And here’s a project from almost the very beginning that’s still going strong too.

I designed the packaging for Maysan curry sauces around 20 years ago, and it got me thinking about what actually makes design good.

For me, good design isn’t simply about making something look better.

It should be right for the business, appeal to the right customers, communicate something about the company behind it and help it stand out from the competition.

And if it’s properly considered, it should last.

When I redesigned Maysan’s packaging, the brief was very clear. This wasn’t a premium supermarket product. It was mainly sold through cash & carries and butchers, to customers looking for good quality and good value.

That didn’t mean the packaging shouldn’t feel high quality. It simply needed to feel right for their market.

The existing design looked dated and lacked a real brand style, so I developed warmer colours to distinguish the flavours, introduced a more appropriate typeface and brand pattern, reworked the character, and made the product information much clearer.

We also brought more of the family business’s story into the packaging — helping communicate the experience and care behind the recipes.

Even the print production was reconsidered. Moving from three-colour printing to CMYK added very little to the cost but gave us much more freedom and allowed the packs to have far greater shelf appeal.

Twenty years later, the packaging is still being used.

Would I design it exactly the same way today? Probably not. But does it still feel distinctive, full of character and appropriate for the market it was created for? I think it does.

And that, to me, is one of the signs of effective design.

Good design isn’t always the cheapest option. But if it works hard for a business and keeps working for 10, 15 or even 20 years, it can represent very good value indeed.

As TENT heads into its 22nd year, that’s still very much how I approach every project: understand the business, understand the audience and create something that doesn’t just look good today, but has the thinking behind it to last.