Gaudio Awards Blog

Jane Devonshire Wins MasterChef 2016 Trophy

2016-05-10T11:09:00.000+01:00

Mum of four Jane Devonshire became the latest amateur chef to be crowned MasterChef Champion on Friday. Almost six million people tuned in to see her lift the custom trophy thanks to a menu of winkles on toast, curried lamb and rhubarb and custard.

Jane, who told of her 10-year battle with breast cancer, now plans to launch a cookbook. John Torode told Jane he had never seen such determination in a MasterChef contestant and fellow judge Gregg Wallace said: “Jane has had one of the most incredible journeys I’ve witnessed.”

Gaudio Awards are extremely proud to have supplied the MasterChef trophies for a number of years and it's usually the first award people recognise when they visit our showroom. If you'd like to know more about the award, check out our blog Redesigning an Iconic Award. If you would like us to design you an iconic award for your event, please call our friendly team on 01242 232 383.

If you missed the episode, you can catch up on iPlayer.

John Lewis and Shop Direct Triumph at the Drapers Digital Awards 2016

2016-04-29T11:52:00.000+01:00

The best and most innovative in fashion gathered at the prestigious Grosvenor House in London last night to celebrate the Drapers Digital Awards. The event was hosted by impressionist and actress Debra Stephenson and the bespoke Acrylic Awards were provided by Gaudio Awards.

John Lewis took home the Overall Award for Excellence as well as the Best Customer Experience, Multichannel Retailer and Best Use of Mobile/App. Shop Direct added to their trophy cabinet with Best Use of Social Media, Best Digital Team and Best Digital Leader for ecommerce director Jonathan Wall. Other winners on the nice included N Brown Group, Wolf & Badger, Childrensalon, House of Fraser, SecretSales.com, Bravissimo, New Look and Missguided. Retail giant Amazon won the Consumer Choice Award.

Gaudio Awards have been manufacturing the custom acrylic award for several years, with a slightly different design each year. The Perspex award perfectly reflects the young modern ethos of the event. Find out more and book tickets for next year: Drapers Digital.

Why don’t we charge for our designs?

2016-04-22T11:30:00.000+01:00

We often hear great things from our clients impressed by the quality of our designs - and they're completely free of charge. So what’s the catch? Well, in this case, there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Free designs, within 48 hours, no obligation.

This is a philosophy we have always believed in since day one. It was quite revolutionary at the time – clients were accustomed to paying for designs – but it made complete sense to us. We weren’t looking to make money from charging people for designs they didn’t like. We had more belief in our creativity than that.

Our mantra is simple; we will design you a trophy for your event, to fit your budget, brand and brief. If you don’t like any of the ideas we can try again, or you can walk away – no hard feelings!

Free designs can’t be as good as paid designs though?

Free options are nearly always worse than the premium paid for alternative right? Well this certainly isn’t the case at Gaudio Awards. Creative companies live and die on the strength of their designs, especially in our case as we only secure orders if clients love our ideas. For this reason, we have put creativity at the very core of our business and invested heavily to ensure that we are the best in the industry.

All of our designers are trained in Product Design at degree level, and then fully trained in SolidWorks 3D CAD software. But this is just the theory side, our designers are also fully versed in manufacturing techniques (a great advantage to having on-site manufacturing). Our vast experience means that we know what makes a great award, and what doesn’t. Bespoke awards and trophies is what we do. This means we have a huge advantage over design agencies who may design trophies that can’t be manufactured at a reasonable cost.

So is it a waste of money using a design agency?

Not necessarily. We work with a lot of design agencies either directly, or with clients who come to us with a design from an agency. We use the latest software to produce stunning 3D visuals – the same software design agencies use. You will have a personal project manager at Gaudio Awards who will look after your project from start to finish – the same as you would at an agency.

Where an agency may be able to offer more is on a wider scale. The agency may be branding your entire event, they may be responsible for your company branding, or they may dedicate months to your project – something that we wouldn’t necessarily be able to offer. We’re certainly not trying to put agencies out of work – some of our best designs have been in collaboration with creative agencies – but our free design service is a great first step before committing any money.

Ok, I’m convinced – how do I get my free designs?

Our process couldn’t be easier – fill out our online form or call our friendly team on 01242 232383 and we’ll get back to you (usually within 48 hours) with a range of designs and prices.

Trophy design: Behind the scenes of a trophy maker

2016-01-29T16:00:00.001+00:00

Case Study | Coca Cola Icon Awards

When clients come to visit us they are always amazed to see the inner workings of award design and manufacture. To us that work at Gaudio, it’s easy to forget that what we do can be a mystery to the client – they give us a brief, receive the designs and ultimately the finished award – everything in-between is unknown. Using the recently produced Coca Cola Icon Awards as an example we can look at the journey from brief to delivery.

The Brief
The most important thing for our trophy designers is the brief. The brief is created between the client and one of our Project Managers and includes the budget, delivery date, logos, branding, event details, likes and dislikes and any other requirements. Coca Cola had been buying the sculpted bronze trophy from us for many years for this event, but they had decided they would like something new.

The brief was as follows:

"We have new branding for the Icon Awards this year which we’d like to base the design on. The branding is much more modern and colourful, so we’d like the award to reflect this. We’d like to incorporate the stars into a metal or acrylic award. Please include the same winners’ details as previous years. Logos and supporting branding attached."

Initial Designs
Our designers immediately set about creating some ideas. We have a process that ensures that clients always receive a range of designs, of a high quality, that are appropriate to the event, brief and budget regardless of which designer produces the work. Within this framework our designers are free to create the ideas and designs in any way that suits their style. Sometimes our designers like to sketch out concepts first, other times they jump straight to 3D CAD files. It has even been known for our designers to try out ideas in modelling clay!

Our designers particularly liked working on this project: “The Coca Cola branding is so recognisable and iconic – it’s really exciting to work with. The old design was beautiful and abstract, but the client was understandably looking for something more modern. We produced a range of ideas, but we were particularly excited about incorporating red anodised aluminium – it would give the client the iconic Coke red in a premium and modern material.”

