eightyone design

Welcome to our lovely new clients

Lu — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:59:48 +0000

I’ve read in several entrepreneurial magazines that 2012 is going to kick start business and this is the year that everyone has been waiting for to start their new venture, review their marketing materials, draw that proverbial line in the sand and create that website they always said they would. Because of all these reasons we have had a flying start to 2012 and been inundated with projects. We cant wait to share these super projects with you soon!

For now though we would just like to stop and welcome all our lovely, new clients:

- AMLCC

- Exchange Site

- New Ability

- Roc

- Amber Human Capital Alignment

- Smile

- Creative Learning Solutions

Huge welcome everyone and looking forward to unveiling the projects to the rest of the world very soon!

If you are looking to start your new venture or revamp your marketing materials why not bite the bullet and get in contact for a chat - 01803 390859?

Design and development of the Sample Mills website

Lu — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:10:43 +0000

Sample Mills & Co is an Independent Estate Agents formed in 2009 which has quickly built up a reputation for selling all different types of properties in the Newton Abbot and the surrounding areas.

We have previously worked with Sample Mills on their brochure design and an iPad presentation but were recently invited to re-design their website. A lot of our market research was fulfilled when we designed their brochure and presentation. We had the branding in place so it was a case of developing a simple user interface as well as a clear website structure.

Research

We created a range of wireframes outlining where everything would be located for key website pages. This gives the client an approximation of what they’ll be seeing when they receive the initial website design visual. It also ensures we are all on the ’same page’ and no vital elements have been missed. As we were designing the site to work inline with the bespoke system Sample Mills already has in place, created by developers - Bay Soft, we also showed them the wireframes. Bay Soft suggested widening the site from 960px to 1000px and giving the search box more padding.

Design

As we have mentioned, branding for Sample Mills had previously been established so it was a case of applying this branding to the site. We wanted to ensure the coloured bands and curves were included in the website design but didn’t over power the functionality of the site. We need to ensure that as well as selling Sample Mills and their services we were also selling the individual properties. The design therefore needed to compliment and not interfere with this.

Feedback

Overall Sample Mills were really pleased with the site, it kept in line with their branding and was clean and contemporary. There were, however, some very minor amends:

1. Make the logo larger

2. Different images in the homepage banners

3. Borders around the boxes to replicate that of the logo.

The amended site looked a little something like this:

The Build

We saved the files as .bmp’s (as requested from the developers at Bay Soft) and carved up as many images as we could enabling the Swansea based programmers to build the website. They did a super and speedy job on the build and the website was live within a couple of weeks!

Going Live

The site has now been live for a few weeks now and we are really pleased with the look of the website as well as the clients reaction. Tim Sample (Director) commented “Thanks for all your efforts, the website looks fantastic, renewed, new direction, fresh and just FANTASTIC!”. Please check out the Sample Mills website design and let us know your thoughts - www.samplemills.co.uk

So, what do you think of the website? Clean and contemporary or would you rather it more colourful and explosive?

How much is your logo design worth?

Lu — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:01:24 +0000

Many people underestimate the importance of their logo design and think of it as an element they merely use on a website or flyer. What they don’t realise is your logo is a graphical representation of your company and can help to make or break your business. Your logo should represent your companies values, what you offer and how you deliver it.

Your logo is an embodiment of your company and can be the first thing that clients, suppliers and peers think of when they visualise your business. When you recall large corporations such as McDonalds, Coca cola, Nike and Adidas, each of their logos are clean, simple and bold and are therefore instantly recognisable.

Creating a powerful and memorable logo takes time and skill. Research needs to be undertaken before a logo is created - Who’s in the market place? What logotypes in this industry have been trademarked? What are the key services provided? What are the companies values? This research is vital for creating a logo that will blow your markets away.

Once you have these answers you need to spend more time creating a graphical or typographical representation of your business (your logo design). Every curve, every line and each typeface on the page needs to be considered and scrutinised - what messages do they give off and are they appropriate? If you don’t like the answer then you go back to the drawing board (no pun intended!).

