Roses Design Awards write-up

In this, the event’s second year, the trusted barometer swung to “changeable” in terms of the award recipients, but suggested that the standard of the work was just as “hot” as in 2001.

Sitting in the sunshine at the top of the awards heap was Glasgow’s BD-Tank and Coventry’s Parenthesis.

BD-Tank rolled into the winners’ compound in both the Exhibition and Photography categories with its work for Loretto Housing Association, allowing them to successfully target the coveted Grand Prix Award.

The judges described the work as “an emotive exhibition, staged with real intelligence to add another dimension to the brilliant, and harrowing, photography”.

Parenthesis was not to be outdone though, and experienced similar approbation from the panel of judges. In the promotional literature category, its IDST book took the honours as “an excellent piece, put together with a painstaking attention to detail”.

It struck a particular chord with Chairman of the Judges John Sorrell CBE, founder of The Sorrell Foundation, who bestowed upon it his Chairman’s Award for Design.

Sorrell was assisted in the judging by Nick Talbot of Seymour Powell, Rasshied Din of Din Associates, Peter Christian of Christian Stuart Partnership, Gavin Thomson of Factory Design, Malcolm Garrett and Alan McCulloch, Joe Baker of Joe Baker Design, Simon Elliott of Rose Design Associates, Paul Cilia la Corte of Lewis Moberly and Alan Johnstone of The Marketeer.

This coterie ensured that Parenthesis and BD-Tank were not the only agencies to have their emotional armour pierced by the receiving of a Rose. Thompson Design went weak at the knees after collecting the prestigious Corporate Identity gong for its highly lauded West Yorkshire Playhouse work, following a closely contested head-to-head with The Chase. However, any sense of disappointment for the Manchester-based agency was soon assuaged by the collection of the Best Item of Self Promotion award and the overall Packaging gong for the Royal Mail.

Sticking with the Mancunian roll of merit, new media specialist Code Computer Love secured the top CD Rom honour with its Dr Martens Sport project for Airwair, whilst BDH\TBWA picked up the Stationery accolade for its appealing Eric’s Gear executions.

With any design award ceremony, regardless of geography, prestige or popularity, if Elmwood gets round to entering you can bet that some of the silverware will head their way. This year’s Roses was no exception, with the team snatching the Typography award for Scheufelen Premium Papers and Best Use of Paper for their very own Horse’s Mouth book.

Galloping on to the next categories in a desperate attempt at a link, Inc. Design raised a glass to the Direct Mail award with its Champagne Reception for EC Harris, whilst Edinburgh’s Graphic Partners drove off with the Annual Report trophy for the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Fellow Scots newton.eh6 shared the Promotional Literature prize and took the honours for Illustration, whilst Locofoco’s “Stuff” triumphed in Animation on behalf of RIS.

Of the other big design awards on the night, TM3 Productions scooped the Website winner with www.afoundation.com and Redpath shared the honours in Corporate Literature alongside Taxi Studio and its Shine! piece for Clarks. Clarks also collected silverware in Point of Sale for Friends Together, an accolade that helped it secure the coveted client crown as Best Commissioner of Design.

In a move to acknowledge creativity beyond the boundaries of traditional “design”, Fashion and Architectural categories were also introduced to proceedings this year, a development Stephenson Bell Architects (Best Residential and Best Commercial Project), BCA Landscape (Best Regeneration Scheme), Urban Splash (Best Commercial Project) and Ian Simpson Architects (Best Residential Project) will undoubtedly be pretty pleased about.