Orchestra St John’s, Senser Spirits, UKTV: The Drum Design Awards 2020 winners

Taking home the coveted Grand Prix was Williams Murray Hamm for Orchestra St John‘s, followed by the Chair's Award which was given to Magpie Studio for its work for Senser Spirits.

Other award winners include Walworth Garden for Brand Identity Design, UKTV for Moving Imagery and UCL for Brand Campaign. You can check out their award winning work below.

Grand Prix/Physical Product Design/Poster Design/Illustration/Design for Good

Agency: Williams Murray Hamm

Client: Orchestra St John‘s

The Orchestra St John's (OSJ) raised funds to bring Afghanistan’s first all-female orchestra to Oxford to support their music education. To thank all their supporters, the OSJ asked Williams Murray Hamm to create a commemorative poster.

A traditional handwoven rug was designed which incorporated the apparatus of war, depicting the orchestra’s journey. The production was commissioned to a women’s charity from Kabul, via Scottish charity Turquoise Mountain.

Juror‘s thoughts: “The judges felt it impossible to ignore this entry and during the judging sessions found that it covered many categories – Illustration, Poster Design, Design for Good and we even dropped it into Physical Product Design too. We found ourselves on occasion split, then almost-simultaneously unanimously in favour of it. Any Grand Prix award needs to inspire conversation, debate and passion and considering the isolated conditions enforced on us all we found no shortage of exchange. In many ways this piece of work brought us closer together.

“The entry represents many things – a struggle, a journey, resilience, liberation, a story that needed to be told. This story perhaps was the thing that engaged us the most. It inspired rage, disgust and sadness but also a wonderful feeling of optimism and possibility brought through imagination and honest craft. If ever there was a symbol of overcoming adversity and delivering a message of hope, then this is it.“

Stephen Haggerty, executive creative director, Clear Strategy

Chair Award/Packaging Design: Graphic/Typography

Agency: Magpie Studio

Client: Senser Spirits

Senser is a range of non-alcoholic spirits and blended to uplift your mood without clouding your mind. To capture the mood-elevating effect of the spirits, Magpie Studio created a playful story that wraps around the bottle.

Jim Mathers, chairman of the British Design Fund, chaired the Design awards. “It’s a great idea to use botanicals to capture emotions which is then beautifully crafted and it’s that combination of things that came together extremely well,“ he explains.

Check out the video interview below on his reasons for choosing his winner.

Brand Identity Design

Agency: Studio Sutherl&

Client: Walworth Garden

Walworth Garden is an award-winning charity garden dedicated to improving lives through horticulture. Studio Sutherl& were asked to design a brand identity reflecting the urban garden’s location which had to incorporate signage, packaging, van livery as well as staff uniforms.

The identity is based on nine leaf ‘venations’, the intrinsic structures within every plant leaf.

Juror's thoughts: “The judges thought this was a clever take on spatial thought: a playful and adaptive logo that is a thoroughly modern take on ancient structures. The identity and its well-chosen touchpoints thoughtfully and sensitively reflect the sense of growth, community and support inherent in the brand and company itself. It is surprisingly easy with categories like gardening to fall into the twee trap. But the designers obviously really got under the skin of what makes this client interesting and the resulting identity has deservedly been conceptualised and crafted carefully by the designers.

“They also had the restraint to leave room for the identity to evolve as the brand and community do and I'm sure this sensitivity will set the client up for success in the future.“

Natasha Chetiyawardana​, creative partner, Bow & Arrow

Moving Imagery

Agency: UKTV

Client: UKTV/BBC Studios

’We Hunt Together’ is the story of two couples in a new cat-and-mouse thriller.

UKTV set the show's title sequence in a glowing neon world filled with predators hunting together in the shadows. It sets the mood and puts viewers slightly on edge.

Juror's thoughts: "We felt that the work stood out because of its discordant imagery, aggressive cuts and rich yet dark colour scheme – it evoked an appropriately discomfiting reaction that we felt was exactly on-brief. We also appreciated the nod to cult film & print references – building a compelling new take on the series theme of threatening darkness that surrounds the everyday. Excellent work."

Jos Harrison, global design strategy director, RB Plc

Brand Campaign

Agency: Jack Renwick Studio

Client: UCL

This campaign for UCL (University College London) was launched to announce its forthcoming future-focused campus at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

‘Disruptive thinking since 1826’ pulls together two contrasting images – one showing a current challenge the world is facing, and another depicting how UCL are responding. The UCL logo is integrated in each image combination, graphically disrupting the problem and leading the way towards a solution.

Juror’s thoughts: “At the heart of this brand campaign for UCL there’s a strong and engaging creative idea that has a clarity combined with intrigue. The campaign is visually striking thanks to its fresh, contemporary and forward thinking design system. The contrasting imagery has a disruptive quality while also feeling really future-focused. I really like the way the UCL logo is integrated within the design system. This campaign delivers in so many ways, informing and inspiring audiences through beautifully executed design.“

Claudia Morris, creative director, B&B Studio

For a full rundown of the winners, visit The Drum Design Awards website.