Ten years ago, when Mike and I decided to setup Bluegg we did a lot of research and spoke to a lot of people, just to make sure it was a good idea. We returned to uni to seek advice from our lecturers who said we’d drive ourselves mad by 40 (that might still happen!) and we spoke to family and friends who all offered their own unique brand of advice. We also spoke to a couple of people who had already done it. The consensus was it was a good idea and we would probably be a good fit for each other.

Back then we loved the work being done by large London agencies like Johnson Banks and Turner Duckworth (we still do), and we had the great fortune to make contact with Karen Welman, one of the founding partners of Pearlfisher.

Pearlfisher are without doubt one of the top branding and packaging agencies in the world. They have won over 200 international awards for design and they currently sit 2nd on the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards table.

They now have studios in London and New York and employ 80+ staff.

Cadbury Dairy Milk packaging by Pearlfisher

A few months after starting our first jobs, Mike and I packed our notepads and pens and travelled to London. We rang the big brass bell and wiped our feet on the Pearlfisher branded welcome mat. We were welcomed by a receptionist who lead us upstairs, where we sat on bright orange designer chairs and waited. There were glass partitions breaking up the studio and we could see people typing, clicking, drawing, cutting, spray mounting, chatting and generally having a brilliantly creative time. Yes, this was a proper design agency.

After a short wait, a smiley, bubbly, but professional lady introduced herself as Karen, one of the founders. Together we entered a bright, white meeting room with white walls, a white table and white chairs. On the walls were white shelves sparsely adorned with bottles of Absolut Vodka, Innocent Smoothies and beers, bars and boxes of Green & Blacks chocolate and other random, but beautifully designed pieces of packaging. All designed by Pearlfisher.

This Water branding and packaging by Pearlfisher

We talked for a while about our vision for Bluegg and what we wanted to achieve, but mostly we just sat and listened. We listened to story after story about clients, projects, pitches and design. She spoke honestly and frankly about design and her views. She looked at our business cards and immediately told us to change our job titles (for some reason we had decided on “Creative Manager” and “Business Manager” – we were just a couple of upstarts after all). She told us to be confident in our service and skills. Not to be intimidated by clients, and to learn as much as we needed, to make sure we’d have control of any conversation about design.

She told us about their views on free pitching and free exclusivity, and their ethical take on design. One of the many stories she told was about how they decided to turned down the opportunity of working with McDonalds because they didn’t believe the product – A pretty big decision for any agency to make.

She also talked at length about the culture of the company. About how they treat their team and their clients. We learned a lot about how to be personable and make an impression with our clients from that. We also learned a lot about how important the culture within an agency (in fact, any company) is, and a little about how to achieve it.

We were buzzing as we left. I felt like I gained more in those few hours than I ever have reading a book about design or business. I remember we were pretty quiet as we trundled down the M4 in Mike’s mother-in-law’s Toyota Carina, going over in our minds what we had talked about with Karen, making sure it stuck.

Although we haven’t directly and exactly tried to replicate what Pearlfisher is or does, and we’ve formed our own views and opinions, I’m sure that meeting has had an impact on the company we run today.

Yeo Valley packaging design by Pearlfisher

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I heard that Karen would be speaking at the Arnolfini in Bristol, an event set up by the West of England Design Forum. She was going to be speaking about the work of Pearlfisher and their culture. Without reading any more I booked tickets for myself and Gareth to go.

It was brilliant. Arnolfini is a great venue if you’ve never been. A lovely open bar serving local brews and delicacies. It was packed too. Around 140 people had turned up to watch as Karen spoke about their work and the business.

She spoke candidly and openly about the tough times they’d been through, which I could identify with, and also their growth and expansion into the US. She spoke at length about the internal workings at Pearlfisher, and the deeply embedded culture of fun, hard work and creativity. She showed examples of their christmas cards/videos (something we clearly have in common – here and here).

