Thursday, 27 October 2011

Latest launch: Coffee Shop in Tunbridge Wells

October saw the launch of www.seattle-espresso.co.uk, a brand spanking new website for an independently run coffee shop in the heart of Tunbridge Wells.

Prior to the launch Seattle Espresso had no online presence putting them a step behind their competitors (of which there are many in this industry), now with the new site they can publicise their latest offers and tell the world about their offerings.

We are also in the process of advising them how they could develop interaction between online and offline marketing strategies to help bring in new custom.

Tuesday, 22 February 2011

Latest launch: Dry Cleaning in Kent

February saw the launch of www.sealclean.co.uk a great new website promoting the services of a well established quality laundry and dry cleaners based in Tonbridge, Kent.

Sealclean was established in 1881 and has been going from strength to strength since then, however recently they became aware that their website wasn’t quite doing them justice.

They came to Design49 to help bring them bang up to date to ensure they were projecting the right image to their customers.

Their old website was ok, it functioned and it communicated the basic information but they were finding that they weren’t getting as many enquires through it as they might like so we worked with them to establish what they wanted to communicate. We then designed them a site that was pleasing to the eye, communicated all the key information and then we optimised the website to that they would appear higher in the search engine results when people searched for their key words.

The site is now appearing on the first page of Google and brining in new enquires every week.

Saturday, 11 September 2010

Help for New Start-Ups

Design49 are encouraged by the increasing number of enquiries received from new start up businesses.

There is much negativity in the media surrounding the state of the economy and you could be forgiven for thinking that it's all doom and gloom out there!

However, our experience is quite the opposite. Increasingly we're receiving more and more enquiries from people making the brave move to step out into the world of business for themselves. As a relatively young company itself Design49 knows only to well the challenges faced by new companies and it can be a daunting place.

Previously entrepreneurs could have sought free business advice from the well known government funded Business Link Network where it could be relied upon to receive free independent advice, however as with so many other government services this has been one of the ones for the chop and in June 2010 it was announced that Business Link was to be no more - however those seeking such advise should not despair.


Mark Prisk (business and enterprise minister) recently announced that the already successful "
British Library Business & IP Centre" will now begin to be rolled out across the UK in the place of the old Business Link Network with a view to utilising the already proven success of the business services and advice offered by the Business & IP Centre meaning that today's entrepreneurs will still have reliable resources available to them to give them a helping hand.


Giving your business the look that it deserves

Design49 may not be able to help you with your business plan, but if its a new logo that your looking for, or a swanky business card design that will make you stand out from the crown then we can definitely step up to the mark.


Whether you're a new start-up or an established company just looking to "freshen up" your look
give us a shout today for a no obligation chat about what you're looking for.

Saturday, 12 June 2010

World Cup 2010 Logo



As the World Cup gets under way, it's been over 4 years since the FIFA World Cup 2010 logo was first revealed.

Back in 2006 amidst a spectacular display of fireworks, the 2010 World Cup logo design was unveiled to rapturous applause at the official World Cup FIFA handover to South Africa in Berlin.

Fifa's brief wanted to highlight what African football is all about, vibrance and passion for the game. Using the image of an African football player, the logo also incorporates the use colours of black, red, gold and blue.

The logo is now the image associated with the 2010 World Cup across the world.

Forty-year-old Gabriel da Abreu, whose Johannesburg company Switch Design created the wining emblem.

"We think we met Fifa's brief because we showed what African football is all about: flair. The bicycle kick presents that and the colours are not only the colours of South Africa but also of the whole continent," he explained.

Saturday, 29 May 2010

New Website Launch

We've been working on a number of improvements for our website.

Check out the latest updates on www.design49.co.uk

This time we've included lots more useful information including handy hints and tips on how to maximise your marketing budget whilst money's still tight.

Cutting down on your marketing budget is a dangerous strategy in times like these. The temptation to reduce your costs is understandable - but sometimes you've got to spend money to make money - knowing how to spend your money carefully and to maximum effect makes the difference between a successful business and a business that is not quite so profitable.

Download our Top 10 Marketing Tips today, copy and paste this link into your browser:

http://www.design49.co.uk/marketing/marketing-contact.php

Monday, 15 February 2010

What is new in Graphic Web Design?

The web is constantly evolving and web designers are adapting their styles accordingly in order to reflect the new technology and the expectations of today's web users.

When employing the services of a graphic designer to create your website it's important that you are confident that your designer is up to speed with not only the latest style trends, but the latest technology and how users expect the be able to interact with your website.

The overall look of your website will obviously vary depending on what line of business you are in and who you are aiming your product/service at i.e. your target audience. But there are still some basic trends that are developing that will no doubt influence the appearance of your site.

Current trends in the design of web sites tend towards simplification. Modern, clean and simple designs make a site more arresting and easier for the user to read and understand.

Here's a brief summary of some of the main trends:

Use of strong colour – backgrounds are kept muted saving the strong colours to pull important areas of the web site to the fore. Whether it be text or graphics bursting with bright colour – trends focus on bold reds and other intense colours demanding attention.

Neutral Backgrounds – Use of white, greyscale or pastel backgrounds prevent the eye from being distracted from important areas of the site being emphasised by the use of strong colour, flashing or 3D effects, all of which are now frequently used.

Copious amounts of whitespace – To convey a message quickly and effectively, the eye and brain respond well to large amounts of white space surrounding the content. Space is the vital issue; it doesn’t necessarily have to be white.

Simplified Layout – Clear and uncluttered pages enable the reader’s attention to be drawn to those areas the designer wishes to highlight. Multi columns are being revisited as they ease readability and save the reader from having to scroll to the next page to keep reading.

Alignment of Text – Text is usually centred and aligned to both left and right margins within the columns. This creates order and balance, assisting the reader.

Frugal use of Icons and Logos – Whilst it is vital to highlight a company’s branding using logos and icons; their overuse can clutter and cheapen the look of the page. Less is more, use them sparingly, but make them count when you do.

3D and special effects – As with Logos, special effects are often be used to demand the attention of the casual browser, but by common consent it is agreed that their overuse will dumb down a site and take the overall image down market.

Text Size – Unsurprisingly, the fashion to use larger text for the most important messages on a site, ensures that the reader’s attention is directed to the principle points.

Wednesday, 6 January 2010

Expanding Business in a Recession

We're proud to be able to work with successful local businessman Daniele Ciacciofera who owns and manages Mamma Mia Restaurant in Historic end of Tonbridge High Street.

Despite the doom and gloom of the recession Mr Ciacciofera and his business partners are striving in times when other businesses are struggling to make ends meet.

We've been working very closely with Mamma Mia's to assist them with the opening of their Rochester branch in May 09 and the recent launch of a new Coffee Shop also in Rochester.

Having initially only been commissioned to revamp the menus in their Tonbridge restaurant (established for 1 year), our close business working relationship quickly enabled Mr Ciacciofera to recognise the advantage of working with a small local agency who value their time with each and every client.

Shortly after completing the original commission of providing some fresher looking menus, we were asked to revamp all of the literature for both of his restaurants as well as creating a brand new website for the flourishing business.

We are now preparing to launch the new Delicia de Mamma Mia, a new coffee shop in Rochester for which we have provided advice on branding, marketing and shop front curb appeal.

The new window graphics are being installed as we speak and the new literature is due to arrive tomorrow in time for the exciting launch of this new arm of the business on 3rd of December 2009.