‘Where is this post heading?’ I hear you grumble? We’ve written in the past about our logo design process so I won’t go into the many hours, days and weeks it takes to come up with a valuable logo design. I will get straight to the point - you are not going to get this level of care and attention from a company who offers a free logo design with every website built - especially when that site is costing you £400! Equally, other than sheer luck, I cannot see how a mind blowing logo design can be created for only £200.00! For these sort of prices the ‘logo designer’ simply cannot be putting in the required time to research and develop a logo that adequately appeals to your target market. You then end up with a shabby, poor excuse for a logo design.

I’m sorry folks but a thorough and thought out logo design takes skill:

- You need to understand the principals of marketing and practically apply them

- You need to be creative - can you communicate a message visually?

- You need to be able to use the appropriate tools to create the logo files (i.e. Illustrator or a similar vector design package)

To be a master of the above takes a great deal of time and skill.

If you are now thinking ‘I’m happy with my free logo design’… great, but what about your markets? Cheap logo designs let off a stench and your clients can sniff them out a mile off. You deserve to be proud of your logo and your markets need to be impressed by it (as well as your overall brand presence).

Don’t settle! if you are reading this thinking I need a new logo design or my current logo design doesn’t come up to scratch either get in contact or find yourself a logo designer with an outstanding portfolio. Don’t just choose the cheapest designer, only your business will lose out in the end.

Some other things to consider when choosing a logo designer:

Portfoilo - For me this is the most important. If you don’t like what you see then they aren’t the designer for you. In my eyes a portfolio doesn’t need to be plentiful, it just needs to show quality.

Relationship - Can you work with this company or individual? Developing a logo for your company is a very personal project and whilst you might get on fabulously with Bill down the pub who designs logos in his spare time, can you work with him on a day to day basis? Is he professional enough to create you a logo in various file formats? Can he interpret your brief? Can you work through the amends process with him?

Cost - Of course, the bottom line is always important. After all, you don’t want to re-mortgage your house in order to have a professional looking logo design! But don’t just accept the cheapest quote you get. There is a very good reason it is the cheapest quote - they simply cannot put in the time or effort your logo design deserves.

OK, rant over! If you need a professional looking logo design, the first place to start is here, get in contact for a quote today!

Let’s hear your views, are you a ‘designer’ who gets frustrated at other companies cheapening your trade? Or have you ever been let down by a logo designer who left you with a poor logo design? Please do drop your thoughts in the comment box below.

Logo Design Rules!

Lu — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:01:37 +0000

Yes logo design rules! But there are also some actual rules (guidelines) that must be adhered to when creating a logo design that ‘rules’ (is cool). Enough of my pathetic attempt at word play. This is a serious post with an important message. If you are thinking of commissioning a logo design then this article is for you.

I’m not going to go over old ground, we all understand the importance of a good logo design to your business. We all know that your logo design should be lovingly researched and developed alongside your companies objectives and messages, it reflects what you do and how you do it and it should appeal to your target market.

We never deter clients from browsing other graphic designers portfolios as it makes them more aware of who’s in the industry and (hopefully) more confident in choosing us as their logo designer. But when you view a graphic design portfolio, do you know what makes a good logo design? It’s not just about how appealing it is, it must also be versatile and usable on a range of media. Here’s a run down of rules (guidelines) we use when designing a logo:

1. Where will the logo look its absolute worst?

This is normally a photocopied / faxed / laser printed document. All of these have one thing in common… they will display your logo in black and white. When designing your logo options we supply a black and white version for your perusal as well as a colour version. This enables you to focus on the shape of your logo without being swayed by the colour. If, for example, you were given a logo design concept in red and you do not like that colour then it is much harder to look objectively at the design. The logo design should work in a single colour before any colour options are explored.

2. Use a limited colour palette

A good logo design rarely uses more than 2 colours. If you think of all the iconic corporate logos we see in our everyday life, there are few examples that use more than 2 colours (Coca Cola), with the majority making use of just one (Apple, Nike, Adidas). In fact, the last 3 I mention do not even have a specific colour attached to their brand.

3. Large and small, big and tall!

All logos should be clear and readable and work at any size. A good rule to ask yourself is ‘would my logo design still convey the desired message work when reduced to the size of a postage stamp?’. Marks are regularly used as avatars and favicons and again need to work at a small size.

