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We won a gold Pentaward!

By december 20, 2022december 21st, 2022No Comments
‘Gold! (gold) Always believe in your sooouuul…’

With the freezing cold of the past few weeks ebbing away and Christmas and New Year in sight, I think it is the perfect time to reflect on all the things that came up our path the past year. Lots of stuff to think about, to treasure and to hold on to.

On a professional level? Well, one of the last weekends of September definitely deserves a highlight!

Friday 23th September 2022, 7:15 am in the morning.

It’s amazingly warm for the time of the year with 17°C outside, with flushed cheeks I am sitting on a Eurostar seat next to Francis. We are on our way over to London. I am feeling too excited to doze off. I’ve been to London several times before but this time it is really special – with capital S: We are on our way to the prestigious and glamourous Pentawards gala ceremony.

Tonight we are collecting our Gold award for Uphill Cold Brew Coffee in the grand Royal Opera House. Not something you do on a regular London city trip, right?

At DesignRepublic, we strongly believe in ‘Creativity that Sells’, meaning that we create designs that have strong commercial potential and appeal to a wide audience. In other words, we develop designs not for the sake of only ‘creating something special and remarkable’, but for making something that is also commercially strong and actually sells. When we got the news that we were selected for a Penta Gold award, we have proven our point that a commercial design is not only a winner for our clients but also for the wide creative industry! I feel so so very proud of our achievement.

Right, let’s go back to where I started… After a lovely lunch, we are moving further downtown London to visit interesting stores and places that are an inspirational source for future projects. I’ve always been intrigued by the UK and everything it has to offer.

All ignited by what we saw and discovered, we are heading back to our hotel rooms to get ready for the big event. And before I actually realized I was standing there high-heeled and all dressed up at the entry of the Opera House, with Francis in his tux by my side. Off we go for nothing less than gold!

Then the moment that DesignRepublic is being announced is drawing nearer and my heart starts pounding a bit faster. Being the center of attention is not really one the biggest goals I have in life to say the least. It mostly makes me feel somewhat uncomfortable but I manage to allow myself to surrender and to enjoy this extraordinary and memorable moment. And what a magical night it was!

A couple of hours later, waiting for the tube to take us back to our hotel, feeling all happy and satisfied, and trying to ignore my uncomfortable footwear, carrying 3 kilograms of DesignRepublic sheer golden glory under my arm.

The entire DesignRepublic team and I would like to thank Uphill, an amazing client that trusted its beautiful brand to us and offered us the opportunity to shine and to proof that commercial designs can be award-winners too.

We would also like to thank Delhaize, as we also received an honorary award for the private label Pasta design we did.

Thanks team DR for your support in art direction, brand naming and for your valuable input throughout the design process.

Happy holidays to you all!

Evelien