All the designs here are produced in SolidWorks – our 3D CAD package. This allows us to create photo-realistic visuals to show the client exactly how their award will look.

Feedback
A well-defined brief means that we are more likely to get the designs right first time, but this is not always the case. Client feedback is important at this stage as it allows us to hone the design or change direction completely. We are quite happy to produce more designs until we get it right. Coca Cola were immediately drawn to a design – the red anodised Coke bottle. They proposed a few tweaks to the use of the logos/branding and asked for a few angles so that they could better understand how the awards would look. We were happy to oblige.

Progressing the Order
Once the client is completely happy with the design it’s time to place the order. Our design team are experts in their field – product designers by trade. They do not only produce stunning visuals, but they design a product. Every concept that a client receives has been thought through to manufacture by our design and production teams. The designer will produce the technical drawings and proofs for the client before handing the project over to our production team to manufacture. Even after the design stage is over our designers will often be found in production watching their ideas come to life:

“One of the great things about having design and manufacture under one roof is being able to see your designs take shape as a real-life product – it really connects you to your craft. It also helps the design process as we have constant feedback between the teams to improve design, quality and manufacture.”

Introducing the all new Gaudio Awards

2015-12-18T14:49:00.002+00:00

We are so excited to share the new Gaudio Awards branding with you and we hope you like it as much as we do. It has been an epic journey that started nearly a year ago and involved a lot of soul searching, going back to our roots and finding our voice. This is not just a new logo, it’s Gaudio reborn. This is a new identity, a sign of our aspirations and the beginning of the next phase in our adventure that has already brought us further than we could have ever imagined.

Why did we rebrand?
The company has been on an epic growth rate ever since we started and we felt that the old brand no longer represented the company – in fact, it never really did. We needed an identity that reflected our energy, our innovative spirit and our creative outlook. We are lucky enough to be working in a vibrant and exciting industry and our old brand did not feel right in that space.

Going back to our roots
To kick off the rebrand we first had to go back to our humble beginnings and look at what made this company so special. We are a much bigger company than when we started, but we always want to maintain the small company ethos – one to one service with our clients, innovation and creativity at our core and a close knit team with free-flowing communication between departments. This is what we built the branding on, this is what our customers love about us, and this is the future of the company.

New brand, same great service
We now feel that we have a fresh, modern identity that represents exactly who we are to the industry and it is a key part of the huge changes currently taking place at Gaudio. We have recently moved into new larger premises to house our new state-of-the-art machinery and our new website is cutting edge and industry leading – designed around our clients’ needs to make the daunting task of ordering bespoke awards as easy as possible. News of all of these developments to follow!

In the coming weeks you will be seeing our new brand rolling out throughout our company, but you will still be receiving the same great service, creative designs and high quality that you have come to expect from Gaudio Awards.

Gaudio Awards: A Trip Down Memory Lane

2015-08-25T12:56:00.000+01:00

The Gaudio rebrand is currently well underway and lots is being done ready to launch in the next couple of months. As part of the rebrand process we have been looking back at our roots and I thought it would be nice to share the Gaudio story with you. So here is the story of how Gaudio became one of the most successful designers and manufacturers of bespoke awards in the UK.

Our MD Adam Hutchinson, set-up Gaudio Ltd in 2008, originally selling corporate gifts and custom-designed cast bronze products from a foundry in Spain (hence the Spanish name). Before long Adam noticed an opportunity to design and manufacture more contemporary awards for corporate events. With the investment in design software and some basic manufacturing equipment Gaudio Awards was born. Gaudio Awards quickly carved itself a niche supplying bespoke designed awards to budget. To keep up with demand, the company quickly hired a professional designer and production staff, invested in new machinery and launched a new website focused on bespoke awards.

The new website was a success and the enquiries continued to roll in. Most new customers came from recommendation (this is still true today) and word of our offering continued to spread throughout the industry. Gaudio continued to innovate, being the first awards company in the UK to offer colour printing, releasing a range of sustainable and recycled awards and training our staff on the World Host programme to provide industry-leading customer service.

The company quickly outgrew its Cheltenham office and a new location was found down the road in Tewkesbury. This allowed us to grow the personnel to 10 and add more machinery and processes to our manufacturing arm. We also introduced 3D CAD design software which increased our manufacturing capabilities and increased the quality of our designs dramatically.

Our head count will be 20 by the end of the year and we are once again on the lookout for new premises to house heavy machinery. Our new brand and website will be released in the next couple of months to reflect where the company now stands and where we are heading. We have come a long way in the last 7 years, but we are very aware of what makes us special. For that reason we will always be a small company, offering that one-to-one service that our customers love, no matter how big we grow.

Redesigning an Iconic Award: The MasterChef Trophy

2015-07-24T15:01:00.000+01:00

Most of our clients come to us looking for an original idea produced by our in-house design team, but sometimes we are asked to reproduce an existing trophy. We are more than happy to do this (provided the client owns the copyright), but we do like to put our own spin on it! This will often be quality improvements, manufacturing enhancements or subtle design changes to improve the award. We were approached by Shine TV in 2012 to give the MasterChef trophy the Gaudio treatment, so let’s have a look at how we went about it.

For those of you that don’t know, MasterChef is a hugely popular BBC competitive reality cooking show. There are actually four shows in the UK: MasterChef (for everyday people who can cook), MasterChef the Professionals (for working chefs), Celebrity MasterChef and Junior MasterChef. The show first aired in 1990, hosted by Loyd Grossman and now exists in over 50 countries around the world.

When MasterChef was revamped in 2001, the logo we recognise now was introduced (prior to this a chef’s hat on a gold roundel was used). This branding remains consistent across all the shows around the world (various colours have been used), but the trophy has varied wildly. Before starting on the current redesign, we had a look at what has been used in the past and abroad.