4. Gradients and shadows don’t necessarily make a good logo design

Gradients can be costly to reproduce in print and are all too often used to the detriment of a design. The same rules apply, a logo design using gradients should also work in single colour. Many web based companies are now using gradients, multiple colours and shadows to add depth to their logo designs. This is fine as a logo should be designed to work to it’s target market. If you know your logo will mostly be used online then feel free to experiment with gradients and shadows… but remember the golden rule, it should always work in single colour first and should not rely on the gradients to convey its main message.

5. Avoid using photography

Faces of people or detailed images and patterns can reduce the recognition value of a logo design and they certainly degrade in quality when it come to reproducing them. Your logo design should be vector based which can be re-scaled to any size without loosing quality. Whereas raster based photography relies on PPI (pixels per inch) which can degrade in quality when used at multiple sizes..

6. Avoid decoration and cheap Photoshop effects

Avoid using ‘out of the box’ effects on your logo design. Whether its embossing and beveling or texture effects, if it is obvious that these effects have been used ‘because you can’ rather than because they are needed then they should not feature in your logo design.

You want your logo design to have longevity as well as presence. It needs to work well on a range of media as well as appealing to your market and should convey your message as simply as possible.

So… does your logo meet all the requirements above?

Eightyone Design Christmas Cards 2011

Lu — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:09:11 +0000

Well I can’t believe it is that time of year and Christmas is once again knocking on our door! As such, we have been hard at working developing our Eightyone Design Christmas Cards.

Over the last few years we have developed a theme for our Christmas cards using our Eightyone Design branding as a basis for some festive imagery. In 2008 we created a bauble based design which looked a little something like this:

Our ‘Joy’ Christmas card design followed in 2009:

… and in 2010 we opted for a Christmas Pudding design:

2011 - The year of the snowflake!

This year we’ve adapted the Eightyone Design Christmas card to using our branding to symbolize snowflakes:

This year we have also incorporated a QR (Quick Response) code within our Christmas Card design which links mobile users back to this very article (welcome if you have ended up here after using the QR code!). To customize the code, we edited the area inside the QR code (which isn’t integral to the scanning process) to add an extra piece of Christmas cheer - a tree!

We love an adaptable logo and it seems we have that in the Eightyone Design logo. The simple, yet distinct shape is flexible enough to re-create many a Christmas theme! What do you think of this years and previous years Eightyone Christmas card designs? Have you designed your own Christmas cards? If so we would love to see them!

I didn’t know Santa played rugby?

Lu — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 10:48:27 +0000

Now I wouldn’t mess with a rugby player and I think that’s why they can wear all these outrageous shirt designs… no-one would ever dare question their loud choice of attire!

This years WBR addition is a sublimated ‘Santa Suit’ rugby shirt design based around the idea of ‘North Pole RFC’ which wraps around the front and back.

As always we begin the design process with research and even though we were drawing such a famous suit we still had a conflict of ideas, does Father Christmas’s suit have buttons down the front or fur lining? Is the belt brown or black and does it have pockets? We concluded fur, black and no (he doesn’t need pockets… he’s magical!!!).

This lead us to this design:

As is always the case with sublimated clothing designs, the artwork has to wrap around the shirt and meet perfectly at the seams. Working closely with the manufacturer the artwork was split in to separate panels which would create the desired effect when manufactered.

Both ourselves and client were really pleased with the final design, the vibrant colour and crisp lines look smashing and it’s a great bit of fun for all rugby players over the festive period.

What do you think of our Santa rugby shirts? Would you wear one over the Christmas period?

Personal Projects: Illustrated Children’s Book

Lu — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:48:41 +0000

Back in June I was honored to become God mother to my best friends Son - Charlie. So far, I have made a range of gifts for this wonderful (and very spoilt) young man - I knitted a cardigan, crochet a hat, blanket and booties, baked his Mum plenty of cakes whilst he was in her tummy and I’ve just finished my latest creation for Charlie… his very own nursery rhyme book!

The book is based around a nursery rhyme which tells the tale of Charlie going into space via one of his Mums out of control Victoria Sponges! Eventually the cake crumbles and Charlie comes plummeting back to earth to be comforted by his Mum and Dad.

