The individual designers, larger companies and agencies who are on stage on 10th May have worked with the following food producers, restaurants and other food companies:

• Bo Bristle
• Donnelly
• Pop Noodle
• Saba
• Pure Brazen
• Skoff Pies
• Total Produce
• Finches
• Glenilen
• Cully & Sully
• Dee’s
• Rachel Allen
• Paddy O’Granola
• Galtee
• King Gold Standard
• Hodgins Craft Butcher
• Country Kitchens Bakery
• 8 Degrees
• Firehouse Bakery
• Gubeen
• Mic’s Chilli
• Fade St
• Ed Hicks Bacon Jam
• Mella Fudge
• Dunnes Soups
• Indulge Chocolates
• Kerry Foods
• Shellfish Ireland
• Chilly Moo
• Follain Preserves
• Cavistons
• Johnnie Walker
• Cadbury Cocoa House
• Tanqueray
• Gordon’s
• Windsor Diamond Jubilee
• Chivas Brothers

That is an amazing array of design talent which each attendee will have access to and it is not comprehensive by any means!

Click here for more information.

Keith

This one will be interesting, a food service company moving out of the shadows via own label production with a new and strong consumer brand.

Liz Skehan will share the story of her collaboration with Creative Inc on 12th May at Outstanding By Design but to whet your appetite here is a summary from Creative and a couple of behind the scenes shots taken during the process.

As you can see there is an understandable emphasis on Donal in the public face of this business but the role of Liz and her husband will be interesting to reveal.

“Working closely with Donal and the Skehan family, it was important for us that his personality and love of all things retro was reflected in the new identity and packaging. The typography and stark graphic teeth are a playful homage to the works of iconic American designers such as Roy Kuhlman and Paul Rand.”

For more information on the day click here.

Keith

This is the latest post featuring the brand and packaging designs which will be discussed on 10th May at Outstanding By Design.

I first met Paddy at the Waterford Harvest Festival in 2010 – you can see him and the first packaging below!

Since then the business has grown in leaps and bounds and he commissioned Brand Union to do a full piece of work on the overall visual identity and his packaging. This is what Sarah Maguire had to say about the work they did:

Paddy O”Granola

You can hear Sarah and Paddy talk more about the process they went through on 10th May – information and tickets here.

Keith

Last night was great, it went really well. Thanks as always to Julie and Rod our hosts in Highbank Orchard for the work they put in getting the room ready for the event. You can see it here, thats a lot of effort and works so well.    Our 3 makers shared so much about their stories and the making of their cheeses. And samples were passed around constantly! Accompanied by baguettes from the Spelt Baker. The 3 again were:

• Siobhan Ni Ghairbhith — St Tola, Co Clare
• Tom Burgess — Coolattin Cheddar, Co Wicklow
• Helen Finnegan — Knockdrinna Cheese, Co Kilkenny

I am waiting on a full set of photos of the evening so here are a couple shot by me.

This is the raw video of the entire Biabeag Meet The Cheese Makers event on 5th April at Highbank Organic Orchard. With us were:Thanks to www.memoirsoncamera.com for shooting for us. All post production failings are mine!

Some timing notes:

5:22 Siobhan

38:55 Helen

1:08 Tom

1:40 General Q&A including a couple of opportunities for people considering entering the artisan cheese market

1:42:30 Specific discussion around scaling an artisan food business through to end. This one was initiated by me and I found it really informative.

There was a audience of 60 in the room and on a show of hands between a third and a half had travelled from outside Kilkenny. That is so good to see – thank you for making the effort to join us and celebrate these makers and real cheese 🙂

Next up is Outstanding By Design on 10th May – a brand and packaging day mostly for food producers

Meet the Craft Brewers is on 7th June (8 Degrees, White Gypsy and Metalman)

Meet the Roasters is on 20th Sept (Ponaire, 3FE and Badger & Dodo)

Keith

My original goal for Outstanding By Design on 10th May was to feature case studies of great Irish food visual design and packaging. It made sense given the strength of the work done here in Ireland.  For that reason I omitted a number of really strong food brands whose work was done by UK based agencies.

