Glidden Design and Brand Communications recently volunteered their services to assist in the final stage of the brand design and judging of Edinburgh’s biggest business competition.

Styled on the famous television show, The Edinburgh Apprentice involved 250 students from Edinburgh’s four Universities, who competed over ten days for the title of ‘The Edinburgh Apprentice 2016’, along with a £1,000 prize for the winner.

The competitors’ sales skills, marketing skills, problem solving skills and investing skills were challenged in a variety of elimination rounds designed by Edinburgh University’s iCUE society in collaboration with sponsoring companies. Ultimately, the idea of The Edinburgh Apprentice competition is to ensure competitors develop skills and gain knowledge that accredited companies are looking for in graduate employees.

The challenge set to the 5 finalists was to create a brand for a new craft beer, develop financials and design a label to be applied to the bottles all in one day!

The team at Glidden prepared a briefing and then worked with the 5 students in turn to ‘realise’ their label design in just one hour! The following day the students had to present their concepts and business plans in a final pitch to a panel of experts, including Glidden team members Neil Custard and Rhona Cruickshank.

The winner, Elizabeth Docherty, walked away with a cheque for £1,000 for her gluten-free concept.

Glidden Design and Brand Communications is an Edinburgh-based design company formed in 1998, working across aide range of sectors, providing strategic, creative and marketing expertise to businesses and organisations locally, nationally and internationally. For enquiries, contact Andrew Glidden, Creative Managing Director: www.weareglidden.com /andy@weareglidden.com/0131 226 4744.

Photography credits: Mihaela Bodlovic \\ AliceBoreas Photography.