We were recently asked by a group of nine Mr. Simms sweet shops in Ireland to facilitate a complete brand makeover as they wanted to part company with the English franchise and establish their own Irish version.

 

The name "Mr. Duffy's" was chosen because it’s warm, friendly, and most importantly, Irish. The initial brainstorm gave us a good sense of how it should look and feel. We were therefore able to design and agree the new logo within a matter of days.

 

The brand story had to be fun and magical, yet real and credible. One of the group directors had such an interesting face and persona that he agreed to lend his image to "Mr. Duffy" and a new character was born.

 

There was a wide range of labels to consider, from large jars to small bags. Also, because they had to allow for handwriting, we went for a gloss print with a matt space for ink retention.

We designed the shop fronts for all nine locations around the country and dealt with four different signage companies to finalise the artwork and co-ordinate the project. It was important to have all the new shops up and running at the same time.

 

A new name, logo, brand story and style guide, all within three weeks, not to mention a belly ache from over indulgence (it would have been remiss of us not to sample the merchandise and verify its credentials).