As you can see, the logo remains the focal point, but the materials, design and styles of the trophies varies massively. The 2012 UK trophies consisted of a very thick coloured acrylic profile of the logo on top, with a polished metal facia, mounted on a metal base.

2012 MasterChef Trophy

2012 Junior MasterChef Trophy

2012 Celebrity MasterChef Trophy

The client was looking to move away from the 2012 design, to something simpler, prestigious and more elegant. The overall design would ultimately remain very similar due to the focus on the logo, but this was our chance to put our design touch onto the award and improve the quality along the way.

We produced a range of ideas based around the logo and options of colour (the client was still playing with the idea having red in the trophy as this was the MasterChef colour at the time). The final design selected was a more elegant polished aluminium profile of the logo, mounted on a tiered aluminium base to give more emphasis to the branding and create a less bottom-heavy feel.

This new design was first used in the 2013 MasterChef series and was won by Natalie Coleman. The client was thrilled by the trophy and quickly order another for the 2013 Celebrity MasterChef series (won by Ade Edmondson).

In 2014 the trophy was used for Junior MasterChef for the first time, won by 12 year old Phoebe Riley from Kent. MasterChef superfans will have noticed that the Professionals have never received a trophy (I guess winning the show was enough of a prize!), but that is all set to change this year…

So as you can see, a lot of thought and effort goes into our redesigns/developments, even though you may not have even noticed it’s changed. Our attention to detail and quality shines through under the glare of the cameras and that’s why our customers continue to recommend us. If you have enjoyed this blog you might be interested in the development of the Pride of Britain Awards.

Official Charts Album Awards Launched

2015-07-14T16:55:00.000+01:00

The first ever Official Charts Number 1 Album Award has been presented to non other than Ed Sheeran for his album X after the record jumped back to number 1 a year after release.

The Official Charts Company have traditionally only given out awards for number 1 singles (a silver version of this award), but they decided to give the same recognition to album sales this year. Gaudio Awards were approached to redesign the existing award to make it more prestigious. The new Album award is manufactured from solid aluminium with a 24 carat gold plating and personalised with printed logo and text.

Ed was presented with his award on Friday, as he was preparing for his sold-out stint at Wembley Stadium. The album X was the biggest and fastest selling album of 2014 and has spent a total of 13 weeks at number 1.

As you can see in the video above, he seems pretty happy about receiving this award, and being able to keep it!

What is your award saying about your event?

2015-02-03T16:27:00.001+00:00

Is your award promoting your brand in the right way? We spend such a long time specifying the detail of our events, but are we overlooking one of the most important aspects?

It can take a lot of effort, time and money to organise a successful event. We spend hours worrying over the small details such as the colour of the table covers, the canapés and the table centres, but what about the award itself? The awards and trophies are often overlooked until the last minute, but really this is one of the focal points of the whole event! The food will be eaten almost immediately (hopefully), invites and programmes will eventually be binned, but the award will remain for years after, as will the photos of the winners with the awards.

Think about it, the award will be used in all the publicity (look what you could win!), they will have pride of place on the night, they will be the centre of attention during the prize giving, they will be in every photograph, and they are the one thing the winners will take home from the event and treasure for years to come. Are you sure your award is representing your event/brand/business in the best possible way?

There are thousands of options available, from cups, trophies, shields and plaques and even having something designed especially for your event. In the current economic climate it can be tempting to cut costs and buy in cheap awards, but it is important to protect your brand and show it in the best possible light. The most successful award ceremonies in the country have a strong visual identity and a brand that carries through everything, from the invites, staging, awards and media. If you are charging your award entrants thousands of pounds and billing your event as the top ceremony in the industry, is it really appropriate to give the deserving winners a £15 award?

Having a bespoke award designed especially for your event can be a really effective tool for marketing your event and pushing your brand. The awards themselves have real longevity and are the focal point of media attention, so take advantage of this by branding the awards. Gaudio Awards are one of the UK's leading designers of bespoke trophies and they have years of experience in the events industry.

Next time you are ordering trophies, take a second look through the clients eyes and think "What does this award say about my event?"

10 reasons to order bespoke awards from Gaudio

2015-01-16T10:20:00.000+00:00

Gaudio are the UK’s experts in designing and manufacturing bespoke awards and trophies. We create some of the UK’s most iconic awards including the Pride of Britain and Radio 1 Teen Awards. But it’s not only high profile TV ceremonies that can reap the benefits of bespoke awards, we also make awards for corporate clients including Coca Cola, Santander and Npower, as well as industry awards such as British Travel Awards, Retail Week and NHBC. The team at Gaudio have put together 10 great reasons to choose bespoke awards rather than off-the-shelf.

1. Promote your brand
A bespoke award can promote your brand and become iconic, what does an off-the shelf award say about you?

2. Your awards, your way
We can make your awards exactly how you want them. Do you need a bigger base? Slightly taller? Colour logos? Heavier? Lighter? Brushed? Polished? Gold? Silver? We design your awards especially for you, according to your needs.

3. Free design
Gaudio have always offered a free design service, it’s our way of showing off what we can do for you! The service is completely free and without obligation, just send us your brief and logos.

4. High quality
We only use the best materials and processes to create high quality awards that will stand the test of time. Our design and manufacturing facility is under one roof meaning that we are in complete control from start to finish.

5. Great customer service
Our highly trained and experienced team are here to listen to your requirements and guide you expertly through every level of the design and manufacturing process. We pride ourselves on a fast and friendly response to your enquiries and keep you fully updated every step of the way to the delivery of your bespoke awards.

6. Made in Britain
Most off-the-shelf glass and crystal awards are imported from China or America in huge quantities. At Gaudio, we are proud to manufacture in the UK. Not only does this give us great control over quality and lead time, it also minimises our carbon footprint and contributes to the UK economy.

7. No hidden costs
The price we quote is the price you’ll pay. We hate hidden charges as much as you do, so our prices always include all set-up, engraving, printing and personalisation costs.

