Founded in Carlisle in 1831, Carr’s biscuits have established their place on many a British cheese board. As the brand expanded, the blue packaging became increasingly difficult to navigate therefore we needed to differentiate the ranges, injecting a sense of personality into each.

With this in mind, the new design aims to give the brand a more contemporary feel, while building awareness around the brand’s wide array of products. From the classic Table Water biscuits to Carr’s Melts, there is now a more defined design architecture to help consumers navigate the range while giving the brand a greater sociable feel.

“The main ambition was to build conviviality and make the brand more relevant to a modern audience, while staying true to Carr’s long established heritage. Colour was a key tool which we adopted to help navigation and inject some more personality into this well known brand.” Donna Trist, Design Director, jkr.

Accompanying the relaunch, the Carr’s Christmas tin was also updated with a fresh new look…

To celebrate this exciting heritage, Erno Laszlo is launching the Hollywood Collection for its 85th anniversary. The packaging, designed by jkr, contain 5 custom formulated  skincare blends inspired by  Erno Laszlo’s most famous and iconic Hollywood muses – Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo and Ava Gardner.

“In terms of the design, the ambition was to evoke the glamour of 1940′s Hollywood, without using traditional clichés. We wanted the Collection to reflect the great legends at the heart of the brand while amplifying Erno Laszlo’s existing equities” Adam Swan, Designer, jkr.

The display aspect was also a key consideration in this project with the creation of a unique unit to house the product. “The ‘wave’ display was inspired by the sweeping red carpet, in keeping with the Hollywood stars who were devotees of the products” Chris Jenkins, Structural Designer, jkr.

According to the team at Erno Laszlo, “We’re delighted with the design solution by jkr. It builds on our unique heritage of Hollywood glamour in a contemporary and sophisticated way.”

The Hollywood Collection will be launching globally this month in department stores. The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive with the highest sell-in at retail for a special edition achieved.

What makes a champion of design? The latest jkr book attempts to answer this question by focusing on 25 brands; some famous, some less obvious, but all great. It’s a book about design, but also the people who create and manage it – the champions who can teach us all a lesson. Full of facts, trivia and insight, all served up in bite sized slices.

Here’s what you will find if you take a look inside…

You can view the book online (above). Alternatively, you can download your very own copy by clicking on the link here. If you’re lucky enough to be viewing it on an iPad, we recommend using iBooks.

This November, we were very proud to be awarded a Marketing Design Award for our 2010 Penhaligon’s Christmas gift collection. Briefed to deliver ‘eccentric, English, decadence’, the gift sets returned an impressive 8-fold ROI with overall sales up 38% (despite last year’s heavy snow on the busiest shopping weekend before Christmas!).

According to the judges, “The brand heritage came through the design brilliantly and there are some outstanding ROI figures” Danny Homan, Communications & Development Director, Historical Royal Palaces.

In the words of Penhaligon’s Store Manager, “As a brand, we like to push the boundaries and the gift boxes really reflected that. They were Penhaligon’s down to a tee!”

“We’re really proud of our Marketing Design Award for the 2010 Christmas Collection. It was a real team effort and the product of a great partnership between jkr and our enthusiastic and inspiring team at Penhaligon’s. A good reminder that you get out what you put in!” Jovan Buac, Account Director, jkr.

And here’s another look at this year’s Christmas gift boxes, which are in stores now. You can read more about them here.

Finally, a big well done to Wall’s & Swan for receiving highly commended status.

About 18 months ago, a former jkr contact asked if we could help out with a voluntary redesign project in Sierra Leone. Happy to help, a team of jkr volunteers started working on a new design for baby food company, Bennimix.

The challenge was to create a new look for the brand which was struggling to hold its own against imported competitors. “When it came to the design, retaining the elements which made the brand recognisable was key, but we wanted to give them meaning and make them actually stand for something. As such, the blue became the sky and the green became the grass. The baby then brought all elements of the design together.” Martin Francis, Design Director, jkr. “We also looked at the use of different materials utilising a metallised substrate to help elevate the product into a more premium arena, by clever use of the inks available.” Giles Heselwood, Artworker, jkr.

