The winners of the 2021 Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition were announced at Brand Licensing Europe on Friday afternoon after nine finalists battled it out in three pitches full of creativity, inspiration, laughter and emotion.
The winners are:
- Brand & Design Category: Sophie Jonas-Hill and Tea for Tattoo
- Character & Animation: Joel Mercer – SeedFolk
- New for 2021! Product Design in partnership with Mojo Nation: Wayne Lindsay – Imaginnovation
- Tea for Tattoo is a series of hand-drawn motifs which bring together the colour palette and style of traditional blue and white ceramics, with the aesthetic and cheeky edge of old-school tattoos.
- 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.
- Wayne Lindsay designed a desk tidy based on Aardman Animations’ beloved Morph and Chaz characters, a product inspired by the ‘tension’ and ‘collaboration’ epitomised in their relationship.
When commenting on the final presentations, Ian Downes, chair of the judges and director of Start Licensing, said of the Brand & Design and Character & Animation categories:
“Congratulations to the finalists who presented very strong, well thought through and commercially mindful concepts. Lots of thought had gone into where the brands fit the market and the licensing potential of them.”
Of the Product Design category presentations, he said, “It was genuinely a very close call. The spirit of friendship between the designers – all three are sitting together – is a real credit to them and to design and creative people. It was a really good set of presentations, products and ideas and Aardman and Start Licensing would love to talk to all three designers afterwards about developing their ideas in the future and talk about how we can bring them to life.”
The Kelvyn Gardner License This! final can be viewed again during the online Brand Licensing Europe event, which takes place 30 November – 1 December. Brand Licensing Europe returns in 2022 from 20-22 September at ExCeL London.