Another part of the talk that struck a nerve was the way she talked about the ‘Pearlfisher experience’. One example of this was a pitch they did for Coca Cola, where they anonymously sent the marketing manager pictures of people wearing t-shirts with her name on, taken next to famous monuments all over the world. As she explained, it wasn’t really connected to the work they were pitching for, but it almost drove her crazy and she was desperate to know who was behind it. They got the job.

So I now sit here, all enthused once again, having listened for a second time to someone who clearly knows her stuff about running a design agency. If you’re thinking of setting up an agency, I really urge you – do whatever you can to get an hour with someone who has done it. Send them stuff, phone them, tweet them, massage their ego, do whatever it takes. You’ll learn a lot.

Find out more about Pearlfisher and to view their wonderful work visit www.pearlfisher.com. If you’ve had a similar experience, let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

Just to be clear, all the work on this page is by Pearlfisher. We take no credit.

— Tom Lloyd

A while ago we were approached by north Wales based Forte’s Ice Cream to help them create a new brand and to modernise an ageing design style. It’s taken a while to get it all done but this week we finally launched their small website, so we thought it was high time we showed it off to the world!

Old and new ice cream pot packaging design

The story of Forte’s Ice Cream starts off in 1926 deep in the mountains between Rome and Naples and leads all the way to north Wales where they now reside. Passed down through the generations, the company has become locally renowned for producing seriously-tasty-multi-award-winning ice cream and sorbets.

We developed a new identity which wasn’t ultra modern or high tech, but added a freshness and renewed a traditional brand. This new identity was the starting point for the new pot design, which did away with the overcrowded and confused look of the old pot and added a burst of colour using photography and personality through the new tone of voice. This tone of voice was a key part of sharing the Forte’s story, it had to be friendly, punchy and engaging.

We helped Forte’s develop a tone of voice too

The initial branding and packaging project was done a while ago, but we’ve only recently been working on the simple, but still lovely website.

Key to the success of the website was to show the history and heritage of the company as well as their renewed brand and vision – and all the delicious ice cream of course. Using a mix of some classic old pictures of the founding family, mixed with a clean and uncluttered design we made sure the website was a nostalgic reflection as well as a look into the future.

Be sure to check out the website www.fortesicecream.co.uk and if you’re in the north Wales area, make sure you pop into Forte’s Restaurant and sample some of the best ice cream around. We can highly recommend the Pistachio. And the Rum and Raisin. Oh and don’t forget the Rocky Road. And the Mochachino. But we can’t leave out Lemon & Lime Cheesecake. And last but not least Honeycomb Vanilla. And Rhubarb & Custard. You get the idea!

Bluegg are proud to announce that we have won the Cardiff Design Festival award for best packaging design for our work on Subzero Ice Cream.

Back in September we submitted our design work for the Welsh ice cream makers (formally Mr Creemy) for inclusion in the biggest design awards in Wales. On the 15th of October our Creative Director Tom, along with Paul, Liam, Gareth and Annemarie attended the ‘Shine a Light’ awards party, with aspirations of food and much wine! We had the pleasure of sharing our table with some lovely and very loud people from the BBC who promised to support us during the evening.

Glenn Tutssel, Creative Director of world renowned agency Brand Union, who was one of the judges took to the stage to announce the winners, and when the nominations for our category were announced (food and drink packaging design) there was much loud whooping and hollering from our new friends. With the words “Thank god, we would have got lynched” Glenn announced that the winners were Bluegg!

What a great feeling, made even better by the torrent of noise reverberating from our table. We’re really proud to have won. We were up against some stiff competition and the quality of the judging panel was world class. Thanks to everyone who supported us on the online poll and to the Cardiff Design Festival for a great night. Take a look at the Subzero Ice Cream project here ›

Well it’s been a long time coming, but we’ve finally added the Sub Zero Ice Cream branding project to our work section! We’ve been hanging on so we could include the website which has just been launched. Here’s a few pics:

We’re also the proud owners of best packaging design award from the Cardiff Design Festival for our work on the Subzero Ice Cream tubs. Read more about the award on our blog »

Plus screen shots from the new website we’ve just finshed! Enjoy.
View the project in our work section »