8. Extra value
We believe in going the extra mile to help our customers. This includes promoting events on our social network and our streamlined replica ordering service.

9. Sustainable options
As well as offering a market-leading range of sustainable options, we also offer carbon offsetting in association with the Carbon Footprint organisation, as well as using recycled packaging where possible.

10. Trust
We understand that it’s a big leap in the dark ordering bespoke awards. We make it as easy as possible and you are under no obligation to order anything until you have seen what it will look like and how much it was cost. Our customers return year after year, just look at our testimonials page to see how great they think we are!

If you would like to see what we can do for your event, get in touch with our friendly team.

BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards is a Huge Success

2014-10-20T16:07:00.002+01:00

The BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards took place on Sunday with a brand new trophy designed and manufactured by Gaudio Awards.

The Teen Heroes were the stars of the show, including Jack Marshall, who took home the new Stephen Sutton Award for fundraising. The award was presented by Stephen’s brother Chris to 16 year old winner Jack who has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity despite suffering from Moebius Syndrome, an extremely rare condition which means he suffers from sight, hearing and balance problems and has no facial nerves. On receiving his award he said he “wants to do Stephen proud.”

On the celebrity front, The Vamps were the night’s biggest winners, taking home 3 awards, including Best British Band, much to the surprise of One Direction fans! Ed Sheeran took home Best British Solo Artist, Tom Daley won Best British Sports Star and Sherlock got the gong for Best British TV Show.

The BBC approached Gaudio to design a bespoke award for this prestigious event based around the Radio 1 branding. The final design is manufactured from highly polished aluminium, with a colour printed facia. Gaudio Managing Director, Adam Hutchinson was thrilled to have been chosen as the manufacturer, “It’s always an honour to be involved in such a high profile event. The winners are so inspirational and we’re pleased have provided an award fitting of their achievements.”

Radio 1 were certainly please with their new awards, so much so that they have ordered extras to display around the office. Radio 1 breakfast host Nick Grimshaw described the new awards as the ‘best awards we've ever had’.

You can watch the event highlights on the BBC iPlayer: Radio 1 Teen Awards.

If you are looking for a fresh new look for your event, get in touch with the awards experts.

2014 Man Booker Prize Winner Revealed

2014-10-20T16:00:00.000+01:00

We are always delighted when clients return to us year after year, especially when it is an award as prestigious as the Man Booker Prize. It is one of our favourite awards of the year and seems to be treasured by the few who are lucky enough to receive it.

The iconic award was designed by London based graphic designer David Caines and is a three-dimensional interpretation of the logo. It is manufactured from a single piece of cast black acrylic with a glossy finish.

Australian author Richard Flanagan was the recipient of the 2014 prize for his novel The Narrow Road To The Deep North, inspired by his father's experience as a prisoner of war on the Thailand-Burma death railway.

The award (along with a £50,000 cheque) was presented by The Duchess of Cornwall at London’s Guildhall on the 14th October. You can view a video of the speech on the BBC News website.

We have a team of expert designers on hand to create awards to suit your budget, but we are also happy to quote on any designs you may have already had produced. Get in touch with our expert sales team to talk through your options.

Ryan Giggs Wins the 2014 Football Extravaganza Award

2014-10-20T15:44:00.000+01:00

We have worked closely with the music charity Nordoff Robbins for a number of years, creating a variety of awards to support their fundraising events. Our Design Manager was particularly excited this year when the brief for the 2014 Football Extravaganza Award came through, as the recipient would be non-other than Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs.

“I have always been a Manchester United fan and I was lucky enough to have designed the award in 2010 for Eric Cantona. To design the award again this year for Giggs was amazing, he was always my favourite player growing up.” Giggs joins other United legends Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Charlton as well as Alan Shearer, Harry Redknapp and Jose Mourinho in the League of Legends.

£402,000 was raised for the charity at the event held in London. Ryan Giggs was joined by fellow class of ’92 teammates Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville. Before receiving the award Ryan was treated to a performance by the Stereophonics, who had flown in from America specially to pay tribute.

Speaking to ManUtd.com, Ryan said “It’s a very special award. I came to the dinner when Eric received his and it was only then that I realised how big an award it is and it's for such a great cause. Nordoff Robbins is a great charity. I remember at Eric’s dinner that we heard from parents of some of the children who benefit from the charity and they discussed the help they get from music and how much progress they make by using it.”

Gary Neville presented a Sky Sports style analysis of his famous 1999 FA Cup semi-final goal against Arsenal in which he described it as “The greediest thing he has ever done.” You can watch the video here.

Gaudio in partnership with Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research

2014-05-20T16:17:00.000+01:00

We have been working with the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research charity for several years, providing awards for various events and it is a charity that is very close to our hearts. Our most recent project was to design some bespoke awards for their Calendar Girls events, which was a great success and raised much needed funds for the charity.

"Gaudio have provided fantastic awards for several of our events, their high quality really adds value to our events and helps us thank all the people who raise money to help us beat blood cancer in the best way possible"
If you would like to find out more, or donate to the charity, please visit: beatingbloodcancers.org.uk/give

Anna Jordan Wins Gaudio Manufactured Bruntwood Prize

2013-11-28T12:32:00.000+00:00

Anna Jordan beat 1,800 other applicants to take home the bespoke cone-shaped award as well as the £16,000 prize for her play, Yen, the story of two brothers living on the edge of society with their dog Taliban.

The Bruntwood Playwriting Prize was first awarded in 2005, but this year featured a brand new trophy design. The cone-shaped concept was designed by Hemisphere and as the industry experts, we were tasked with finding a manufacturing solution. Starting with SolidWorks, our design team modelled the concept in 3D CAD and began exploring materials and finishes.

Using the 3D CAD files we were able to quote the manufacturing time, cost and even the weight of the final product as well as producing photo-realistic renderings and animations to show the client an accurate representation of the final product - all without producing a prototype (and the time and costs that go along with producing a prototype).

