In a "very competitive year" for the Transform Awards – with a record number of entries – IE had high hopes but modest expectations for the pan-European branding awards.

There was little time for nerves, with the first two of our categories up straight out of the gate, and we were thrilled to bag a HIGHLY COMMENDED for the University of Reading. This was immediately followed by GOLD for ‘Best Brand Architecture Solution’ for IE’s Cranfield University rebrand. No strangers to the podium, Ollie Leggett, IE’s MD and Brand Consultant and Pascaline Piot, Senior Designer, collected the award from Russell Kane, comedian and awards host.

There then followed a long wait through 20 other category award winners – not to mention main course, dessert and several glasses of bubbly – to hear the result of our third shortlisted category. Finally, the moment of truth arrived and we were overjoyed to add a second GOLD, this time for a sector-wide award ‘Best Visual Identity from the Education Sector’ for IE’s University of Reading Careers rebrand. 

Cranfield University: Gold for ‘Best Brand Architecture Solution’

Over 70 years, Cranfield have created scores of disparate sub-brands. IE’s rebrand of Cranfield University and Cranfield School of Management delivered a new framework to rationalise and unify the university’s brands around eight industry facing themes, including aerospace, energy and water.

The rebrand beat the iconic British racecourse Ascot into silver place – by a length – and was commended by Transform Awards Europe Judges for “taking on a huge challenge and executing the goal with aplomb, as well as the strong strategy and smooth implementation".

University of Reading: Gold for ‘Best Visual Identity from the Education Sector’

IE Brand’s work rebranding University of Reading’s Careers Service won the prestigious sector award for “Best Visual Identity in Education”, beating off strong competition to share the top spot with global learning company Pearson. Joining Ollie and Pascaline on stage to collect the trophy was Angela Davies, Information & Events Manager at University of Reading Careers.

With UK universities vying for graduate employability rankings, Reading commissioned IE Brand to help them cut through the noise of campus life by combining an arresting tone with whimsical illustrations.

The Transform Awards Europe judges praised the brand’s "strong visuals, creative approach and impressive results coupled with a harmony between graphical and textual elements." The project was also Highly Commended for “Best Use of a Visual Property”. This win consolidates IE's three previous award wins for careers service rebrands for IE’s work with the Universities of Birmingham, Warwick and Aston.

And your Gold

Sadly we can’t guarantee a pan-European award to every client, but we can promise access to IE’s multi-award winning team, and a unique brand consultancy process that has consistently generated hundreds of high impact, behaviour shaping brands over the past quarter of a century.

If you’d like to add your name to the list, set the award ball rolling by giving us a call.