Motor Brand Design has won Creative Agency of the Year: Asia, Australia and New Zealand at the 2026 Vertex Awards for the fifth consecutive year, with five packaging projects receiving Silver and Bronze awards.
The Vertex Awards recognise branding and packaging design for private brand, private label and exclusive brand products, with entries judged by creativity, design and marketing professionals from around the world.
Among the winning work were ALDI Australia's Mantovani Panettone Tins, which received a Silver Award, and the Let's Party frozen food range, which received a Bronze Award.
The Mantovani Panettone Tins feature a collectable series inspired by four Italian cities and a red Vespa-riding character named Luca. According to the company, the design was intended to encourage repeat purchases and extend the packaging's use beyond the Christmas season.
For the Let's Party range, Motor Brand Design used dual-toned colour palettes, photography extending across the pack and illustrations reflecting each product's cultural origin. The company said the design was developed around the insight that shoppers typically scan products in the freezer aisle within a few seconds.
Hungry Humphrey received a Silver Award for packaging that uses illustrated characters, bold typography and front-of-pack health claims in the small pet food category.
The redesign of Dominion Naturals Ropes confectionery received a Bronze Award. The company said the updated packaging replaced heavily rendered imagery with softer illustrations to better reflect the product's natural ingredients and the absence of artificial colours and flavours.
White Mill's redesign received a Silver Award after the range was restructured into four categories, entry-tier cake mixes, premium cake mixes, ingredients, and flour and sugar with colour blocking and product photography used to differentiate the range.
Warren Spence, founder and CEO at Motor Brand Design, said, “To get results in the modern retail environment, private brands must be compelling and imaginative just like national brands. You have to dare to disrupt or you’re just like everyone else.”