The CAD files were used to create an SLA 3D printed model which would in turn be used to create a lost wax casting. Once the awards had been cast our polishing team finished the awards to ensure a smooth surface prior to plating.

The cone awards were finished in hard-wearing Nickel plate which would give the final product its colouring and shine. The internals were finished in a vibrant red paint and a hand engraved logo was applied to the outside.

If you have a requirement for a bespoke award or trophy please contact our friendly team to find out about our free design service.

Spruce up Your CV, 2 More Employees Needed at Gaudio!

2013-10-31T13:05:00.000+00:00

2013 has been our busiest year yet, continuing our astonishing 30% year on year growth. We are now looking for 2 more team members to help us keep up with demand. If your skills lie in customer service you could be perfect for our Sales Administrator position. If manufacturing is more your thing you could be just what we need for our Assembly Worker job.

Please click on the links below to read the full job description and to apply:

Sales Administrator
https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/GetJob.aspx?JobID=4171365

Assembly Worker

https://jobsearch.direct.gov.uk/GetJob.aspx?JobID=1556176

About Gaudio
Gaudio Awards is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of bespoke awards and trophies. We design and manufacture some of the UK’s most high profile awards including the Pride of Britain, National Lottery and O2 Silver Clef Awards. Our brand new facility located in Twyning, Gloucestershire, houses sales, design and production under one roof.

Despite the world-wide recession, Gaudio has continued to grow at a phenomenal rate over the last 5 years, by offering a service that can’t be matched in the industry – high quality awards that are custom designed for the client at an affordable price. In the last 12 months the company has employed 3 new members of staff and with big plans for the future the team will only continue to grow.

Please visit our website for more information about the company and the awards that we produce: www.gaudio.co.uk

If you have any queries about the role please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Pride of Britain Awards: Design Evolution

2013-09-12T14:39:00.003+01:00

The annual tear-fest that is the Pride of Britain Awards is coming up next month, so we thought we’d take this opportunity to look back at how the design of the trophy has changed over the years.

The Pride of Britain Angel is an iconic design that we all associate with this unique event, but what you may not realise is that a few tweaks have been made to the trophy over the years.

1999
The inaugural event was held in 1999 and was a much smaller affair than we see on TV today. The original trophy was a printed and engraved off-the-shelf crystal award and the setting was a little more “budget”! The event may have grown over the years but some things haven’t changed. Like the current ceremonies, the first event attracted A-list celebrities and politicians to reward the inspiration people of Britain, and of course Carol Vorderman hosted!

2000
Following on from the huge success of the opening year, the 2nd Pride of Britain Awards was a much bigger production. The logo we recognise today began to develop with the idea of the person silhouette – although it hasn’t quite evolved into the angel yet. The 2000 award took a 3D form of the stick figure and encapsulated it in clear acrylic.

2001
By 2001 the stick figure has evolved closer to what we know today (minus the Union Jack wings). For the third year running we see a different award as the production team continue to experiment with their branding. This time we see a metal/foil figure encapsulated or etched in clear acrylic or crystal and mounted on a black base.

2005
Fast forward to 2005 and we see our first glimpse of the Pride of Britain Angel we know and love. 2005 saw the introduction of the sculptured brass Angel, but on a tiered metal base. See the video below (also look out for a very young looking McFly!)

2006
The 2006 trophy looks much more familiar, with the cast brass top and black base. Pictured below are winners Beverley De-Gale and Orin Lewis who set-up the Africa Caribbean Leukaemia Trust after their son Daniel was diagnosed with leukaemia in 1995.

2011
In 2011 a couple more subtle changes were made to improve the manufacture and quality of this now very prestigious award. A bright nickel plate was added to the brass sculpture to increase the shine on the award, and the base was machined from aluminium rather than wood to add weight. Finally the name plaques were sunk into a recess in the base rather than simply pinning them to the circumference of the base. The 2011 design is still being used today, with the 2013 awards currently moving through our production process ready for the big night.

As you can see, even the most iconic awards have a history of evolution behind them, even if it’s not immediately obvious to the naked eye. Much like the wonderful Pride of Britain host Carol Vorderman, these awards have gotten better with age! We are extremely honoured to be the manufacturer of these stunning awards and the whole Gaudio Team will again be watching the show in October with immense pride.

Brands Turn to Personalisation to Differentiate

2013-08-30T15:23:00.001+01:00

In the past brands have used the “one size fits all” approach to boost brand recognition and reduce costs, but in an effort to differentiate themselves many companies are now offering bespoke, customised or personalised products and services.

In recent years there has been a trend to try and create super-products and services where one solution fits the needs of everyone. The run-away success of Apple led everyone to believe that this was the way to go, but in fact, the success of the iPhone has created a demand for a phone that differentiates itself, something that Motorola are hoping to capitalise on. The new Moto X is available in over 2000 different options, including wood! Each phone can be customised using the Moto Maker website and the finished article is delivered to your door just 4 days later.

The success of the Moto X is yet to be seen, but it is certainly grabbing the headlines, as did the Vauxhall Adam when it launched earlier this year. Vauxhall are hoping to recreate the success of the Fiat 500 and the Mini before that. The Adam has over 1 million customisation combinations to make the car unique to you.

Going even further than Vauxhall and Motorola, Barclays and Coca Cola have had extremely positive results from their recent personalisation campaigns. Coca Cola initially printed 250 of the most popular names onto their bottles before expanding the scheme to allow customers to order their own Coke. Barclays allowed customers to have their own image printed on their Barclaycard to create a truly personal credit card.

At Gaudio we have always known the power of personalisation; after all, our business is built on bespoke! All of our awards are designed especially for your brand or event, which not only promotes your brand, but also helps to differentiate your event in a potentially crowded marketplace.

To take advantage of our free design service simply call our friendly team on 01242 232 383 or fill in the online form on the Gaudio Website.

