Design awards for Irish products

Three products designed by Irish company Design Partners have won the prestigious Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.

More than 2,000 entries from 48 countries were considered and the Irish company won for a camping stove designed for French company Campingaz, and a computer mouse and a trackball both for Logitech.

The products were designed by Mr Brian Stephens, Mr Diarmuid MacMahon and Mr Cathal Loughnane and the award will mean their work will now become part of the museum's permanent design collection.

Up to 150,000 of Eircom's higher spending residential customers are currently being invited to enjoy special money-off offers through a new promotional scheme called Eircom advantage.

The pilot project involved a mail shot of a brochure detailing the offers, which range from low-cost weekend breaks to 20 per cent off luxury goods.

The company will assess the take-up of the offers before deciding how to extend the scheme to all its customers.

According to Mr Gerry Culligan, sales and marketing director for Eircom's residential market, the scheme will eventually be tailored to specific customer needs.

For example, a customer who regularly calls Britain or Northern Ireland might be targeted for a special offer weekend break there.

"We are in a competitive market," says Mr Culligan. "We are offering customers something over and above our usual service."

Jacobs is to invest £2 million (€2.54 million) in redesigning its corporate logo, biscuit brands and packaging on more than 120 products over the next 12 months.

The new logo will be diamond shaped and will combine the colours of two of its most popular brands, orange for Jacob's Cream Crackers and black for Jacob's Chocolate Kimberley.

Mr Tim Wynne, head of marketing, said the new design would give Jacob's a more modern, contemporary look.

"We will be able to maximise the impact of the logo on the pack, ensuring that our biscuits stand out on retail shelves."

Jacobs is the leader in the Republic's biscuit market with a 50 per cent volume share.

The rebranding follows consumer research showing that even though Jacobs' main brands were well known, its packaging was regarded as lacking style and visual impact.