JKR

T. G. Green and Co, original makers of “Cornishware” crockery have been rescued from receivership by an entrepreneurial devotee of the product. The brand actually originated in Derbyshire, but was so named as the distinctive blue and white stripes called to mind for one employee the white tipped waves of Cornwall – an inspired choice of name. But despite the predictable claim to be iconic, the new owners are presented with a problem – outside of crockery connoisseurs, surely the platter is so easy to imitate that it must now be a rather generic product.

However, the re-launch makes little attempt to “do a mini” and update the brand’s image. Rather it is re-presenting the classic designs in straightforward as you like packaging (“useful for keeping cufflinks in”) with the original hallmark well placed to the fore. In other words, by changing as little as possible, the re-launch makes a good first of tugging on the purse strings by appealing to our inner snobs. The humble hallmark is often underrated in our more marketing savvy days of “mindshare” and “brand architectures”, but here is proof that sometimes the most convincing re-designs do as little as humanly possible…