What Great Brands Reveal
We were in London recently for the Transform Awards Europe 2026 and came home with a Gold for Parthalán Place and a Bronze for La Rousse Foods.
Two very different projects. Both close to us.
Awards are never the reason we do the work, but they offer a useful moment to reflect. Particularly when the projects themselves remind us why we do what we do.
Finding What Was Already There
Parthalán Place was never just about naming a space. It was about helping a place find its voice.
Tallaght is one of Ireland's largest urban areas, with a strong sense of identity and pride. Yet at its centre, three cultural institutions sat side by side without a shared name or story to bring them together.
Through conversations with residents, schools, historians and stakeholders, one thing became clear. People didn't want something imposed. They wanted something authentic.
In looking back, we found it.
Parthalán. A figure from early Irish mythology, said to be among the first to settle in the area. A story of arrival, community and beginnings.
The name Parthalán Place doesn't try to explain everything. It opens something up. It invites curiosity. It gives people a reason to look again at where they live and discover something that was always there.
Seeing it now spoken, shared and embraced by the community is what matters most.
Parthalán Place Tallaghts new Cultural Quarter
Revealing What Already Existed
La Rousse Foods presented a very different challenge.
A well-established business with an outstanding reputation, but a brand that no longer reflected the quality, expertise and ambition of the organisation behind it.
The opportunity wasn't to reinvent. It was to reveal.
To bring clarity, confidence and consistency to a business that already had strong foundations. To help the brand reflect the care, craftsmanship and expertise that had always been there.
Sometimes the most powerful move isn't creating something new.
It's helping people see what already exists.
La Rousse Foods Brand Language
A Common Thread
On the surface, these projects couldn't be more different.
One is a cultural destination rooted in local history. The other a specialist food ingredients business serving customers across Ireland and beyond.
Yet both emerged from the same belief.
The best branding doesn't start by inventing something. It starts by understanding.
By listening carefully. Looking deeper. Finding what makes an organisation, place or community distinctive. Then, express it clearly.
That's what we aim to do at Alkamee.
And while a Gold and a Bronze are wonderful recognitions, the real reward is seeing the work take root in the world and become something people genuinely connect with.
Winning Gold for branding at the Transform Awards London
