brandopus

We've scooped three trophies at tonight's Design Effectiveness Awards, hosted by the Design Business Association in London. 

The creation of the Buckwud brand for client Wellness Foods was awarded a prestigious Gold, our redesign work with Pipers Crisp Co. won a Silver award, while our work with leading independent brewer Hall & Woodhouse on the redesign of the Badger Ales brand achieved a bronze in the branded packaging design category. We have also made a massive jump forward in the league tables, and are now among the three most financially effective agencies in the UK.

The DBA's annual Design Effectiveness Awards are the most prestigious accolade in design, being the only award scheme that uses commercial data as a key judging criteria.  As the design industry's equivalent of an IPA award in advertising, all winners having undergone two stages of rigorous judging, by two separate panels of business leaders, including senior marketers from brands such as Santander, TFL, John Lewis, Magner's, Oxfam and British Airways.

Year after year, winning case studies like Buckwud, Pipers Crisp Co. and Badger demonstrate the excellent value for money and return on investment that a coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve. 

We've been working with Badger Ales to create the packaging strategy for the first of its ultimate collector's ales series. Designed to be the perfect gift for the discerning ale lover, the launch of this limited edition premium ale follows on from our award winning redesign of the Badger brand which rolled out onto the shelves in February.

Brewed using the special Boadicea, Bramling Cross and Goldings hops and matured in a Somerset Cider Brandy Company oak cask, the ale comes in a 750cl champagne bottle housed in a beautiful wooden presentation box.  The 10.7% ale is one of the first ales produced in the UK to undergo three fermentations as well as full riddling and disgorging, which is normally only carried out by the finest Champagne houses, and can be drunk immediately or can be laid down for many years to mature. Inspired by this we created an all-naturally sourced packaging design, which reflects the hibernation of countryside animals: the champagne bottle is cocooned in an oak presentation case, embellished with fragments of the Badger identity, reflective of the yesteryear crates that Badger was once delivered in.

To celebrate the number of years Hall & Woodhouse has been brewing, 235 bottles of the Collector's Edition 2012 will be released, each bottle hand-numbered and signed by Chairman Mark Woodhouse upon a leaf-like swing tag which picks up on the countryside equities of the Badger brand, and which is attached to the neck of the bottle with twine.

Anna Corbett, brand marketing manager at Hall & Woodhouse, comments on the project, "A beautiful and considered design that delivers a rustic yet distinctive sense of occasion to be savoured, much like this very special beer."

The Collector's Edition 2012 is the first in the series which will be released annually, it will be exclusively available from www.badgerdirect.com and will retail at £50.00 plus postage and packaging.

Despite the downpour and the Wimbledon Murray match final, crowds gathered for a taste of the countryside in The Badger Beer Garden at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2012.

Created to bring a taste of the countryside to London, as visitors approached the garden a traditional Dorset sign and a path led the way into a wonder of rustic countryside, ale flowing walls and glass bottle-rivers. It's the first time a brewer has exhibited at the show and judging by the queues, or perhaps the free 'Golden Glory' tasting (by Badger's Head Brewer Toby Heasman) it went well!

The garden's purpose was to raise awareness of Dorset-based, family run brewer Badger Ales, whilst upholding the high level of creativity that Hampton Court Palace Flower Show boasts. The garden successfully delivered this thanks to the award winning team at Flemons Warland Design. The Badger Beer Garden picked up a prestigious Silver Gilt award at the event, but it wasn't just silverware that was taken home: you could sense that gardeners and beer drinkers alike had been inspired to create features with their own empty bottles at home after visiting the garden.

And the highlight for me: seeing the branding and packaging by colleagues here at BrandOpus being enjoyed in such a beautiful setting...

For more information about the Badger Ales redesign take a look at the case study.

The Badger graphic framework can be seen working seamlessly across the different substrates within the garden, and the marriage between garden design and brand design has contributed towards the garden's win of a prestigious silver gilt award.

A river of Badger bottles

Branded casks of Badger Ales flow in to the rural environment. 

Raining badgers

We're really proud to see our redesign of the full range of nine Badger ales hitting the shelves over the forthcoming weeks. Although the beer remains the ale that Badger fans know and love, the redesign has brought to life the proposition of countryside ales through the rural themes of each of the individual beers.  The characters aim to hark back to Badger’s Dorset origins, differentiating the brand from the competition.

Anna Corbett, Brand Manager at Badger, says “BrandOpus have brought the countryside to our bottles in an original and engaging way.  The new designs help differentiate the beers in our portfolio by style and occasion to help consumers discover the range and find their favourite.”