Equator Design

16/12/2019

What's trending in the Australian food and drinks marketplace? We've investigated what’s on the rise in the FMCG sector. Read our latest blog now: https://bit.ly/38Hsveh

22/11/2019

Each autumn, we send some of our Senior Creatives team to London on a Christmas retail research mission to seek out the emerging trends that will influence seasonal designs for the following year. Find out what they discovered on our latest blog post: https://bit.ly/2pLuFbo

Becoming chief detectives who collect trends and ideas every time we hit the high street is secon

04/11/2019

Last week, our team in Nottingham celebrated Halloween with a fancy dress competition.

Congratulations to Ben, who came in 1st place with his Spirited Away ‘No face’ costume!

17/10/2019

Back-to-school is big business in the retail sphere. How can retailers deliver on consumer needs and deliver value for parents? https://bit.ly/2OSLOd8

11/10/2019

We're really pleased to share our latest food photography project with Devour Foods. See the project in full at our website: https://bit.ly/2IFqxA0

09/10/2019

This week on our blog, we're reflecting on the unique Equator Design model and how we're reaching further into national brand territory. Read now: https://bit.ly/35mbLry

Ed Holden reflects on the qualities of our unique business model and how its attributes a

04/10/2019

We caught up with Alysha from our Chicago studio on her role, the best project she has worked on, and her favorite Chicago hang out. Read the blog now: https://bit.ly/31WPxKJ

20/09/2019

2019 marks the 21st anniversary of Equator and to honour the occasion our Manchester creatives have created a collection of bespoke foil cards. Check out our latest blog post to see the results: https://bit.ly/2kUUXW8

13/09/2019

We caught up with new senior creative director, Ted Monnin, on what it takes to be a successful creative director in the fast-paced world of packaging design, what’s driving the market today, as well as where the Cincinnati team will be heading from here. Read now: https://bit.ly/2kg6sah

12/09/2019

Predicting color trends and translating them to packaging design involves examining a range of disciplines and historical trends - as well as that unquantifiable ingredient: instinct. We're excited to be featured on Packaging World where our senior creative & strategy director Howard has been discussing color trends:

Predicting color trends and translating them to package design involves examining a range of disciplines and historical trends—as well as that...

05/09/2019

Hooked on a feeling - This week on our blog, group creative director Michael Duffy is talking about why tapping into consumers' emotions is essential for growth. Read now:

Packaging that triggers “excitement” is just the start, considering what we know about brand psy

28/08/2019

The connection between scent and memory is undeniable. If you could define a distinctive, pleasant smell which triggers a personally significant memory or experience, what would that aroma look like bottled and packaged?

This question was posed to the design team at Equator’s Nottingham studio, and our designers got to work on creating their fragrance that tells their personal story. Read about our latest challenge on the blog now:

27/08/2019

Which emerging packaging trends and brand strategies proved to be a big deal over Valentine's Day and Easter 2019? Read our latest insightful audit on our blog: https://bit.ly/346ciwX

15/08/2019

Equator's global creative director, Michael Duffy, explains how graphic design impacts the unconscious mind on Brandingmag. Read now:

The mind works in complex ways when we encounter a new product. How would you describe great packaging design?

14/08/2019

How are products and packaging being adapted to suit today's lifestyles? In our latest blog post, Jennifer from our Chicago studio has explored what our 'grab-and-go' lives mean for packaging. Read now: https://bit.ly/2KLaKQb

13/08/2019

We are really pleased to have been shortlisted for the UK Packaging Awards, for both Design Team of the Year, and Branding Project of the Year for our work with Co-op and their Irresistible Carménère!

After much deliberation, and from an impressive array of entries, the finalists for the UK Packaging Awards 2019 are announced.

26/07/2019

Alison from our Manchester studio visited the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. Here are her thoughts on the day:

25/06/2019

Our Cincinnati studio is celebrating its first anniversary. We caught up with Phil as he reflects on the last 12 months:

Phil Jones, VP of Client Engagement & Operations based at Equator’s Cincinnati studio, refle

13/06/2019

We’re sending our clients into the 3rd dimension. We caught up with Carl who explained why 3D renders are so beneficial in packaging design: https://bit.ly/2RamheA

16/05/2019

We crafted a two-part blog on sustainability and it’s been covered in Packaging World magazine.
We couldn’t be more thrilled and we credit our Senior Creative & Strategy Director Howard Wright and our hugely talented designer Charlotte with helping us land the piece by creating these beautiful renders. You can read more here: https://tinyurl.com/y595g8ge

10/05/2019

We wanted to share with you the six Vertex Awards we landed at this year’s Velocity conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

All of the award-winning designs harnessed originality to communicate authentic provenance and premium quality with the aim of garnering more onshelf standout within their respective ranges. The final outcome demonstrated the culmination of industry-leading market insights as well as the outstanding illustration, design and photography innovation Equator Design has become known for globally.