How to Order Bespoke Awards

2013-08-02T11:46:00.001+01:00

If you are organising an event or incentives programme you may be asking yourself “how do I commission a bespoke award or trophy?” At Gaudio we have many years of experience in the awards industry and as a result we have developed a tried and tested process to make the experience as easy as possible.

Step 1: Your Brief
The thing that makes each of our awards and trophies unique is your brief. This doesn’t have to be a 50 page book, a logo and budget will suffice! The more information you can give us at this stage, the more likely we are to get your design right.

Step 2: Design & Quote
In order to give you an accurate quote we need to draw up the design, but don’t worry, our design service is completely free of charge! Our design team will put together a range of ideas based on your brief and send them over to you with a quote. We aim to get the designs to you within 48 hours. If the designs aren’t exactly what you were looking for we are happy to make changes and redesign based on your feedback. This service is completely free and without obligation, so why not let us design an award for you?

Step 3: Order Confirmation
Once we have come up with your perfect award design you are ready to place your order, so have your credit card at the ready! We will send you an order confirmation detailing the expected delivery date, delivery and invoice address, design choice and quantity. This is your chance to check that you are happy with all of the details in the order (excluding proofing the awards – this happens later).

Step 4: Proofing
We ask to have all of the winners/engraving details 2 weeks before the shipping date to give us chance to draw up the proofs for your approval before we start printing/engraving.

Step 5: Shipping
Our normal lead times for manufacture are 4-6 weeks from the point of order, but can turn around some awards in as little as 2 weeks! We ship all of our awards with a next day courier to ensure that everything arrives with you in 1 piece.

And that’s it, a custom designed award in 5 easy steps! If you need any more information, try our FAQ page, or contact us. Take advantage of our free design service to see what we can do for you.

Europe's Biggest Ever Live Poker Festival Underway

2013-07-31T12:06:00.002+01:00

The Full Tilt Poker Galway Festival began on Saturday with a €1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event prize. This is the first live festival from Full Tilt since their re-launch, and Gaudio are pleased to be supplying the custom designed trophies.

The two week long festival, held in giant marquees right in the heart of Galway city, features 60 poker events, pool and bridge as well as live entertainment throughout the festival. The Full Tilt village has been dubbed Disneyland for poker players!

Poker legend Gus 'the Great Dane' Hansen was on hand to open the festival and was handed the keys to the city by the Major of Galway.

Follow all the action on the Full Tilt Poker website, and if you would like to speak to us about having your own award designed, give our friendly team a call on 01242 232 383

Gaudio Production Processes Explained

2013-07-22T14:34:00.000+01:00

As one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of bespoke awards and trophies we like to think we can turn our hands to almost any requirement you may have. As you can imagine, this requires a great deal of skill, knowledge, experience and versatile machinery. We try to make as much as possible in our Gloucestershire manufacturing facility, but we also utilise our very close network of specialist suppliers for processes we don’t have in-house. Below is an in-depth look at some of our more commonly used processes.
Waterjet Cutting

A waterjet cutter can slice through a range of materials using a concentrated jet of water and abrasive material at high velocity and pressure. It seems unbelievable that water can cut through steel, but as the video below explains, a waterjet cutter concentrates the power of a waterfall into a point in the same way as a laser concentrates light.

Waterjet cutting is ideal for Gaudio as its flexibility allows us to do one-off commissions or large batches on a range of materials including marble, metals, glass and wood. The 2mm jet allows us to cut extremely complex shapes to high precision, and our state-of-the art machine even allows us to cut chamfers and angles.

Most of our Profiled Awards are made using this process, before being polished or plated to give a shiny finish. Waterjet cutting is our most commonly used process for metal awards, but we may use CNC where more complex 3D shapes are needed.

CNC Machining

Where an award is too complex to be cut with a waterjet, we can use CNC machining. CNC allows us to profile complex 3D shapes from metal using CAD models created by our design team. Our CNC milling machine uses a range of cutting heads spinning at high speed to create various types of cuts and finishes at various angles into a block of aluminium, as demonstrated in the video below.

CNC machining is slower than waterjet, and therefore more expensive, but it is capable of far more complex shapes. The surface finish is also much better, so only a light polish is required to complete the award.

Some of our best known 3D awards have been made in this way, including the Sony Golden Headphone awards, National Lottery and Publican Awards.

Rapid Prototyping/3D Printing

Huge amounts of money are currently being invested into this fast moving industry as everyone is predicting that 3D printing is about to take off in a big way. 3D printers used to be hugely expensive and require very skilled technicians, but “home” versions are now starting to develop which make things much easier, as the man in the video below very excitedly explains.

At Gaudio we have used SLS 3D printing on several occasions and we have a network of suppliers with various machines capable of different results. The great thing about these machines is that we can give our suppliers the 3D CAD files that we have created in the studio and we know that the finished article will be an exact copy.

3D printing is great for very complicated 3D designs with a low quantity. One of our favourite examples is the FIBA Basketball awards, which we manufactured using SLS 3D printing, plating with nickel and added an engraved acrylic ball and hand painted detailing. Because the design of these awards changes every year, it was not worth investing in a sculpted model and cast, so SLS made perfect sense. 3D printing is ideal for small batches as the set-up costs are often lower than sculpting from clay and casting. Because the awards are printed one at a time, there isn’t usually a cost saving as the quantity increases, so with larger orders casting becomes more cost effective as one mould can be used multiple times.

Sculpting & Casting

At one end of the scale we have the very modern, technology driven 3D printing, and at the other end we have the highly skilled centuries old tradition of hand sculpting. Because of the wide range of awards that we produce, we have to be knowledgeable on both processes and everything in between. Sculpting and casting is ideal for 3D forms, particularly human forms and organic shapes.

