DBA awards effective design

Tangerine’s scoop of the Grand Prix at the Design Business Association’s International Design Effectiveness Awards on Monday night, for its design of the British Airways Club World seat, proves design can make the difference in a highly competitive sector.

British Airways claims that the the seat, created with a design budget of over £1m, has made an important contribution to the gains in market share the airline has made over the past 12 months.

The seat, which transforms into the world’s first flat bed in business class, includes an in-flight entertainment pod, movable privacy screen and an adjustable footstool.

Although entries to the awards were down by over 50 per cent on last year following the increase in non-members fees, DBA chief executive Ian Rowland-Hill says the standard was unaffected. ‘If you are going to pay a lot more to enter you are going to make sure you put in the best entry you can,’ he says.

Meanwhile, Design House was another winner, picking up three awards. It won the design management award with its creation of a ‘home from home’ environment for Six Continents Retail’s Ember Inns pub chain. Though the number of people visiting pubs over the past ten years has dropped, Design House’s concept has produced a 100 per cent increase in sales (typically) on a design investment of £500 000 in each venue.

The group also revamped all the design elements of the Lloyds Pharmacy chain, from shop interiors and facia to packaging to win the over £100 000 corporate/ brand identity award. The work has contributed to a 38 per cent increase in sales turnover for Lloyds Pharmacy.

To win the retail and leisure interiors category, Design House recreated the car showroom experience for Toyota GB. The work, which has addressed the conventional ‘pushy’ car-buying process, has resulted in a dramatic rise in car sales, outperforming the volume growth of the local new car market as a whole by more than 38 per cent and the total national market by 82 per cent. Sales of new cars to women, who traditionally dislike car showrooms, rose by 40 per cent.

Coley Porter Bell also won three awards. Its designs for Confetti Network enabled the company to create the largest wedding database in the UK and expand into other sectors, winning the group the award in the sub £100 000 corporate/ brand identity category.

It also won the branded packaging award, along with Williams Murray Hamm. CPB’s work on the launch of Cadbury’s Miniature Heroes ensured Cadbury’s most successful launch in 20 years. It is also the fastest growing brand in the confectionery market.

The redesign of Interbrew UK’s Wild Brew, by Williams Murray Hamm, increased sales of the beverage by 28.5 per cent and created production savings of £22 000 in its first year.

Coley Porter Bell also won a judges’ award in the branded packaging category for its work with Alberto Culver on the Andrew Collinge brand.

The winners

Grand Prix Tangerine Product Direction and Design for British Airways (new design of Club World Seat)

Corporate/ Brand ide

ntity over £100 000 programme Design House for Lloyds Pharmacy

Corporate/ Brand identity under £100 000 programme Coley Porter Bell for Confetti Network

Consumer product Tangerine Product Direction and Design for British Airways (new design of Club World Seat)

Industrial product London Associates for Alstom Power Conversion (A-series Marine Dynamic Positioning Systems)

Retail and leisure interiors Design House for Toyota (GB) (The Toyota Experience)

Office and commercial interiors David Leon Partnership for The London Clinic (The London Clinic Pathology Department Refurbishment)

Consumer print Reach Partnership in Design for Harlequin Mills & Boon

Business-to-business print Elmwood for GF Smith (PhoeniXmotion This is Not Real Art)

Corporate print Joint Winner Marsteller for Accenture (Accenture Alumni Mailer) Joint Winner The Team for Leadership in the NHS Modernisation Agency (NHS Management Training Scheme)

Branded packaging Joint Winner Coley Porter Bell for Cadbury Trebor Bassett (Miniature Heroes) Joint Winner Williams Murray Hamm for Interbrew UK (Wild Brew)

Own brand packaging Brewer Riddiford for Sainsbury’s (Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference)

Stands/ Events exhibitions 2LK Design for RM (RM@Bett 2001 stand in the Grand Hall, Olympia)

Business-to-consumer digital media Citigate Lloyd Northover for JMC Holidays (The JMC.com project)

Internal communications Moon Communications for Eastman Kodak Company (Internal Awareness and Global Branding Program for Service and Support)

Design management Design House for Six Continents Retail (Ember Inns)

Environment Pillar Information Design for BT (BT Phone Book Redesign)

Design for good Glazer for Comic relief (Papapaa direct marketing and teaching pack)

Judges awards

Branded packaging Coley Porter Bell for Alberto Culver (Andrew Collinge)

Corporate print The Team for Department for Education and Employment (Be Someone to Look Up To)

Branded packaging Parker Williams Design Consultants for Fuller Smith & Turner (Fuller’s Organic Honey Dew)

Consumer product Priestman Goode for Bisque (Hot Spring)

Branded packaging Brown KSDP for Mattel UK (Scrabble relaunch)