Design on the mind

A few months ago, our creative team of graphic designers at Deckchair designed and produced a high impact billboard and bus campaign for the Environment Agency. It was designed to tackle the fly tipping problem (illegal waste dumping) in the Bristol area. When the Environment Agency approached us with the project we were very pleased to be involved with something ‘green’ and also something that would have a positive effect on our local area, Bristol.

 We quickly came up with a few concept ideas for the campaign; we needed the billboard to be high impact with a clear message to really make people think about where their rubbish goes. The reality of the situation is that a lot of the illegal carriers dump dangerous rubbish, chemicals and white goods in hotspots in the south of the city. Most of these locations are in the back lanes of residential areas where young children play and could easily be harmed.

We all agreed that this was a strong directive and we could produce a hard hitting image to convey this message using our extensive experience with professional photography. We chose a location for the shoot and set the scene for the picture. Florence, our young model was an absolute star as the shoot took most of the day and hundreds of frames to get the shot we wanted.

The result is a visually stunning and hard hitting photograph that conveyed the message perfectly and fulfilled the client’s design brief.

The campaign has recently been honored at the National Environment Agency Communications Awards 2007 through Clare Rogers (project manager) with an award for ‘best visual interpretation of our brand’, and was short listed from over 100 entries. We are absolutely thrilled with this great result for our client; it is fabulous when great design is commended and appreciated.

Clare Rogers, Campaign Manager, Environment Agency said:

“Faced with the challenge of communicating a message to a hard-to-reach audience, we needed considerable creative input and some fresh ideas, stepping right away from our traditional corporate style. Deckchair gave us a range of great concepts to test on our audience, then delivered the complete package, based on our market research.
It’s rare to find a company so responsive to what you are trying to achieve. The results are stunning and our design has won a communications award for ‘best visual interpretation of our brand’.”

The photograph has also been short listed in a photographic competition run by The AOP (Association of Photographers). There will be an exhibition of these images at the AOP Gallery in London starting 22nd August 2007. You can vote for our photograph here (if you feel moved to do so!)

Toni

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I don’t know if any of you have already seen this, but take a look….It is Microsoft’s answer to the future of computers. This new technology is called “surface computing” and uses multi-touch technology to interact with the user, or users.  It is like something out of Minority Report, forget monitors, keyboards and your mouse; this is hands-on!!

Click here for the ’surface computing’ clip

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Ever looked at your website in another browser and found that the layout has gone out of alignment or certain features aren’t working or are missing? This is probably due to the fact that all web browsers read parts of the CSS code differently and then display it on the web page in a different way. Remember, a website is not a published piece of work; it is more like a living document that can be interpreted in different ways by different browsers and on different platforms.
A good web designer will always check his design in all the important web browsers before the site goes live. I find it quite astounding that I have viewed big corporate and name brand websites in different web browsers and found them not working properly. Who are these people designing these websites and no doubt charging huge sums for them??
Get your web designer to check that your website looks and functions exactly as it should from the major web browsers. These are the ones to worry about: Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Netscape and Opera.

Also have a think about whether your customers are likely to be the sort of people who may be using an ancient web browser and talk to your designer about your options.

Toni

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Let’s face it, these days most people use the internet as their first port of call, for information, communication and of course shopping…even my Mum buys online now! So you would probably be struggling as a business if you didn’t have an online presence of some description. But let’s not forget the bigger picture; branding, logo and print are still vital. To successfully market a business you need to have an understanding of that sector and have the ability to consider all media and how they complement and connect with each other. Stay classy!

I think this is the reason that a lot of design agencies are diversifying and are now jumping on the digital band wagon in order to offer a complete marketing solution. This all makes sense in theory as there would be no point in employing one group to handle print and television and another that specializes in digital to handle the online stuff. However it would be a mistake to choose an agency that didn’t have the experience required in the fast moving world of the web, to really give the solution that was needed. There is the danger that the website would be seen as just another touch point and the scope of the project would be completely underestimated.

The best web designs are always simple for the user but incredibly sophisticated underneath. This takes planning, knowledge and experience of the medium. Firstly work out what it is you want to achieve, do your market research and then choose a design company that can offer you a website design tailored to the needs of your business. And don’t forget the bigger picture, you will gain a more pervasive and ongoing communication if you embrace all the marketing tools at your disposal.

Toni

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