Our supplier network consists of several highly skilled sculptors, each with their own specialities. The client will be heavily involved in the sculpting process to ensure that the model is exactly to their specifications. Once the model is complete, we can then create a mould. From the mould we can recreate the award in several materials including resin and bronze. These types of awards have a high setup cost because of the highly skilled labour involved at the beginning, but once the mould is created it can be used for several years, meaning that each unit is actually relatively inexpensive.

Encapsulation

Encapsulated awards are traditionally used in the finance sector, where they are referred to as Tombstones. The process involves placing an object or print between two sheets of acrylic (usually clear) and heating the acrylic until it melts and bonds as one piece. The result is that the print or object is suspended inside the acrylic. Gaudio have used this process extensively in the past to produce some really creative results.

Laser Cutting/Engraving

Our laser cutting and engraving machines are always busy, so much so that we have recently invested in another state-of-the-art machine. The versatile machines are used for profiling acrylic, cutting acrylic detail and engraving, meaning that most of our awards pass through a laser at some point. The quick setup and speedy cutting times makes it a very cost effective process.

Printing

Gaudio have led the industry with the introduction of digital printing. We can print full colour onto acrylic, metal, wood and even marble. This led to a dramatic increase in the options available to us and our design team have really got creative with it. For our clients, the best thing is the ability to print full colour logos, complete with gradients and transparencies for the same price as mono-tone engraving. Unlike screen printing, we do not charge per colour used, so it is far more cost effective.

If you would like to find out more about any of our processes, please give our friendly team a call on 01242 232 383, or why not take advantage of our free design service?

Why Present Awards and Trophies?

2013-07-10T11:37:00.000+01:00

During tough economic times we all look carefully at everything to see where we can make cut-backs. Should the cuts be extended to the awards and trophies? Not necessarily. It’s always important to make sure you are getting good value for money, but it’s also important to ensure you have an award that you are proud of, an award that people aspire to achieve. The award is often the focal point of the photographs and a memento of success and the hard work involved to get there, so it’s important that it matches the aspirations of the event and represent the brand well.
At Gaudio we design your award to suit your budget, so even if your finances are being squeezed we may still be able to offer you something custom made for your event. Our free design service is very popular with our clients, and we try to turn artwork around within 48 hours. Many of our customers use the trophy designs to attract sponsorship to gain additional funding for the event.

Please feel free to call our friendly team on 01242 232 383 to discuss your requirements and we’ll try and find a solution to meet your needs.

Introducing the Gaudio Production Team: At Your Service

2013-07-02T12:10:00.001+01:00

A job in the Gaudio Production Team is a job like no other! Because of the vast range of bespoke awards we produce for our clients no two days are the same. This requires a great deal of skill and flexibility, as well as a keen eye for detail. We pride ourselves on the quality of everything we ship, and all of our awards go through the same rigorous quality checks.

We are very lucky to have production under the same roof as our design, customer service and sales teams, resulting in a very tightly integrated process. Everybody takes immense pride in the work that we do, and it’s great to be able to see it go from brief, design and finally production within a short space of time.

If you have ordered from Gaudio before, or been lucky enough to win an award, you will be aware of our work, but you may not know about the people and processes involved in making your award. The varied nature of our products means that we need flexible machinery, skilled technicians and a great team ethic. Our production facility is more akin to Santa’s workshop than a production line, with completely different materials, processes and skills being used every day. Find out more about some of the key members of our production team:

Matt Macrow
Matt has climbed the production ladder over the last 4 years to become Production Manager. In that time Matt has become an expert in award manufacture, managing the production of our most famous awards including the Pride of Britain, Silver Clef and MasterChef Awards. He has a vast amount of knowledge on all the processes we use, as well as processes that we don’t have in-house but can subcontract.

Matt is one of our locally sourced talents, living just down the road in Tewkesbury. Before joining Gaudio, he studied Sports Science at Chester University before returning to Gloucestershire to work in manufacturing. He has a keen interest in fitness and fancies himself to replace Joe Hart as England number 1.

As Production Manager, Matt oversees all of our internal and external processes including waterjet cutting, cnc machining, casting, polishing, laser cutting, printing, engraving and assembly. When asked what he loved about his job, he said “I take great pride in my job, especially when I see them on TV and I can say ‘I made that!’ We all realise how much work goes into every event, and how pivotal the award is to the show.”

Tom Webb
Since joining the company in 2010, Tom has seen a great deal of change at Gaudio. He has been heavily involved in the move from engraving to colour printing. Although he still gets his hands dirty with some sand engraving, he is now our printing expert. Gaudio led the industry to adopt full colour digital printing in 2010, and we have continued to innovate with newer machines and better technology.

“As well as being our print expert, Tom is extremely versatile and a very hard working member of the team” commented Production Manager, Matt Macrow. Tom has been involved in the manufacture of some of the most iconic awards in the industry including the NextGen trophies, PokerStars and the nPower Football League Awards.

Adam Leeming
Adam is the newest member of the rapidly growing team, which is currently increasing at a rate of 1 new person every 6 months! Adam brings a fresh energy to the team as well some much needed organisation to our ever expanding stores.

Our increasing production schedule and constant drive to stay at the forefront of our industry has resulted in us investing in a new state-of-the-art CO2 laser. Adam has been tasked with developing the capability of the machine to make us more efficient, more flexible and increase our manufacturing capabilities.

When asked what Adam brings to the team, Matt replied “Adam has all the qualities we look for in Production: a great eye for detail, pride in his job, and a great work ethic.”

David Walker
As head of our Polishing Unit, Dave is responsible for making your awards shiny! Dave joined Gaudio in 2012 and brought with him a wealth of experience in polishing, having previously worked in the Midlands polishing turbine blades for Rolls Royce to high precision. With Dave’s help our awards have never been shinier!

In the last 6 months Dave has also taken on training Alex to help with the increasing workload in the Polishing Unit. Dave is a big Manchester United fan (which means we have to outsource the polishing of our Arsenal and Chelsea awards!) and plays guitar in a band.

