Masters Allen have been commissioned to redesign the
BFDC website,
a leading stamp and first-day-cover online resource. For stamp
lovers everywhere (and there are more than you think!), BFDC has
been a valuable source for purchasing and referencing stamps for
the last 30 years, with over 30,000 items available.
Our brief included the challenge of restructuring the navigation in such
a way, as to make it easier to use for a wide variety of existing visitors.
From keen stamp collectors, to those who are looking for special
dated collection gifts, to researchers and enthusiasts.
The redesign is in progress and will be launched in the coming months.
Is there a better way to promote your product than to incorporate it into a music video with some spreadable appeal? Brett Dominoes’ Justin Timberlake video is a great viral marketing example. Let’s see how it fares for them. We will be waiting for the good news!
Masters Allen have been working with midlands based telecommunications company Daly Telecom on their rebrand.
Daly Telecom recognised the need to future-proof their business, viewing the situation as an opportunity to expand their client base and move into new markets.
It was clear that the name needed addressing first and foremost, whilst it may be familiar to the current client base, it restricted their product offering and development into new markets. We had to establish a name that not only retained the 25 year heritage within the industry, but also provide a solution to take the business forward in an ever-changing and fast-moving industry. The solution, as it turned out, was simple – a removal of the reference to telecommunications, combined with the retention of the Daly name and reference to communications, joined together, created the individual name – Dalycom.
The new brand and design style has been applied to a variety of visual assets to create a consistent and coherent business message.
Will the newly launched Wolfram Alfa search engine change the way we use the web, just as Google has done. Or will it just be another search engine that will disappear without trace?
We hope it’s the former. We use Google everyday and find it an essential tool for our business. But, it’s always good news when someone like the British-born physicist Stephen Wolfram comes along and potentially changes the way the masses think and use the internet. Google managed to do it, so why not Wolfram?
Wolfram Alpha is a computation knowledge engine rather than a typical search engine. The idea is to give users direct answers to their questions rather than send them to other sites where they may find what they are seeking.
It was unveiled in April and has been publicly demonstrated with some people having had a chance to run queries through it. Typically the results it returns are annotated pages of data rather than a simple list of other sites that might help resolve a user’s question.
For example, if you asked what the tallest building was in the world, it would come back with a result for the top 5 tallest building names, their height and number of floors. It can also handle complicated mathematical queries, plot statistics and produce charts of natural events.
It’s currently very American-centric with its results, but that’s to be expected at this early stage. As for ease of use, it seems very intuitive with simple prompts and search tips.
As a designer and eternal student to the craft of design, I have taken great comfort in reading “Design Disasters: Great Designers, Fabulous Failures, and Lessons Learned”. The satisfaction in knowing that even the cream-of-the-crop have their off-days, not always hitting the mark every time. I understand the agony of defeat from an idea not coming to fruition as intended. I cringe at the ever so public, humiliating creative mistakes and blunders. But I also appreciate that with every stumble, dead-end and cock-up, there’s a lesson learned and a necessity not to find yourself there again. Without the disasters, there surely cannot be any triumphs!
Dozens of top designers reveal the heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious, mistakes they have made and talk about how they were able to grow from their experiences. Self-delusion, overcommitment, procrastination…they’re all here. Poor communication, missed deadlines, enraged clients…yes, they’re here too. Read this book and be inspired to find the silver lining in even the cloudiest situation.
If you’re looking to promote your website in any way, and are looking to take on board the learning process yourself rather than handing it over to a consultant or web design / SEO company, then there is some funding available for you right now.
The Leader First grant from Train to Gain, offers £500 initial funding, plus a further £1 for £1 funding up to £500 of additional funding on a £1500 project. To take advantage of this funding then you must not have undertaken any similar Leaders First funded training in the last 2 years and will need to apply through Train to Gain.
If you are interested in promoting your website and would like to investigate a funded training programme, then contact us for more details.
There are many Search Engine Optimisation experts offering various opinions on how to optimise a website. But there are several things you can check and change yourself, with a little bit of knowledge that may prove to be a golden nugget in the mystical world of SEO.
