Member News
Newcastle-based strategic brand communications agency, Gardiner Richardson, has won silver at the international DBA Design Effectiveness Awards for its brand and communications work to help drive footfall to the historic Grainger Market in Newcastle City Centre.
Established in 1989, the DBA awards demonstrate and prove the effectiveness and impact of design work. They are widely known as the benchmark for measuring the commercial value of design with a focus on recognising work that delivers measurable results for businesses and communities.
Newcastle City Council, which owns and operates the market, appointed Gardiner Richardson to refresh the market’s brand as part of a wider programme of UK government funded work to restore this beloved icon to its former glory, increase footfall and attract new traders.
Darren Richardson, creative director at Gardiner Richardson, said: “At the heart of our strategy was a simple guiding idea ‘Wander and wonder in every alley and arcade’ and a strong brand character, the ‘Geordie hero’. A play on words, the guiding idea evokes a ‘wander’ through the market’s maze-like alleys and the ‘wonder’ of discovering the extraordinary every day. It’s also a return to the market’s turn-of-the-century ‘age of wonder’ glory days. This was to drive excitement, ramp up the ‘maze-like adventure’ visitors can enjoy while meandering the historic alleyways. Not gentrified, not generic; strongly rooted in Newcastle and the North East.
“The new brand positioning and identity had to be authentic to the history and community of the market, while appealing to new traders, customers and creating a wider buzz in the city and region. The identity needed to work for all: the generations of long-standing traders and the new ones, the foodies, the eco shoppers and the canny customers looking for a deal.
“The design was born from the architecture of the market – a palette inspired by colours found in the market and the city’s architecture and a bespoke font based on the floor plan of the market.”
Cllr Abdul Samad, Cabinet Member for Culture, Music and Arts at Newcastle City Council, said: “What a fantastic achievement for Gardiner Richardson. On behalf of Newcastle City Council, I would like to congratulate them on winning silver in such a prestigious international award for design.
“It is so important to the council that we have a local company leading on this work for the city’s much loved Grainger Market, and Gardiner Richardson’s vision and enthusiasm fitted the bill perfectly.
“Their work to achieve a new brand for the market has been second to none and central to the repositioning of the market as a destination for the future whilst still preserving its heritage and place in local people’s hearts.”
At almost 200 years old, the Grainger Market is a very special place in the heart of central Newcastle. Owned and operated by Newcastle City Council, Grainger is a historic covered market which continues to play a pivotal role in retail and dining culture.
Constructed as part of the city's redevelopment by architect Richard Grainger in the 1830s, Grainger Market first opened in 1835 and is one of the few market halls in the UK that remain in use for its original purpose. It is a Grade I Listed Market which retains the same architecture, details and nuances created by the original architect, John Dobson.
Home to local traders and small businesses from Newcastle and the wider North East region, Grainger Market has provided a base for traders such as cobblers, florists, jewellers, haberdasheries, bakeries, high-quality butchers, fishmongers and greengrocers.
