For Immediate Release

Local Design Firm Awarded International Honor from HOW Magazine. PhilippeBecker Design Beats Leads in the Packaging Category.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — February 26, 2004 — PhilippeBecker Design (PBD), one of the Bay Area's leading packaging and branding agencies, today announced that it has been selected as a winner of a prestigious award for HOW Magazine's 2004 International Design Annual. With more than four thousand entries, the San Francisco-based design firm led the "Packaging" category with its recent campaign for Buddy Rhodes Studio: Concrete Counter Mix.

"We are extremely proud of this achievement," stated PhilippeBecker, founder and creative director of the winning design company. "We worked very hard to ensure that our client, Buddy Rhodes Studio, was happy with the creative output that we delivered. That was our number one priority. Winning this award is like the icing on the cake."

The competition is a yearly review of the best designs from around the world. With more than 15 categories, the competition provided entrants with the opportunity to highlight their creative achievements on a global scale. Participants were able to submit their designs in the following categories:

  • Best of Show
  • Advertising
  • Annual Reports
  • Brochures/Catalogs/Flyers
  • Covers/Jackets
  • Editorial
  • Environmental Graphics
  • Illustration/Photography
  • Invitations/Announcements
  • Letterhead/Logos
  • Miscellaneous
  • Packaging
  • Posters
  • Seasonal/Calendars
  • Student Work
  • Wearables


The Winning Design
In 2002, Buddy Rhodes Studio commissioned PBD to extend its brand – ordinarily geared towards high-end countertops for upscale lofts, Pottery Barn stores and restaurants. The concrete company wanted to market a new line of products, targeted at contractors and sophisticated "do-it-yourselfers."

After collaborating with the customer, PBD developed a brand and packaging system using only two colors and incorporating a bold, recognizable look that would bring personality to the concrete company. The graphics were designed to be easily reproducible and look sharp printed even on low-grade craft paper.

"We chose to submit this particular design for the contest, because it's a totally unique product," explained Becker. "While there are thousands of soda can package designs, Buddy's product and process is completely unique: a concrete fusion product that, in effect, can replace marble with other premium materials. While most concrete packaging is utilitarian at best, we were challenged with communicating what the product is, plus making it appealing in places like Home Depot, where, for the most part, packaging is never a focus."


The Judging Panel
This year, HOW Magazine invited a panel of three highly respected design officials to judge the International Design Competition: Peter Borowski, vice president and creative director of graphic communications for FRCH Design Worldwide; Moira Cullen, leader of the Corporate Design Group at Hallmark ; and Petrula Vrontikis, author of "Inspiration=ideas: A creativity sourcebook for graphic designers." Each of the judges evaluated the participant's work based on a number of criteria, including effectiveness of communicating the message, aesthetics, appropriateness of product at hand, context of the type of design, etc. From the more than 4000 entrants, Browski, Cullen and Vrontikis selected 244 as winners – 26 from the packaging category.

"All winners of the competition provided stellar examples of creativity in design," noted Bryn Mooth, editor of HOW Magazine. "Each will be listed in the upcoming April issue of HOW Magazine, due to hit the stands within the next few weeks."


About HOW Magazine
Founded in 1985, HOW Magazine provides graphic-design professionals with essential business information, features cutting-edge technological advances, profiles renowned and up-and-coming designers, details noteworthy projects, and provides creative inspiration. The year-end Business Annual has become a respected resource for its articles about studios across the U.S. In addition, HOW holds annual Self-Promotion, International and Interactive Design competitions and features the results in special issues. Other frequently profiled topics include digital design, creativity, typography and paper. The magazine is published in Cincinnati by F&W Publications. A group of 16 internationally recognized designers, including Primo Angeli, Marshall Arisman, Paul Davis, Milton Glaser, Richard Wilde, and Ann Willoughby, make up HOW's Editorial Advisory Board. Board members frequently provide article ideas, write stories, offer editorial input and serve as a solid connection to the design profession and industry trends.


About PBD
PhilippeBecker Design is a leading packaging and branding agency leveraging the best of large firm experience in a smart, efficient team, yielding exceptional results for its clients. The company was founded in 1998 by PhilippeBecker, following 11 years as Senior Designer for Primo Angeli Inc. His work has garnered numerous design awards, including Clio and Mobius. PBD team leaders are all senior level with 10 or more years of large agency experience, and particular expertise in the food and beverage industry. The company's approach is relentlessly client-focused, fueled by a collective desire to deliver excellence of design with a minimum of bureaucracy. PBD's clients include Disney, T-Mobile, Safeway, Whole Foods Market, Forbes, Stremicks Heritage Foods and Foster Farms.


PR Contact:
Heather Clarke
Horn Group Inc. (for PBD)
415.905.4014
hclarke@horngroup.com