The tired look of the original packaging was struggling to support the nutritional nature of the product. As a result, creating a distinctive design that established Bennimix as a credible brand was fundamental to try and ensure its future success. The benefits of which are far reaching; not only will it help the family-run Bennimix company, it’s 100% made in Sierra Leone so supports local farmers and families too.

So well done Martin, Giles, Alex, Stuart & Nick for taking the time to help, making Bennimix a proud new arrival.

This week sees the launch of the 2011 Penhaligon’s Christmas Gift Collection, designed by jkr.

The range conveys the premium elegance associated with the Penhaligon’s brand whilst playing on its wit and humor. “Our brief to jkr was to create a box that would both charm the customer with some British eccentricity whilst ensuring it felt like a bespoke gift” said Sarah Rotheram, CEO, Penhaligon’s. “The box needed to be a keepsake item with standalone appeal. At first glance the packaging was to appear beautiful but with a reason to look a little closer.”

“We landed on the theme of Hidden London” said Jovan Buac, Account Director, jkr. “This felt rich in creativity and we explored this idea through a number of different avenues. The idea of life behind closed doors in Victorian London allowed us to express the Penhaligon’s wit and eccentricity in an engaging way that came from the brand” added Buac. The range depicts a Victorian household, with three box sizes that stack to create a six storey house. “The design delivers the madness one would expect from a bonkers British household, with all the hustle and bustle of life in the decadent surroundings of a Victorian home” said Sarah Rotheram, CEO, Penhaligon’s.

As always, the Penhaligon’s Christmas packaging should have a festive appeal but without direct references to Christmas clichés. “The boxes are a visual treat and take inspiration from Victorian dolls’ houses, as well as Victorian architecture and dress” said Matt Gilpin, Design Director, jkr. “The front of the house is based on the Penhaligon’s shop front in Covent Garden, London, giving the design more depth and meaning. The illustrative style hides a variety of different scenes which leave you constantly searching for more hidden goings on”. The brief also included the structural design, meaning the aesthetic needed to balance with the safe transportation of breakable goods. The historical hat box with carry handle idea was continued this year, with grosgrain two-tone ribbons to match the graphics.

“The boxes needed to look clean and crisp to counteract the detailed illustrations. We used a metallised paper stock with a satin finish, which gave a shimmer to the boxes. The use of punchy colours and heavy gold foiling on the front created a box with real gift appeal” said Judith Allan, Production Director, jkr.

Sarah Rotheram, CEO, Penhaligon’s said “We are delighted with the final collection and personally, I find more hidden stories in the design every time I pick up the packaging!”

The collection of eight boxes will be available in Penhaligon’s stores and select retailers this Christmas, priced between £35 and £110.

After 14 years, Boddingtons has been given a fresh new look. The new packaging is designed to build on the existing equities and give Boddingtons a new level of standout. “The challenge for us was to attract a new younger audience, whilst keeping the unique character that existing consumers remember with such affection. It was vital that the new design was not retrospective, but felt modern and relevant.” Georgina Leigh-Pemberton, Account Director, jkr.

The Boddingtons brand has a history of confidence and irreverence, which has enabled it to defy the category norms and be a bit different.

“Boddingtons was a joy to work with, the bold timeless graphics were a gift for keeping the brand contemporary. The ‘Odd’ secondary packaging had done fantastically well but we needed to freshen it up. Humour has always been part of the Boddingtons brand and we came up with a more witty design using the Boddingtons bees (a symbol of Manchester’s hive of industry) to create the drop shadow of the B. The use of the big bold B really has great impact in store and using this as a shelf block for the secondaries will hopefully make the brand stand out even more.” Sean Harvey, Design Director, jkr.

“We are delighted with the new Boddingtons design – it captures Boddingtons’ unique personality perfectly. We were keen to modernise the design, but in doing so it was important that we kept the distinctive colours and didn’t lose any of the brand’s rich heritage.” Jo Allan, Boddingtons Brand Team, AB InBev.

The cans and secondaries are instore now.

The best scents tell a story, capturing a memory or a moment in time. This is true of the new Penhaligon’s fragrance Juniper Sling, which launches this month with packaging designed by jkr.

