Whilst visiting London it had been organized that we would split into groups to attend different design companies. Our group were asked to take a visit to Jones Knowles Ritchie who are the biggest branding and packaging specialists in the UK. JKR have many big brand clients including Molton brown, J20, Drench water, Birdseye, Guiness and many more.
JKR was created 20 years ago and has continued to thrive. There are currently 85 members of staff working in the company. When arriving at the studio we were escorted to a meeting room where we would have a small chat with the Creative directors and we would be given a small presentation by Lewis Jones. Lewis told us he has a huge love for packaging because he feels that this type of design is out there and you are delivering the product. Lewis believes that the heartland of packaging starts in the supermarket in which he finds fascinating. He believes the point of packaging is that people take notice, buy and buy again. Lewis discussed his opinion that he thinks you need to sell the brand and not the product. Lewis beleives that much design today tends to be copied rather than being different which then leads the to the idea that there is just alot of 'stuff' being produced.
Being told that one of there brands took 2 yrs to be shelved I then decided to ask Donna (CD) how they make sure their designs don't date. Donna believes that 'pretty' design tends to date much quicker and that JKR are are more about the idea. It is thought that Molton Brown is now a multimillion pound brand due to their re brand by JKR. It is also said that j20 is also now another multi million pound business.
Visiting JKR I was extremely impressed. The studio was huge and it felt like a great environment to work in. We were lucky enough to be shown around the studio by Donna who also explained what a few of the staff were employed to do. Donna also mentioned that JKR holds a placement scheme. This would be something I would very much like to do in the near future.
visit: http://www.jkr.co.uk/
