2024 Winner

Rethink collaborated with the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) to craft a brand identity for its RGD Branding Awards, which are aimed at celebrating global excellence in branding and design. The challenge was to attract international design judges and encourage submissions from design studios worldwide. Inspired by the registered trademark symbol, the team developed a custom typeface – Registered Grotesk – featuring more than 160 characters and multi-language support. A dynamic suite of graphics, using only the registered trademark system, was also created for print and digital materials, including portraits of judges.

The new brand identity helped RGD attract an enviable line-up of jury members from around the world and was widely praised by the design community at large – it even landed a Design Lion at Cannes. Most importantly, the design system helped the awards program become the RGD’s most successful to date, surpassing projected revenue from entry fees by over 200%.

Credits

Chief Creative Officer: Aaron Starkman, Mike Dubrick
Chief Strategy Officer: Sean McDonald
Executive Creative Director: Leia Rogers, Morgan Tierney
Creative Director: Alex Bakker, Hans Thiessen, Sean O’Connor
Designer: Alex Bakker, Hans Thiessen, Aleks Jones
Motion Designer: Leigh O’Neill, Ignacio Florez
Digital Designer: Steve Miller
Developer: Ken Malley
Art Director: Alex Bakker
Writer: Jordan Lawson
Typography: Hans Thiessen
Producer: Meg Norton, Scott Russell
Account Supervisor: Tianna Fung
Client: Karin Heinsch, Hilary Ashworth