Tayburn adds one for the pot

Edinburgh consultancy Tayburn Group advised teapot manufacturer James Sadler against evolving its identity, suggesting a complete revamp instead.

When Richard Eagleton was appointed design and marketing director at James Sadler he knew the brand lacked a clear positioning and brought in Tayburn last November to evolve the identity.

The group carried out some initial research and decided the client needed a completely new identity, to be applied consistently across all its communications materials.

The identity as it stood – essentially a crown and ribbon – was applied using a variety of crown designs and logotypes.

‘We identified the need to promote the client more as a consumer brand. This resulted in a new logo and a new name, suggested by the client,’ says Tayburn marketing services manager Susan Dickie.

The name change saw the client moving from the corporate-sounding James Sadler & Sons Limited, to the more consumer-oriented James Sadler, adds Dickie.

The resulting identity aims to modernise the brand, while playing up hitherto ignored elements of the client’s heritage.

‘We chose copper as the new corporate colour, to convey the quality of the products and also to reflect the original production process, in which hand-engraved copper plates were used to imprint designs on the teapots,’ says Dickie.

Dickie says the crown is the only element of the existing logo to be retained and has been changed radically to incorporate the image of the product.

The new identity will launch at the Frankfurt Trade Fair on 19 February. It will initially appear on stationery and a new brochure, before rolling out to literature and packaging.

James Sadler & Sons was founded in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent in 1882. It now exports teapots to 60 countries.

Client: James Sadler & Sons

Designer: Tayburn Group