United By Design (From York Press)

United By Design

8:26am Tuesday 28th July 2009 in Search By Ron Godfrey

SALES for a specialist North Yorkshire drinks company have shot up by 26 per cent along with interest from major retailers thanks to an innovative rebranding exercise carried out by a young York-based design agency.

United By Design (UBD) was engaged a year ago by Sloe Motion, of Malton, which makes food and drink products from sloes. Its task: to bring a fresh new look to Sloe Motion’s offering.

The resulting design has contributed to a huge increase in Sloe Motion’s profile and popularity, with the company’s Sloe Gin now being stocked in a supermarket – Booths – for the first time, as well as the prestigious Selfridges store in London.

Now UBD, whose owner and creative director is Owen Turner, has designs on the Small Business Of The Year title in The Press Business Awards 2009.

Jonathan Curtoys, Sloe Motion’s managing director, said: “We have been delighted with the results UBD has achieved for us; indeed the new imagery was one of the reasons we won our first order with a major multiple retailer.”

Owen formed UBD in August 2007, after ten years honing his skills in established design agencies in Bristol and Leeds. He quickly moved from using his home as a base to setting up in a first-floor studio at St Paul’s Terrace in Holgate.

From there he taps into an extensive network of talented people in specialties ranging from illustration, marketing and photography to website development, printing and packaging.

Clients so far have included the Advertising Standards Authority, SiteClick, Berwin & Berwin, York Conferences and York St John University.

Owen said: “It’s not just about creating something that looks good, but also about focusing on the needs and wants of the company to create a proactive brand strategy that will deliver the required results.”

UBD has now enrolled in the Designing Demand programme run by the Design Council and Business Link Yorkshire, which aims to promote the positive effects good design can have on business.

Owen also recently received a major personal accolade; after undergoing a formal assessment he was granted membership of the Chartered Society of Designers.