KBL logo design search fetches over 400 submissions

Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) has ended the first stage of the competition for the design of its new logo as it looks to mark its 100th birthday in 2022.

The competition dubbed 'Still Got Skillz?' was open to design artists across Kenya aged between 21 and 25 years.

KBL, one of Kenya’s oldest companies, received submissions from 409 young creative artists whose works will now be examined by a team of design judges, with the best 20 proceeding to a hackathon. 

During the session, judges from J. Walker Thomson (JWT), a Scan group agency, will act as guides. 

East African Breweries Plc Group Corporate Relations Director Eric Kiniti said the first phase of the competition was successful as it had drawn more entries than a similar competition in 2019.  

“We are really happy with the response and this goes to show the confidence the youth have in our ability to enable them hone their design skills and progress in their careers in the creative industry,” said Kiniti. 

Initially set to end on Friday, December 10, the submission period was extended to Tuesday, December 14 to give more time for submissions.

“We realised that although we had initially given two weeks for submissions, the last day fell ahead of a long weekend, which gave the designers more time, and perhaps more inspiration by the Jamhuri Day celebrations,” said Kiniti. 

Designers behind the 20 best submissions, as picked by the judges, will be individually contacted for the hackathon.

At the hackathon, the 20 artists will get guidance from the judges as they improve their submissions.

The best possible design and will then make a presentation on how they went about creating their interpretation of the logo. 

Judges will then consider the final designs and communicate their decision at a later date.

Submissions will be judged on their adaptability as a logo and whether they stand out as a complete and outstanding work that can be converted into a brand identity. 

The panel of judges comprises advertising experts, art, copy and creative directors with decades of experience in the industry and who have participated in the creation of brand designs for big organisations across East Africa. 

The winning submission will win a cash prize of Ksh.1 million while the second and third placed will each receive Ksh.500,000 and Ksh.250,000 respectively. 

The winner will get the opportunity to work with a team of talented creative and advertising experts from JWT to work on finalizing the new KBL logo.