Last Friday saw nine finalists battle it out at BLE, which took place at Excel, to win one of three Kelvyn Gardner License This! awards. 

Character & Animation winner Joel Mercer, of SeedFolk

The winners of the 2021 Kelvyn Gardner License This! competition were announced at Brand Licensing Europe on Friday, after nine finalists took part in three pitches that the organisers said were full of creativity, inspiration, laughter and emotion.

The winners are:

• Brand & Design: Sophie Jonas-Hill and Tea for Tattoo
• Character & Animation: Joel Mercer of SeedFolk
• Product Design (in partnership with Mojo Nation): Wayne Lindsay of 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.

Meanwhile, 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.

In the final Product Design category, which was new for this year, 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.

Ian Downes, chair of the judges and director of Start Licensing, said he had enjoyed the presentations in 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.”

Turning to the Product Design category presentations, he revealed: “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 from 30th November – 1st December.

Brand Licensing Europe will return in 2022 from 20th-22nd September at Excel London.