About us

Quick facts

• Over 20 years' experience in consumer brand and packaging design for UK and international markets.

• 22 strong team of creative and strategic thinkers.

• Independently owned and independent minded.

• Based in the heart of London on The Strand.

What we're famous for

Creating Sainsbury's supermarket's first premium sub-brand - Taste the Difference
TTD has grown from nothing to an £840 million brand.

Winners of the highly acclaimed UK Design Effectiveness Awards. Winners of 'Overall Design' and
'Grand Prix' awards for the creation of Foster's Waterfall.

Our long-standing client relationships - Simple Health & Beauty, Sainsbury's, Heineken UK and Coca-Cola.

Our principle is...

"Always be a first rate version of
yourself, rather than a second rate
version of someone else" Judy Garland

We believe in...

Making difference desirable

And so do our clients...

Nikon

Award winning design revolutionising a category offering

The Opportunity

Nikon cameras have immense credibility within the category but were only ever perceived as 'high end' and had no appeal to the cheaper, impulse market.

Our Difference

Creating a bespoke pack format, based on Japanese cultural references, which is cheap to produce and transport but maintains the essence of integrity synonymous with the Nikon brand. Designed to be merchandised on a Euro hook, this created a whole new way of selling impulse purchase cameras.

Foster's

Award winning design for a supermarket environment

The Opportunity

To make cardboard boxes in a supermarket look as cold as a shiny steel pub font, dripping with condensation, but without losing brand distinctiveness along the way.

Our Difference

Not just ice on the packs but Foster’s own blue ice in a waterfall tumbling down to a dominant blue Foster’s branding.

Results

Sales grew by over 35% in its first year earning this the Design Effectiveness Grand Prix Award in 2006.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference

Award winning creation of retailer's first premium 'sub-brand'

The Opportunity

Every product has to conform to the quality standards set for the brand, which required extra time, care and attention. BrandMe created a premium sub brand from scratch that expressed the quality and integrity of this new and delicious product range, in a way that signalled 'everyday treat' and not just for 'special occasions'.

Our Difference

The product story was the inspiration. A challenging brand name and a reason to believe evident on every pack. Setting a new standard for mass premium. Giving consumers a credible reason to believe with a convincing proposition and design.

Results

The UK's fastest growing brand - now worth £840 million. Winner of the Design Effectiveness Awards.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference

Re-defining premium for Sainsbury’s success story

The Opportunity

The premium food and drink market had changed since we first launched Taste the Difference back in 2001. Consumers are now more money conscious needing to be really convinced of the value of buying premium.

The relaunch of the brand means that all products now have to be approved by a panel of customers before being allowed into the range. Here was an opportunity to deliver a credible story to consumers, communicating a ‘best taste’ promise and real reason to believe.

Our Difference

Hooking onto the customer endorsements, a new ‘customer-quality stamp’ was introduced to sit alongside the brand name as part of the logo. This was the vehicle in which to drive home integrity and that promise of great tasting food.

A split pack design was created showing the products at the top of pack, providing a cohesive brand feel across the range. Various visual styles were used to show different products – like ethnic graphic patterns for coffee, where provenance is a key motivator for consumers shopping the category.

Results

Already after a month in store the new design is showing outstanding results – with some products up 80% in sales, and others exceeding targets by fourfold.

Capri Sun for Coca-Cola

Rejuvenation and re-invigoration of a family favourite

The Opportunity

The new 100% pure juice design needed to communicate all the essential components of Capri-Sun’s products – the brand identity, blue skies and a sunny, playful personality. Equally important was to bring to life the products' healthy and premium credentials, whilst maintaining its ongoing appeal to both kids and mums.

Our Difference

The iconic new packaging is easy to spot on shelf and brings alive the natural and healthy nature of the products in a fun and engaging way, whilst still remaining true to the overall brand personality.

Results

Capri-Sun is currently worth £88million, making it the No. 1 juice drink in the UK.

Vroom en Dreesmann

Retail identity from storefront to product lines

The Opportunity

The corporate V&D logo plays a functional role in identifying buildings, products and services provided by the brand. However, it is not a logo that consumers find engaging or emotionally motivating.

Our brief was to create an identity that could sit alongside the existing logo or separately and communicate the rich variety of things available in store. In addition it needed to be simple, iconic and flexible enough to work across all consumer facing communications including signage, packaging, advertising, etc.

Our Difference

A graphic tree device holds in its branches a varied selection of items on offer within the V&D stores. It creates one world that works as a whole but also offers interest on another level when you discover the elements within.

The hand drawn black and white illustration style is relaxed enough to be appealing and approachable to consumers whilst giving a strong impactful identity. The tree is now recognised as a valuable property of the brand and is used in many consumer facing communications.

Sainsbury's Wines

New look and revolutionary new 'Wine Style Guide'

The Opportunity

Research revealed some interesting clues about consumers' attitudes to wine buying. Over 70% of people felt 'intimidated' in the wine aisles and most shoppers repeatedly looked for flavour over things like grape variety or origin.