I still haven’t converted to using a tablet, so each of the images was lovingly sketched out, scanned into the computer and re-drawn to create crisp vector illustrations. I had the book printed with Lulu who are a self publishing printers specializing in single and small print runs. I wanted to create a large, hard copy book (for durability) and Lulu had a range of sizes and covers to work with.

It took many a weekend and evening to complete the book but I must say I am very pleased with the final result and I am looking forward to the time when my God Son will be able to read it to me!

I know I have mentioned this before, but I cannot stress enough the importance of personal projects. This project has forced me to really push my Illustrative skills, in a non pressured yet completely rewarding way. Right now onto the next personal project, this office wall is looking a bit bare…..

Does your website work on mobile devices?

Lu — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:11:33 +0000

As you know we are keen campers here at Eightyone Design and one of the joys of camping is that you can go away on a whim. Is the sun shining this morning? Well let’s go camping then!

We often ring the campsite on route, to ensure we can get a pitch. This involves using our phone to go online, finding their website and giving them a call. So far this has never proved a problem, however this weekend on route to North Devon I logged onto a major campsite chains website only to find the main telephone number they had situated on every page was an image and I couldn’t click on it to call them direct. I know I sound like a petulant kid, but we are now in a ‘touch it and it’ll work’ age and it is so frustrating when websites don’t work as easily as they should. I’ve contacted many smaller campsites who’s websites usability is great on mobile devices so why can’t a major chain sort their site out?

Anyway enough of this rant. Let’s turn negatives into positives. Your website is being increasingly viewed on on mobile devices, here are my top 5 basics tips for ensuring your site works:

1. HTML phone numbers, not images

One of the beauties of logging onto a website from a phone is that you don’t have to fiddle around with remembering and typing in the digits of the phone number to call someone. You can simply click the telephone number and away you go. Using images instead of html has always been a design vs usability issue. But I’m afraid in this day and age an image instead of a html telephone number, email address or url is just not good enough.

2. Clear and Easy Navigation

Confusing navigation is bad enough when you are viewing it on a lovely 27″ screen from the comfort of your home, let alone when you are on the go with a dodgy 3G connection. Small buttons and fiddly fly out menus do not work well on mobile devices so steer clear.

3. Quick to Load

If I’m using my phone to browse the web, then 9 times out of 10, I’m probably using my 3G connection. This means I’m browsing at a snails pace so If the web page is slow to load then I’ll move on to more interesting things. Make sure your website code is clean and therefore quicker to download.

4. Don’t be Flash!

Not all mobile devices are Flash friendly so if your entire website is made in Flash then users viewing it on these devices will not be able to see your website at all. That is ridiculous! If a client is desperate to have an entirely Flash website then always ensure there is an alternate html version of the site as well. The same applies to Flash headers and banners, make sure there alternate a html content for those without flash.

5. Vertical Scrolling

On my mobile device I want to scroll vertically not horizontally, this confuses my phone and me! Also, I don’t want to endlessly scroll so If I have to do so, there are probably issues with your website content which should be revised.

This list is not extensive by any means and is merely the basics to ensure your website works on mobile devices. If you have the budget then the best option is to have a separate mobile version of your website. Unfortunately, not everyone has that luxury so for now I would ensure that the main site works on mobile devices.

If you need any help ensuring your website works on mobile devices, why not get in contact on info@eightyonedesign.co.uk or call 01803 390859 (if you are reading this on a mobile device, you can click the phone number to call us!!).

I’ve listed my Top 5 tips for ensuring your website works well on mobile devices, but what would you add to the list?

Should you tell another graphic design agency when they have made a mistake?

Lu — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 10:31:28 +0000

Let me set the scene for you - ‘Larger’ graphic design agencies occasionally outsource work to us when they are over subscribed. I therefore potentially see every design agency as another client to which we can be that helping hand when they have too much to do and don’t know where to turn.

In case you didn’t know, we like to think of ourselves as perfectionists here at Eightyone Design. No site goes out without being validated and made CSS compliant. Websites are checked in multiple browsers and as many mobile devices we can get our hands on!