All search engines, especially Google, read the window title when trying to translate the meaning of a web page. Out of all the components that make up a web page (page titles, meta information, page text etc.) the window title is the most important element that will determine the relevance of a web page matching a search term when searched for on the internet.
So what do we mean when we talk about the “window title”? Web developers and SEO experts will know this as the title tag in the html code, “<title>Graphic Design | Web design | Leicester</title>”. When seen in a web browser it displays text at the top of the browser window in a blue bar (IE only). See below:
Combine this with some basic research to identify how many people are searching for specific keyword phrases, and an understanding of the competition on those phrases and you can achieve some remarkable results, quickly and at little cost.
Don’t forget to focus on traffic. It’s all very well being number 1 on Google, but if that isn’t bringing you traffic then it’s a waste of time. Following on from that, the focus has to be on conversions and return on investment (ROI). Are these the terms that your potential paying customers are entering into the search engines to find your website?
If you want a free report on your website then go to www.mastersallen.co.uk/online_marketing_leicester.htm and fill out the form at the bottom of the page and we will run a report for your website, absolutely free.
Note: The reports are not automated and will be run by real people, so please bear that in mind, it may take a few days to get the report over to you at busy times.
We were perusing through a design trade magazine the other day, and came across an article that we thought was relevant to all businesses. The article in question, refers to how a brand is not just a static visual part of your business, it should filter through to every part of it. We particularly liked the reference to Innocence Smoothies (included below), which talks about how they have created a brand essence that is truly different from their competitors. Taking it a step further to create a culture that believes in its brand essence. With today’s budgets having to be tightened and more choice than ever, this seems to be a simply great idea to take your brand further to stand out from your competition. Maybe we can all learn from Innocence Smoothies…
“It’s no coincidence then that the three founders of Innocent smoothies were originally ad men. They saw a market opportunity, and, instead of just creating a product that delivered against consumer research, they created a brand that delivers and allows for future brand extensions.
This is achieved through an equity whose value far outweighs the capital asset value of the business. Having seen how Innocent operates up close, there is not one thing it does or says that is not delivered throughout every process. From the receptionist, who really does answer the ‘banana phone’, to the grass on the office floor and the free fruit everywhere, the Innocent business is truly positioned to deliver the brand essence.
A memorable campaign of recent years exemplifies this with the ‘Buy one get one tree’ offer. You only need to walk into reception at ‘Fruit Towers’ to see how the brand connects to the many customers who take time out to send in their letters of praise.
You may own your own business with three staff or trade from an industrial estate, but this way of thinking is relevant to every brand. You must offer a degree of difference in your chosen field – otherwise you wouldn’t have started working there or set up the business in the first place.
This difference needs to be part of everything you do – from your culture to how your team works and even to how your offices look. If you are positioning your brand in a certain way, be proud to show your audience how this affects every part of it.”
What makes viral marketing work. Well a great way is to come up with something fascinating, that will make people surprised, scratch their heads, laugh or perhaps cry… or maybe a combination of all of the above. We came across this bit of viral marketing that certainly made us chuckle and it found itself on our website.
Digital design consultancy Splendid is creating a new Facebook-style social networking site for entrepreneurs, due to go live this autumn.
Owned by Brightstation Ventures, business support website Smarta will put those wanting to start or grow a business in touch with other entrepreneurs. Dyson director Richard Needham sits on Smarta’s board.
‘A website like Linked In has a very professional edge to it, but there is room for a more inclusive business support and networking website with no gender bias,’ says design group Splendid’s managing director Paul Bishop.
Brighstation appointed Splendid to create Smarta 18 months ago without a pitch, having worked with the consultancy for the past two years on three other websites.
Bishop claims Splendid was recommended to Brighstation following the consultancy’s work on websites for former Emap-owned magazines New Woman and Heat.
Brightstation has secured funding for Smarta from Vodafone and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Splendid created a holding microsite for the venture that went live in December and can be viewed at www.smarta.com.
Article from Design Week – www.designweek.co.uk/Articles