If consumers could be persuaded to break out of their 'wine rut' and be given new confidence to try different varieties there was potential to revolutionise wine habits in the UK.

Our Difference

A new look was applied to all Sainsbury's wines to elevate their status and premiumise all pricing tiers. A new 'Wine Style Guide' was also introduced to steer consumers through the purchasing process. A color coded system, on product and POS, divides wines into clear to understand categories - like 'Crisp and delicate' and 'Soft and fruity'.

It is a unique new system intended to demystify wine buying whilst encouraging discovery and experimentation. A help, support and inspiration to consumers.

Merchant Gourmet

Brand rejuvenation for premium authentic foods importer

The Opportunity

Merchant Gourmet has a genuine passion for its subject. This independent company, travels the world in search of authentic fine foods and ingredients. However, their range of speciality foods was failing to justify a price premium or work together as a distinctive and cohesive brand.

Our Difference

Conveying a real passion for food in a premium yet informal style. Highly visible in-store and recognisable across a range of categories.

Results

Two new listings achieved as a result of the rebrand.

Daioni

Communicating naturalness with a smile

The Opportunity

The dairy drinks market is growing as is consumer demand for more natural and replenishing pick-me-ups. Daioni milk drinks fit the bill perfectly – they are organic, low in sugar and fat free with no preservatives or artificial colours. Consumers however were confused with the brand presentation and were not aware of how nutritious and tasty these products could be.

Our Difference

We created a new brand look that features a quirky hand-drawn Welsh cow set against a characterful new logo, helping to communicate health, personality and provenance. The product information is presented in a clear and witty way that works together with all the brand elements to create a completely unified brand look.

The refresh has now positioned Daioni as a modern and credible brand, full of passion and vigour - making it stand strong against the big players and punch high above its weight.

Results

Two new listings in the key multiples for this small challenger brand

Foster’s

Breathing life into a world famous brand

The Opportunity

Foster’s was a brand that hadn’t been touched in decades and although still a popular choice, consumers lacked an understanding of what it stood for anymore.

Foster’s continually outperforms its competition in blind taste tests, making ‘quality’ and ‘superior taste’ valuable assets to communicate. Of equal importance was amplifying and modernising the much-loved and long associated ‘Australian-ness’ of the brand.

Our Difference

Modernity, premium-ness and an easy-going, expansive attitude were integral to the new look, helping elevate the perception of Foster’s whilst retaining its charm and famous ‘Aussie’ history.

We made a clear distinction between the brand name and Foster’s iconic mark – equipping the roundel to be a powerful standalone hero in communicating all the new equities of the brand.

Results

Already the redesign has shown excellent results by being 40% quicker* to find on fixture. It is also now 37% quicker* to find then the average lager.

*Packmaster research report 2010

Riso Gallo

Brand rejuvenation and range architecture for European rice brand

The Opportunity

As the leading European risotto brand with the biggest range of products, Riso Gallo are the rice experts. Over the years, however, range extensions have brought ever more intrusive product descriptors and text, drowning out the branding unless the logo is made ever bigger. This vicious circle of 'everything louder than everything else' needed to be tamed and simplified within a more iconic pack design.

Our Difference

We built the design around a dramatic and highly visible stylised rice grain, supporting the logo and robust enough not to be eclipsed by all the supporting text. The information hierarchy rules are now redefined and consistently applied across the range.

Simple Skincare

Distinct category presentation under a consistent brand message

The Opportunity

Research showed that women who have discovered the skin caring benefits of Simple become brand evangelists, because Simple keeps their skin happy. But even for them the brand seemed too passive and they were unaware of the breadth and depth of the range.

Our Difference

The elegant and contemporary new designs show an evolved 'smile' logo as well as vitamin goodness roundels helping to communicate the proactive benefits inside each and every product. Improved product descriptors and information hierarchy allows for clearer navigation across all ranges, from everyday essentials to anti-ageing.

Sainsbury's Christmas 2008 - 2010

The gift that keeps on giving

The Opportunity

To create distinctive and consistent Christmas packaging across a huge range of Sainsbury’s product ranges from Taste the Difference to So Organic, Be Good to Yourself to traditional gifting.

Our Difference

Sainsbury’s Christmas is all encompassing – everyday basics, everyday premium and all those extra special gifts. Versatile and inclusive. This Christmas ‘every Sainsbury’s product will be a gift’.

We created a flexible design system capable of giving any product just the right level of seasonal cheer.
Celebrating Christmas in every aisle.

Punjana Teas

Revolutionary new format to re-invigorate the brand

The Opportunity

A real family tea business on a mission to blend only the best leaves from selected tea-gardens to get the kind of flavour that the “big boys” simply can’t achieve. So how do we communicate this fascinating story and greatly superior product amidst the crowd of high-spending brand juggernauts that dominate the tea category.

