Our latest Commission - Trophy design and realisation for the Liverpool Music Awards

Last Saturday we were given VIP tickets to the Liverpool Music Awards as a thank you by director Ellie Phillips for designing and creating 16 bespoke trophies for the award winners on a 7 week turnaround from idea to finished product. 

Ellie Phillips approached Ilsa in late September to work alongside her to create an original trophy which would act as an iconic symbol and be given to award winners, to celebrate the wealth of musical talent we have in this great city. The idea for the inaugural event stems from Ellie's lifelong love of music and a clear gap in the market for a city-based celebration of the cultural impact of the industry. 

It is an event which belongs here and everyone we have spoken to is amazed that it never existed before now.

The event has been in the planning for over a year, the 9 judges were highly respected local and national icons of the industry. From presenters such as BBC radio 2's Janice Long to local cultural press such as Liverpool Echo's Jade Wright. Between them, they selected a shortlist of three acts per category for 16 awards. An online public vote decided the winners, and categories covered everything from best band to best studio.

The awards night was held in the grade two listed, grand central dome in the heart of Liverpool city centre. Janice Long hosted the night and had various local celebrities and supporters of the event presenting the awards, including The Coral’s James Skelly and Mel C from the Spice Girls.



In between the awards there were local artists playing a variety of different music, often in collaborations written especially for the event, the result was an original blend of different styles and genres. For us, this was the best part of the evening. It was a great way to see so many different acts that you may not normally get to see, and certainly in a way you won’t have seen them before. It really made us proud to realise the wealth of musical skill and cultural exploration that takes place around the world by bands and artists who originated from, and were clearly inspired by, the city in which we live. 

The evening had a strong focus on providing a platform for, and encouraging new talent. Esco Williams, Jamie Broad and Sue Hedges are perfect examples of the rising stars in our midst. All three acts played different styles of music, incorporating rap, R&B and piano and vocals, but they managed to blend these styles and their own songs to create a whole new track that was expertly backed with a funky instrumental by Esco’s band the ‘The Kontrollers’.


The whole evening left us with a real sense of pride to see very passionate but less well known businesses and musicians getting some highly deserved recognition. The joy that was demonstrated for receiving such, really overwhelmed us. Ali Ingle for example, who won "Best Male Artist" had his family sat nearby, when eventually, his name was read out, the whole area erupted in cheers, cries and whistles. When he returned to his seat cradling his award, we felt a real sense of achievement. Seeing these amazingly talented people so happy to have received something you had helped create was a feeling difficult to describe and knowing they will cherish and display it for years to come is an honour.  

The whole evening went off smoothly and was executed to a high standard, which is an amazing feat for Ellie (daughter of BBC Radio Merseyside presenter Roger Phillips) who at 25 years of age is a recent graduate of John Moores University. She plans to grow the event nationally, seeing each city hold its own version, broadening the celebrations  and providing further platform for recognition. It is clear to see why we were so pleased to be involved. The story of the trophies actual creation is far less flashy but equally as ambitious. Following an initial briefing discussion we set about realising the symbols that would bring the event to life. Ellie is an energetic and passionate young entrepreneur with a love for her trade and a real value for the power of good design. Her vision was to create something completely unique and distinctive which would eventually become an icon. So there was no pressure!?

Ellie was, within a week of briefing, provided with a broad range of designs that played on her original idea to incorporate a sheet of manuscript paper. In consultation, we selected the design that we felt was most practical to produce and most visually iconic. We then set about design development, we took a further week to generate a host of variations in texture, surface detail, colour and form to provide Ellie with a full range of options for creating the "feel" of the statement. She decided on simple and classic, opting for a gold finish and a hardwood base. 

We were particularly keen to perfect the ribbon unwinding from the manuscript scroll into a structural element to give the impression of "a reveal". We worked with local craftsmen Including Tom Sutton (furniture designer and silversmith) to manipulate the form of the sheet metal and engineers to rivet the joins we perfected a "moving cantilever effect" which gave the impression of dancing. The turning of the bases and beeswax finishing was done in house by myself, Andy and Vera at the studio, After working the sheet to create "musical cut outs" using laser technologies, anodising in gold and engraving the plaques, Vera and I proceeded to create our own bespoke simplistic Jigs in the studio to create consistency and quality in assembly for the finished award.

The final outcome was better than we hoped and has appeared in local and national press being held by each winner from X factor contestants such as Rebecca Ferguson who won "best female artist" to local bands such as the Hummingbirds. Our favorite shot however has to be the one of Ellie Phillips, clutching an extra item created just for her as she was being filmed by ITV. Both Ellie and I are proud of what the awards represent, we both live and work in Liverpool and we like to consider that the trophy formation is a symbol for revealing the often hidden talent within a city which holds strong ties to those that absorb it in their work.



We cant wait until next year to do it all again - perhaps with a new twist?

For more images of the night click here