As the biggest and broadest international design competition of its type, Vertex recognises excellence among top creative professionals, with a focus on own brands. Equator’s Vertex sweep represents recognition on an international scale with Gold wins across each of its global markets – a truly incredible feat.

07/05/2019

At Equator Design, we’re celebrating our 21st birthday and International Packaging Day, with our limited release 21st Thirst gin packaging. From our humble roots in Manchester, city of the worker bee, we expanded to Nottingham, the land of Robin Hood, and then to Dublin with its rich Celtic heritage. Finally, crossing the Atlantic to Chicago, with its flag of four stars, Sydney with its majestic opera house, and ending our global journey stateside in Cincinnati, the Queen City. Six offices, all under one roof, seamlessly collaborating from concept right through to completion. Delivering work that is refreshingly crisp with creativity at the core and always served with a twist—just like the cocktails we mixed with our very own gin. Crafted in England. Coming of age in America. Thirsty for the future.

02/05/2019

Feeling parched? We’re kicking off a major celebration sure to quench your thirst for packaging design brilliance. All will be revealed on 7th May, aka National Packaging Design Day, so watch this space!

30/04/2019

As Emperor Akihito steps down from the Japanese throne today well wishes are being sent from all around the world to congratulate the 85-year-old on his 30-year reign. To mark the monarch’s graceful departure from his duties, Equator’s Manchester team led by Martin Orme created a striking image, paying tribute to Japan’s artistic and literary achievements, from centuries past to their continued influence on global design, art and photography today.

The hand-drawn artwork speaks to the beauty and fluidity of Japanese art, from its sumi-e black ink brush stroke calligraphy and hand-illustrated epic scrolls to the wood-block prints that changed the face of Western art, particularly the Ukiyo-e masters such as Hokusai and Hiroshige.

Accompanying the artwork is a noodle bowl recipe, courtesy of home economist that is sure to get your mouth watering, featuring chicken, enoki mushrooms, nori (dark green seaweed) and spinach – not to mention soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chilli and spices for plenty of kick.

18/04/2019

We hosted three competition winners as part of our client's Co-op Food “Kids Design an Egg Box” competition. The talented trio spent some time on-set with us and learnt how to photograph their winning design. We guided them on lighting, prop selection and set creation; with Dawn and Tom on-hand to offer handy tips and hacks to land the best possible shot! A truly egg-cellent day was had by all!

12/04/2019

What does it take to create award-winning product packaging? Inspiration, innovation, and most of all… a sense of fun! These were the keys to our success in this year’s GDUSA Awards, and we are delighted to announce that Equator has come away with two nods in the prestigious competition....read more about the accolades in our latest blog! Happy Fri-yay!!

https://bit.ly/2UTc1Ma

04/04/2019

The ready meals redesign we undertook for Co-op Food is now live on our website. Find out more about the brief and how we responded here: https://bit.ly/2HZrVyF

15/03/2019

Check out this delicious recipe to celebrate St Patrick's Day in true Irish style - Beef and Guinness Spinach Swirl Pie.

The recipe was conceived by Olivia Gartley () who also baked and styled the creation. Directed and shot by Stew Bimson and co-directed by Stephen Reilly in our Manchester studio, it’s a fantastic ode to the Emerald Isle and would make a superb centrepiece for Paddy’s Day frivolity! Enjoy!

14/03/2019

Happy Pi Day All!

In case you didn't know, Pi (Greek letter “ π ”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.

Our Chicago studio has hijacked the celebration of this feat of mathematics with a delicious prosciutto and arugula pizza topped with a soft boiled egg.

What better way to celebrate all things circular?

07/03/2019

On March 2nd two of our incredible team - Conner Ahnen and Alysha Balog completed the 14th Annual Chiditarod, benefiting the Greater Chicago Food depository. With Equator’s help their team collected over 160lbs of food and over $500 to help fight hunger in Chicago. This event is part race, part bar crawl, part costume contest and all for a good cause. They traversed across 5 miles of western neighborhoods, and managed to come in 5th place over all! Well done team!