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BRAND LICENSING EUROPE KELVYN GARDNER LICENSE THIS!

22nd November 2021

The winners of the 2021 Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition were announced at Brand Licensing Europe this 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.

*Subject to contract

Judges:

Ian Downes, Director, Start Licensing (chair of the judges)
Phil King, Managing Director, Trademark Products Ltd
Sabrina Segalov, Senior International Licensing Manager, Sanrio Global Limited
Emily Aldridge, Head of Global Licensing, Abysse Corp
Dan Grant, Licensing Director, Danilo
Teri Niadna, Managing Director, Brandgenuity
Sarah Ward, Chief Executive, The Giftware Association
Clare Piggott, Managing Director, Larkshead Media
Billy Langsworthy, Co-Founder, Mojo Nation & Brands Untapped
Sarah Lawrence, Director, This is Iris
Jehane Boden Spiers, Founder, JEHANE Ltd
Karen Hewitt, Buying Director, Character.com
Dale Boreham, Senior Design Manager, Moonpig

The nine finalists were:

Brand & Design Category:
Pencil & TIE® are the best of friends who live in Shibuya, Tokyo. Pencil, a graphic designer, is never seen without his pencil. Tie is his one-footed, cheeky friend (and a tie).
Designer Mark creates onefold and witty stationery, which manifests itself in the (paper) product design and/or the illustration(s) used. With a lifelong passion for stationery, years of design experience for A-list brands and an attachment to Japanese culture, Pencil & TIE produces lovable and sustainable stationery products in its lab in the Netherlands.
Sophie Jonas-Hill and Tea for Tattoo, which brings together two great British passions - drinking tea and getting tattooed! 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. It’s distinctive because it carries Sophie’s unique hand drawn stamp, created by drawing separate parts of each image on tracing paper and then layering them together to create the look of glazed ceramic.
Aline Cervo – Aline Bea is a surface pattern designer, illustrator and digital nomad. Inspired by nature, simple things in life, and her own journey, she draws everything from flowers to buildings and abstract compositions. The stories embedded in her designs talk about bravery, courage, love and connection, about noticing the details, and abundance and presence. The beauty of being alive and enjoying every moment is what she expects to imprint on the world with her designs and products.
Character & Animation Category:
Els Morris – Els Doodles: Rosie Roars’ is an illustrated little one’s story book. Rosie is three and her favourite animal is a lion, she even wants to be one when she grows up. Her family helps her to discover different animals and she decides that being a ‘buzzy, hopping, rainbow roaring me’ is the perfect person to be. This book teaches little ones that it’s good to celebrate who we are, while learning about others along the way.
Stacy Moore - Eat Dirt: Eat Dirt is a series of humorous stories and poems for children aged 2-5 years old, designed to inspire a love of veggies, gardening, and outdoor play, served up with a big dose of pure silliness. It is rich with bright colour and pint-sized humour to help foster creativity, inspire movement, encourage play and garden activity, and stimulate little brains for healthy growth. The lovable main characters include Grumpy Bean and his seven vegetable friends, plus the Green Thumb Chums and Toad.
Joel Mercer – 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.

Joel said: “Unbeknownst to human eyes, there is a hidden world of little folk who guard and tend to our wildflowers and seeds. They are the SeedFolk, and this story follows adventures led by Yarrow, a courageous young wizard, and his dependable friend Buttercup, along with friends Mari and her little sister Gold, Clover and Bumble, the wise old Snowdrop, and the king’s daughter, Cornflower - as they set out to protect our native wildflowers.”