“Juniper Sling is a very exciting concept. The fragrance is inspired by the botanical ingredients within London Dry Gin” explained Sarah Rotheram, CEO, Penhaligon’s. “We look to create fragrances that have a very British beat to them, and Gin is very much a part of the history of London. To create this fragrance, we have had the pleasure of working with an icon within the fragrance industry, the perfumer Oliver Cresp”.

“The brief was very clear on the mood and emotion we wanted Juniper Sling to conjure up from a design point of view” said Jovan Buac, Account Director, jkr. “It’s about gin cocktails in the 1920’s, bright young things and art deco nuances.” As always, Penhaligon’s aims to play on its heritage but with a nod to the modern. “The design aims to deliver simple elegance with patterns inspired by 1920′s architecture but shown in a very subtle way through the use of silver foils on the box” said Liz Stannard, Designer, jkr.

With a newly designed over-sized box structure and metal bow-tie, jkr strived to add more weight and luxury to Juniper Sling, whilst still ensuring it fitted with the rest of the Penhaligon’s range.

“This design is all about tactility and layering, but with simplicity at the heart of the design. The paper stock is tactile whilst the use of silver foils and varnishes helps create a luxurious feel” said Judith Allan, Production Director, jkr.

“The use of real metal features on the bottle & box was key. This aspect of the design was inspired by classic decanter labels and helped provide authenticity while building on the gin story at the heart of the fragrance” said Liz Stannard, Designer, jkr. “Of course, producing these labels was technically challenging, but the result is superb” added Judith Allan, Production Director, jkr.

“We are delighted with the final packaging, the bottle sparkles, the presentation has the fizz that one associates with Gin, and it manages to feel decadent, without relying on all of the clichés of the 1920’s. We have a truly unique fragrance, brimming with unusual and fine ingredients, a strange olfactive tale of Gin; the packaging continues this story, subtly hinting at the Gin inspiration, whilst at all time staying very true to the brand” Sarah Rotheram, CEO, Penhaligon’s.

Budweiser recently unveiled new packaging designs, and jkr was thrilled to be part of the team.

AB InBev Vice President of Brands, Frank Abenante says: “This new visual identity is one of many steps in our quest to reinforce Budweiser’s role as a true global beer brand. Together with our unifying global creative idea, the new global packaging look and feel will reinforce Budweiser’s bond with consumers around the world.”

Which was pretty much the brief! Both can and boxes have placed more emphasis on the brand’s famous bow tie device, while also utilising Budweiser’s wealth of other iconography, such as their famous creed – its pledge of quality. It is the first time the core can has featured the bow tie so prominently, but clearly this is a brand where the design task had to marry a respect for the brand’s graphical past with an ambition to keep it relevant in the here and now. “Our intent was to find a design that was very powerful and positive for both old and new Budweiser drinkers” as Rob McCarthy, vice president of Budweiser explains it.

From a jkr perspective, we always knew the re-design for Budweiser’s packaging was going to be a big deal. It’s a top class brand and as such, a privilege to work upon.

Earlier this summer, Budweiser introduced a limited edition can for the Fourth of July, also designed by jkr. The patriotic can proved to be a hit with the online community, and on-shelf. This was the first can design to feature the prominent bow tie, and saw a lift in sales according to Advertising Age.

Keep your eyes peeled for the launch of new look Müller packaging, designed to put Müller at the heart of every product.

The new packaging is designed to create a strong master brand and facilitate a ‘brand block’ in store. Blue was chosen as the signature colour as it helps facilitate standout and premium qualities, while complementing the fruit shown on pack for maximum taste appeal.

“We wanted Müller to be synonymous with great yoghurt without having to literally show it on pack. We’re really proud of how we’ve achieved the brand block but not at the expense of the individual ranges” says Sean Thomas, Design Director, jkr.

With the yoghurt aisle being notoriously difficult to navigate, the new look hopes to build standout in-store while making consumers aware of the wide range of Müller products available.

Lorna MacLennan, Account Director, jkr says, “By moving away from a category approach and establishing Müller as the beacon brand, we will create a real focal point in the dairy fixture. The new design re-establishes Müller’s rightful place as the proud brand leader.”

With new variants and recipes launching too, grab a spoon and try it today!