We've been close before.
Think! was shortlisted in the Creativepool Annual Awards in 2023 and again in 2024, but on both occasions we left empty-handed.
This year was different.
Our work for Standard Patent Glazing, Designing for specification: a future-ready website and library for architects, has been awarded Bronze in the Web category at the Creativepool Annual Awards 2026. And after a couple of near misses, it's fair to say this one feels particularly rewarding.
Strong company to be keeping
A quick look through this year's shortlist shows just how competitive the awards are.
The 2026 programme featured agencies including AKQA, Interbrand, Design Bridge and Partners, Huge, VCCP, VML, Edelman, Publicis, SomeOne and The Romans, alongside work for brands such as Google, PepsiCo, Nike, Audi, Mercedes-AMG, Toyota, Samsung, Tiffany & Co., Volvo, Lidl, Coca-Cola, Tesco, Absolut and Amazon.
With more than 400,000 members and 27,000 companies across its creative network, Creativepool described the 2026 Annual as its largest awards programme to date.
In short, this isn't a local or regional competition. It's a global awards programme featuring some of the biggest names in the creative industry.
The strength of the competition was particularly obvious in the Web category, where we were shortlisted alongside Huge, AKQA, Mud, Novagram, Browser London and Richard Chapman Studio. The category included work delivered for brands such as PepsiCo and Google, alongside an impressive line-up of independent agencies and studios.
For a small independent agency based in Whitefield, Manchester, that's a pretty special shortlist to be part of.
Designing for specification
The winning project was developed for Standard Patent Glazing, a company with more than a century of expertise in patent glazing systems. The objective wasn't simply to redesign an ageing website. Architects and construction professionals rely on the SPG website to access technical information, specifications, drawings and performance data.
Our role was to make that information easier to find, access and use.
We restructured the user experience around the journeys architects and specifiers actually take, creating clearer routes to product information, technical guidance, drawings and downloadable resources. Alongside the website, we developed a premium nine-brochure specification library presented within a custom slipcase, giving SPG a physical resource designed to sit within architectural practices rather than disappear into storage.
More importantly, it's delivering results.
Since launch, the website has generated more than 3,000 high-intent interactions, including 1,399 specification downloads, 696 technical and product PDF downloads, and 43 brochure downloads.
For us, that's what really matters. Great design should look good, but it also needs to perform.
Recognition beyond the Bronze
The Bronze award wasn't the only recognition we received this year.
Our Agecko Waste Reimagined rebrand was shortlisted in both the Branding and Graphic categories, while the Standard Patent Glazing project was also shortlisted in Graphic in addition to Web. Think! was also shortlisted for Small Agency of the Year.
The Branding category featured agencies including AKQA, BBC Studios Creative, Interbrand, Design Bridge and Partners, PepsiCo Design & Innovation, SomeOne, Coley Porter Bell and Pearlfisher. Not bad company for an agency from Manchester.
Do awards matter?
We've always taken a fairly practical view of awards.
Clients don't choose us because we've won another trophy. They work with us because they need a challenge solving, and because they want work that delivers measurable results.
That said, awards like Creativepool provide an opportunity to benchmark our work against agencies and in-house teams from across the world.
The 2026 judging panels included senior creative and marketing leaders from organisations such as BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, Ogilvy, Disney, Electrolux and BrandOpus.
Having been shortlisted previously and gone home without an award, finally taking Bronze makes this recognition feel all the more meaningful.
As Paul Grogan, Founder and Creative Director at Think!, put it:
"We've been shortlisted in the Creativepool Annuals before and come away empty-handed, so finally winning one feels pretty special. When you look at the agencies, brands and quality of work involved, you realise how difficult it is just to make the shortlist, never mind win.
What I like most is the project itself. The work for Standard Patent Glazing wasn't about creating something flashy. It was about taking a business with more than 100 years of expertise and making that knowledge easier for architects and specifiers to access and use. It solved a genuine business and user problem, and the results back that up. That's the kind of work we enjoy doing."
After a few near misses, it's nice to finally bring a Creativepool Annual Award back to Whitefield.
Some things are worth waiting for.