And then Laura emailed me with details of the work done by Value-Added in Africa, a not-for-profit based in Dublin and which works with charities in Uganda. I’d recently met with Michael Carey and the memory of his sharing of the work of a couple of charities he is associated with (Soul of Haiti and Traidlinks) was still vivid.

So here is a case study combining the work of an Irish Designer and a Ugandan product. In the words of Laura herself.

What was the goal of the piece of work?

In October 2013 Value-Added in Africa (VAA) contacted me to ask if I would be interested in helping them to rebrand a honey product for an African charity called Ka tutandike, based in Uganda. They had existing packaging, which they had been using for the past year in local markets, but had received feedback that it wasn’t visually appealing or engaging enough for consumers. They wanted to bring the product to the EU market and recognized the need for new packaging.

The design brief was to create an eye-catching and contemporary design. It needed to effectively capture the imagination of the consumer and convey the brand values of this unique social enterprise.

Ka tutandike do amazing work in Kampala, Uganda, helping to empower women and youths with disabilities by teaching them the skills to produce their own honey. This allows them to earn a much needed income in a safe and secure environment. The proceeds from the honey is then fed back into Ka tutandike’s community projects.

Most Ugandans have forest space around their homes and the Ugandan women involved in the programme have their traditional beehives in trees behind their homes. One woman hangs her hive on her coffee tree in her back garden! We loved this intimacy and wanted to draw on this concept for the design.

Honey Training

Honey Training

Traditional Ugandan beehive

It was also important that the product would work both regionally and in the EU market so the design needed to strike a balance across the cultures.

As part of the process VAA conducted a packaging design feedback survey with targeted questions to help find out what’s important to today’s consumer. This generated 270 survey responses and helped to inform the final design choice.

There were two flavour variants of honey – dark and light Amber which are sold in 300g and 500g jars. We helped to differentiate the two flavours through colour coding on the tamper proof seal. With the help of copywriters we were able to bring the brand story to life. The labels and jars are printed and sourced in Africa.

What is the element of your work in the project which you are most proud of?

This was a great meeting of minds and experiences from the client, packaging design co-coordinator, copywriters and designer. Everyone really put their heart into this project. By improving Katu’s packaging design I am very proud to have helped this great product get the recognition it deserves.

Rebranded Katu Honey

Laura Macaulay

What was the most difficult compromise?

Budgets and sourcing considerations meant that the original jar was made from plastic with the standard bright yellow lid. In the short term we have suggested changing the colour of the lid to custom green lid so it will feel more natural and organic. Ka tutandike are working towards hopefully changing to a better quality glass jar in the future, which will be better for the environment too! There were also some cultural differences when it came to the copy. Certain text that would resonate well here would not resonate well there and vice versa; therefore, creating copy that would be attractive in both locales was a difficult task.

Thanks to Laura for the above and really looking forward to hearing from her on the day. More information on Outstanding By Design including full line up and a link to booking here.

Keith

Once upon a time a graphic designer based in Waterford/Kilkenny decided to help found the South-East’s first Slow Food Convivium and, because he was good that way, he also helped out the national Slow Food group with their website and design.

During that time Lorenzo met with the founder of Gubbeen, Giana Ferguson and that is how his long association with the brand and their packaging kicked off.

Lorenzo Tonti

On 10th May Lorenzo and Fingal Ferguson (Giana’s son) will be kicking off the day and they will start with that initial piece of work by Lorenzo:

Q – What was the initial scope of the work?

A – Brief (if I remember correctly, we’ve been collaborating since around 2001/2) was to redesign the brand, make it ore lively and fresh – that included the ‘logo’ and packaging. The project evolved into what we have today, more and diverse products and applications. It was my intention from the start to create a long-standing brand which could grow with the business.

Q – What are you most proud of within the work?

A – The flexibility, longevity and overall feel of the brand. It hasn’t grown tired. Plus, the relationship between client and designer: one of the most fulfilling I’ve ever had.

Q – any particular compromises that stick out for you?

A – I don’t think any of us compromised. Not in the products, not in the design. We found a balanced way of working which suited the creative minds of makers and designer, and that’s what makes the partnership successful.

Sounds like a great one to start with – there is a lot to be learned from that relationship and the enduring strength of the brand.

More information on Outstanding By Design including full line up and a link to booking here.

Keith