These are some basic practices which all web designers say they adhere to, but too many times I have seen a ‘Big Agency’ send a Tweet out requesting all followers check out their latest website design only to find it doesn’t render correctly in one or more of the major browsers. This came to a head this week when, once again I got ushered onto a site that had no background, half a navigation bar and shadows popping up all over the place. It was like they didn’t even check it out in Safari or decided it was too broken and couldn’t be bothered to fix it. If that’s the kind of company they are then they must have charged their client peanuts… right? Wrong, it was for a major car retailer and they even boasted in their Tweet how much effort had gone into this website.

OK… rant over!!! But here’s the dilemma… what should I do about it?

As I see it, here are my choices:

1. Send a quick Tweet to the company politely informing them that there is a problem with the site when viewed in Safari.

2. Sit back and smile about the fact that I would never have done such a thing!!! (I hope!!!)

Now I’m not a person afraid of conflict. In fact I sometimes think some conflict can make the world a better place. However, this agency could be a potential client and I wouldn’t want to offend or annoy a fellow designer. I wouldn’t want to be seen as a ‘nit picking know-it-all’ and get their backs up when they hadn’t actually asked for a critique.

Equally, they may not know their site is broken, or may have uploaded the wrong version of the site in error so surely a helpful ‘did you know your site doesn’t work in Safari’ Tweet couldn’t cause too many problems… could it?

To find out I put my dilemma out on Twitter and a very helpful Gareth Cox from Dot Design assured me that a graphic or web designer needs to know when they’ve made such a big mistake. I have to say, I agree with Gareth, although by the time I had come to this decision the moment had passed. That being said, if I were in the same position again I think a Tweet in the right tone is better than letting it go. After all, if I was in the same position I would want someone to tell me!!

But what do you think? Was I too much of a coward? Would you tell a big agency they’ve made a mistake when they’ve got something so wrong?

Design for your market - not you!!!

Lu — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:20:06 +0000

It’s a very common mistake to make and it’s difficult to get away from. It’s a battle I undertake weekly with clients, but once the penny has dropped and you truly see the logic you start thinking in a different way which changes your whole marketing strategy.

Design for your market… not for you!

I recently had a client who couldn’t decide which avenue to take for the re-design of their logo. To put it very simply (although this logo re-design was far from simple) should the logo obviously demonstrate what the company does or should it be more subtle? There were excellent arguments for both, but the client was adamant that her idea for a subtle, understated logo was the way forward (at the expense of loosing the message) and dismissed all evidence that a more meaningful logo design may be more beneficial. Luckily the team contained of a very ‘clued up’ marketing consultant who suggested a survey to ask the customers what they wanted.

After a couple of months of Facebook, newsletter and Twitter campaigns the results were in. A more obvious, meaningful logo it was, with very little argument. Of course you could hear mild protesting from the top, but you can’t argue with your market, the design isn’t for you - it’s for them.

It’s a scenario you see all the time on the BBC programme ‘The Apprentice’, one group meets with a focus group to get some market research and when the focus group do not like their ideas the ‘wanna be’ apprentices undermine the group - usually to the tune of ‘there were only 14 people in the group’, ‘they were a little too old’ and ‘they don’t know what they want’. The contestants ignore any advice from their target market and consequently loose the task.

Please, when you sit down to write a brief for your new website, brochure or logo design, sit back and put yourself in your customers shoes and ask yourself “what would appeal to them?”. It’s great that you live in a pink house with pink walls, pink carpet and matching pink furniture but would a pink logo appeal to your markets? Does it say what you want it to say about your business?

You must always put your markets first and your personal feelings second. And as I mentioned, if you’re not sure… ask them, don’t guess.

I repeat - design for your markets, not for you!

eightyone design

Welcome to our lovely new clients

Most Commented Posts

Design and development of the Sample Mills website

Research

Design

Feedback

The Build

Going Live

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How much is your logo design worth?

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Logo Design Rules!

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Eightyone Design Christmas Cards 2011

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I didn’t know Santa played rugby?

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Personal Projects: Illustrated Children’s Book

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Does your website work on mobile devices?

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Should you tell another graphic design agency when they have made a mistake?

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Design for your market - not you!!!

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