Our Difference

We tell the real Punjana story on a striking new and re-sealable pack format that’s instantly noticed as it avoids the usual category conventions.

Results

New important listings in Tesco - Scotland, Ireland and England.

Mornflake Cereals

Amazing heritage brought into the 21st century

The Opportunity

The Lea family have been milling oats in Cheshire since 1675. They are exactly the type of brand that today’s consumers prize – authentic, healthy, genuine heritage with no compromises on quality.

For all this, Mornflake has tended to hide its light under a bushel, concentrating on milling great oats rather than telling its story to consumers. There was a clear opportunity present the brand more emotively and meet consumer demand for healthy oats and oat bran, from a brand with unrivalled credentials.

Our Difference

Coinciding with the company’s 333rd anniversary, we relaunched the brand with a new identity that features a ‘sunshine oat’ icon. This was created using traditional English lithograph, entirely in keeping with the brand’s 14 generation history. There is nothing contrived about the new brand identity. There is an absence of brashness and attempts to ‘shout louder’. This is a brand design that now reinforces Mornflakes brand values and tells its story with the confidence of a brand that stands up to further examination.

Results

New listing in Waitrose and ambitious sales targets met for first year.

Birds Eye

Range architecture for European frozen foods brand

The Opportunity

Birds Eye dominates the frozen foods sector, trusted above all to provide everyday foods of the highest quality with minimal processing and interference.

So how do you create instant recognition and easier range navigation for a complex brand spanning several product 'families' and different pricing tiers?

Our Difference

Simplified range architecture with transparent presentation of brand, product and supporting information; all within a consistent graphic system that's much easier to spot in store.

New design system went onto being a central strategy for the entire portfolio and is adhered to in the present day.

Blossom Hill

Brand rejuvenation for UK's no.1 wine brand

The Opportunity

The wine aisle is very crowded and confusing. How can we develop a design that has excellent shelf stand-out and above all, communicates Blossom Hill's vibrant, approachable and appealing values?

Our Difference

Our design solution reflects Blossom Hill's informal and relaxed personality. This is a brand associated with outdoor living and a sunny disposition. The new iconic packaging is as impactful as it is emotionally uplifting. Easy to spot on shelf, very accessible and not at all intimidating. The premium credentials are expressed through quality materials and production finishes.

Now arguably the most noticeable bottle in situ.

Dr. Oetker Home Baking

Brand rejuvenation and range architecture for European-wide brand

The Opportunity

The home baking category has become cluttered in recent years, with competition emerging from existing brands, own-brands and new entrants.

Dr. Oetker is a brand full of heritage, offering a wide and diverse range of products that meet the needs of home baking fans everywhere. With all its equity the brand had become tired looking over the years and lacked the all-important emotional spark, which is so motivating to consumers shopping for baking products.

Our Difference

The organisation and rationalisation of over 100 home baking products that now have a complete focus towards the consumer - with eye-catching designs that communicate a sense of home and tea parties, as well as clear range navigation, helping the consumer recognise and understand the broad range on offer.

Sainsbury's fresh coffee range

Clean and clear communication on a lifestyle proposition

The Opportunity

Coffee consumption has grown considerably over the past few years. Brands and retailers have met demand meaning the coffee consumer is now faced with a barrage of complicated looking products. Understandably consumers are confused about what to buy and lack the confidence to try new flavours in order to expand their coffee-drinking repertoire.

Our Difference

Each range – Core, Occasions and Lifestyle was given a unique and own-able design identity that clearly communicates what the range is all about.

It was important that the new designs were made to work within an overall creative framework that uses close-up photography to unite all of Sainsbury’s coffee products.

The new designs also incorporate a clear new 'taste system tab' at the top of the pack, to make it easy for the customer to understand the flavour and strength profile of each product.

Results

First signs just a few months after launch are very encouraging, suggesting Sainsbury’s shoppers now feel more confident and informed about buying their coffee.

Onken

Clearly defining product range differentiation

The Opportunity

Onken yogurts have a huge range of products in their portfolio – from fruit compotes to fruit yogurts and natural variants. The natural segment wasn’t doing so well for Onken – consumers were making mistake purchases because they couldn’t clearly see the product names, and weren’t really sure how they could be used.

Work needed to be done on the natural variants but also on the fruit-based yogurts, where it was felt the designs lacked ‘a bit of life’ in comparison to the rest of the category.

Our Difference

A unifying range look was maintained but the sub-ranges were independently reviewed, making sure they appeal directly to their target consumer. A focus on usage was introduced to the natural variants, with illustrative type put on the front of pack to communicate occasions – like ‘dolloped on dessert’ for Greek Style. Tasting descriptions were also included to reinforce the more culinary nature of these products.

The idea for the fruit range was to enhance the ingredients, so the fruit visuals were given a burst of sunlight – subliminally drawing attention to the natural and fruity nature of these yummy products.