, and most importantly…called our moms (and the RichardsDee Team)! The feeling was incredible.

We were photographed, interviewed and congratulated and then left to our own devices to get ourselves organised for the awards ceremony that evening where we would be awarded, alongside our peers and the judging panel, with two gold medals, on a stage worthy of The Oscars, in a theatre filled with over 1,500 people. No pressure, right? The awards show was fantastic, showcasing the inspiring work of the other Lion winners in the Design category.

Afterglow

As the first Irish Gold winner of Cannes Young Lions in its 23 year lifespan, we were very very proud. Young Lions has been a wonderful opportunity for us to hone our skills and push ourselves to the boundaries of what we’re capable of. It’s also been an unbelievable experience, being immersed in the festival environment and being surrounded by the world’s best creative talent, and with our other teammates form Team Ireland, in the beautiful location of Cannes. We urge anyone considering entering to just go for it.

We want to thank our wider team at RichardsDee without whom, none of this would have been possible, the external mentors we had along the way- Steve Payne and James Beveridge, and the team at IAPI who were an organisational powerhouse, supporting us all in Cannes, no mean feat!

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