With licensing going from strength to strength in gifting, nine finalists will be battling it out to win one of three Kelvyn Gardner License This! awards, with the judging taking place at Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) next month.
The show takes place at ExCeL London, from 17-19 November, with the live final on November 19, where Sarah Ward, ceo of The Giftware Association will be among the judges.
“The standard of entries this year was very high,” confirmed chair of the judging panel, Ian Downes, director of Start Licensing. “It was encouraging to see so many original ideas and concepts. The entrants put a lot of effort into the competition, crafting some compelling entries, and it was tough to draw up a shortlist.” Continued Ian: “Based on the quality of entries, it’s clear that there is no shortage of creativity in and around licensing at the moment and the industry can be assured there is plenty of fresh thinking going on.”
This year there are three categories, including a brand new Product Design award launched in partnership with Mojo Nation, where designers have been tasked to invent a desktop accessory inspired by Aardman’s Morph IP. The Character & Animation and Brand & Design categories are both aimed at unlicensed brands and properties with judges looking for new creative concepts which have the potential to spread across multiple product categories.
The nine finalists are:
Brand & Design Category
- Pencil & TIE: Best friends who live in Shibuya, Tokyo. Pencil, a graphic designer, is never seen without his pencil. Tie is his one-footed, cheeky friend (and a tie). Designer Mark creates onefold witty, sustainable stationery products in his lab in the Netherlands.
- Sophie Jonas-Hill and Tea for Tattoo, brings together two great British passions – drinking tea and getting tattooed – featuring Sophie’s unique hand drawn stamp to create the look of glazed ceramic.
- Aline Cervo – Aline Bea is a surface pattern designer, illustrator and digital nomad. Inspired by nature, simple things in life, and her own journey. She draws everything from flowers to buildings and abstract compositions with the stories embedded in her designs, talking about bravery, courage, love and connection, about noticing the details, and abundance and presence.
Character & Animation Category
- Els Morris – Els Doodles: Rosie Roars is an illustrated little one’s story book. Rosie is three and her favourite animal is a lion. Her family helps her to discover different animals and she decides that being a ‘buzzy, hopping, rainbow roaring me’ is the perfect person to be. The book teaches little ones that it’s good to celebrate who we are, while learning about others along the way.
- Stacy Moore – Eat Dirt: Eat Dirt is a series of humorous stories and poems for children aged 2-5 years old, designed to inspire a love of veggies, gardening, and outdoor play served up with a big dose of pure silliness. The lovable main characters include Grumpy Bean and his seven vegetable friends, plus the Green Thumb Chums and Toad.
- Joel Mercer – Seeding Cards & Gifts: SeedFolk has been developed by the innovative creative team behind Seedlings Cards & Gifts, a lovable range of characters who care for our native habitats and wildflower seeds.
Product Design Category
- Jon Morse: Tomato Source
- Chris de Junien: Imagine8
- Wayne Lindsay: Imaginnovation
The three designers in this category will pitch their concepts to the judges during the live final.
BLE will be followed by an online event running from 30 November to 1 December. Register at www.brandlicensing.eu.
Top: Eat Dirt is a finalist in the Kelvyn Gardner License This! Character & Animation Category