Alex Albrow
Alex became our first polishing apprentice earlier this year and his versatility means he is quite happy polishing or working in assembly, depending on where he is needed. Alex is a quick learner and shares the same work ethic as the rest of the Gaudio team.

Alex is also a keen guitar player and together with Dave makes up the Gaudio House Band. They can often be heard jamming together at lunch time, dreaming of when they will be winning the Silver Clef Award rather than polishing it!

The seasonal nature of our industry means we take on extra part-time and temporary staff during busy months as and when needed. Many more people are involved in taking our awards from design to solid object and they all share the same pride, care and dedication to the job, whether they are full time, temporary or involved in the supply chain.

The production team are ready and waiting to build high quality awards to your exact specification. If you would like to see what they can do for you, why not take advantage of our free design service. Call us on 01242 232 383 for more information.

One Direction Win Best Live Act at 2013 Silver Clef Awards

2013-07-01T13:08:00.000+01:00

The annual Nordoff Robbins Silver Clef Awards took place this weekend with the boy band of the moment One Direction picking up the Best Live Act award. They managed to beat off competition from the Rolling Stones, Mumford & Sons and Coldplay in the public vote. The One Direction fan base came out in full force, with almost a quarter of all the 26,000 votes cast going to the X Factor winners. Harry Styles saying of the news "We are over the moon. Congratulations to Nordoff Robbins on another amazing Silver Clef Awards. What an incredible charity, helping people with music therapy."

Other winners of the specially designed Gaudio Award included Labrinth, Jessie Ware, Vampire Weekend, Coldplay and Alison Moyet. The Clash took home the O2 Silver Clef Award, and Beegee Barry Gibb was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Labrinth was recognised for his innovation in music, and has been working with the charity recently,
"I went over to Nordoff Robbins and saw what they were doing with the kids that have disabilities and communication issues," he said. "I thought it was genius. I loved the way they enjoyed it and they were like sponges to music, so I really loved seeing that."

Find out more about the great work of Nordoff Robbins

Incentive Ideas for Rewarding Hard Working Staff

2013-06-21T16:38:00.000+01:00

Incentives are an important part of motivating and rewarding staff for their efforts and sharing the success of the company. Studies have shown that incentive schemes increase productivity, reduce time off due to sickness and increase employee engagement. During the recession many companies have been unable to sustain their incentive schemes and productivity has dropped as a result, further compounding the decline in business. As cash incentives become less viable, many companies are turning to cash alternatives. In this article I will be looking at some of the options available for non-cash employee rewards.

Free Time

During a recession the last thing you may want to do is give your workforce a free day off, but we all know that the companies that continue to innovate are the ones more likely to come out of a recession stronger. In 1974 scientist Art Fry invented the Post-It Note during “15 percent time”, a period in the working week that 3M set aside for its employees to innovate and work on their own ideas. Google is also famous for it’s’ “20% time” and the results have been some of its best products: Gmail and Google Earth to name but two. In fact, 50% of Google products originated from 20% time.

This concept obviously works best in an industry where innovation is important, but the idea can be used in any business. Why not use Fridays to swap departments so that everyone has a great understanding of the business and can better relate to the person who normally does the job? Or why not have “no email Fridays” where all internal communication has to be face to face and outside communication is to be limited? As well as creating a fun feeling in the business, without the distraction of email, people can get on with the projects they have been putting off because they never get time.

An incentive doesn’t have to be in a “bonus” structure, by creating a workplace where people feel happy, rewarded and important they are likely to work harder and stay with the company longer.

Awards

An award recognising exceptional performance can be a great motivator, and extremely cost effective. Awards can be presented to individuals, teams or branches to highlight their performance over a week, month or year. An award that an employee can take home and display proudly will remind them, even on the lowest of days when they have been working long hours, that the company recognises their efforts. It can give the individual pride in their work, or make an entire team proud of their achievements. A wall plaque mounted in the office, listing monthly winners can also create healthy competition, lifting performance across the business.

I mentioned that an award incentive could be extremely cost effective, and it can be, but don’t go too cheap. If you present your hard working team with a cheap Chinese imported crystal award, it will only confirm in their mind that you don’t value them enough. Try getting a bespoke award made. Gaudio Awards offer a free design service with no obligation. They can create a desirable award that your team will treasure.

Flexi Time

Flexible working hours may not be a reward for working hard, but they are a valuable incentive that cost nothing to the company. Flexible hours are a great carrot for luring new talent, and for securing the employees you already have. It makes sense to give staff flexibility, happy staff work harder. Isn’t it better to have hard working staff at irregular hours than to force everyone to work 9 to 5? As an idea to turn working hours into a bonus, why not tie your monthly or quarterly award scheme with a bonus day off?

Titles

The traditional incentive to work hard is to earn a promotion. The new title is normally linked to a boost in salary, but the act of taking the person aside, explaining why they are being promoted and recognising that in front of the whole company is an incentive in itself. A company with a clear structure and achievable career path can get the most from its employees by giving them clear goals to work to.

Vouchers

Whilst a one-off large cash bonus can be a real treat, if the payment is smaller and regular it can easily be swallowed up by bills and go unnoticed. A voucher however can only be spent on buying something; something that you wouldn’t necessary treat yourself to if you had the cash. As the voucher is given separately to the pay slip it is also far more noticeable. To make sure that the voucher is relevant to the employee, why not offer them a selection or 3 or 4 vouchers to choose from. Examples of vouchers could include: restaurant vouchers, cinema, Pub Tokens, Argos, Amazon and spa day vouchers.

Gifts

Like vouchers, a gift could be worth far more than the cash equivalent as an incentive. Try buying personal gifts for each person, or have a gift cupboard which the winner can help themselves to.

Group Rewards

Rewarding a team or the whole company for their efforts with a group activity can be far more cost effective than rewarding each member individually. A group activity not only rewards the team, it also brings them closer together as a unit. Examples of activities could include a meal out, drinks in the pub, paintballing, bowling or go karting. As an added incentive the team could suggest their own incentives to work towards.