Working with Debs Bamford from Confidence Camp has been a real joy!
Author: Creating Media Team on 10/08/2018
Debs and I spent time talking through who this logo needed to appeal to, who are the decision makers that choose Debs' services. The target market is parents, teenagers and the education sector.
There were some strong influences in Debs' brief, her time at Camp America was important and the fact that whilst this is initially an online service, one day there will be a physical Confidence Camp too. The fonts needed to be bold, or should we say - confident!
With that in mind, we went through a logo design process. Initially four designs, with one that immediately stood out as...
Photography for websites - what if someone steals your images?
Author: Creating Media Team on 01/05/2017
In the age of over sharing through social media how will you know if someone has used your images without permission?
As a creative design agency we work with clients to create engaging websites and an absolutely key part of that experience is the photography.
As part of the process when talking with clients we discuss their photography options, do they have existing imagery or need new. Is stock imagery appropriate and if so how can we ensure that it doesn’t look like stock!
Obviously we recommend using “real” images and creating a bank of photographs to use across brochures, adverts, websites, banner...
Do I have your attention? If so which sort of attention is it?
Author: Michelle Dalley on 08/07/2016
Earlier today in the office, we were discussing this interesting article about how our attention spans are changing and the impact on marketing approaches. Simply put our attention spans are divided into three styles, used at different stages throughout the day:
1. Selective – when we choose one stimulus over another.
2. Divided – when we divide our attention between various stimuli, i.e. talking on the phone and checking social media.
3. Sustained – when we truly focus on a particular stimuli, such as reading a book. Undistracted.
There are no great surprises that the main reason for our shortened attention span is attributed...
Our Top 5 SEO Myths 2016
Author: Myles Dowd on 21/01/2016
With a brilliant and relaxing start to the year we decided to name our top 5 SEO myths to ditch in 2016. SEO is a very important aspect to us, it’s something we enjoy helping our clients with. Today we use SEO in many ways to help make your website perform and give your visitors a brilliant experience when it comes to quality of content when visiting sites. We are also familiar with linking a user’s site with keywords based on their mission aims for the business, this allows you to work out the kind of audience you want and how to...
Brands in 2016 - this time it's personal!
Author: Creating Media Team on 01/01/2016
Everyone at Creating Media wishes you a Happy New Year! And with a shiny new year, it means we are looking forward to exciting new trends in design and marketing for the coming year...
It has been an ongoing trend for several years – brands have been becoming more and more personal. 2016 will be the year that all brands will be expected to be more focused on a personalised, friendly brand experience for all users.
Some great examples of brand utilising great personalisation are the famous Coca Cola named bottles – it’s touching an individual out there and giving them a...
The Illustration Awakens - Star Wars the Force Awakens Illustrative Designs
Author: Myles Dowd on 11/12/2015
One of the things we love, just as much as the work we do, is Star Wars. Being fans since young and the inspiration and ideas it gave us, we especially love the illustrations shown on the Design Taxi blog counting down the release of the new Star Wars film which we are all looking forward to going to see. Except Michelle, she’s not a fan, but does enjoy the graphics!
In our free time we enjoy some good old fashioned lightsabre battles, especially in the dark with our light up lightsabres. It makes for a wonderful light show! We do get the...
WWF - more than pandas?
Author: Victoria Jones on 30/11/2015
Undeniably one of the most iconic logos in the world, WWF’s panda is instantly recognisable. Since WWF started in 1961 it has used the panda as it’s mascot, and has only been through minimal refinements since.
However, WWF have faced a little criticism over the years for the apparent focus on Pandas – understandably they are the most popular animal out the various sponsorship opportunities that WWF offer. There are hundreds of endangered animals in the world, and while not all may be as cute distinctive as a panda it doesn’t mean that they are less deserving of sponsorship or aid.
Enter designer Yana Makarevich...
Creating Media work - Long Barn Rose Range
Author: Creating Media Team on 02/07/2015
We have been running social media campaigns for our client Long Barn for a while, but have recently had the pleasure of taking over their graphic design as well.
Long Barn are fantastic business near Winchester in Hampshire. At the heart of Long Barn is a well-established lavender farm, however the business has grown into so much more than that. From the lavender they create beautiful cosmetic products and delicious food, which they sell at their centre alongside quality plants and gifts. There is also a café on-site, and the Creating Media team have spent many taxing days of work soaking...
Creating Media work - The Lychgate Guesthouse
Author: Creating Media Team on 11/06/2015
One of our recent websites to go live was for local guesthouse, The Lychgate. We love working with local clients, and The Lychgate is based just down the road in Caldicot. They have a cosy guesthouse with well-appointed rooms, in a great location just opposite the entrance to the castle.
Janice, the owner of The Lychgate, loved the previous websites we have created for other guesthouses and holiday cottages, such as Pentre Tai Farm and Corner House Mathry. Just like those other two examples, we also designed a hand-drawn logo and provided a photography shoot as part of the web design package.
The...
Colours to watch out for later this year
Author: Victoria Jones on 12/05/2015
You may have heard of Pantone – the international standard of colour which we spoke about in our recent blog on design terms worth learning.
What you may not realise is that Pantone constantly track the trends in popular colours, and make predictions for what colours will be popular in coming months and years. They do this by polling designers across the worlds of fashion, industrial and graphic design to discover what their current go-to palettes are. By looking at the trends across a range of top designers, they can see where the market will be going in a few months time.
Recently,...
Google's Mobilegeddon - the 10 things you need to know
Author: Creating Media Team on 27/04/2015
You might have heard a lot recently about changes to Google which affect how they rank sites which are not mobile-friendly. Many people are calling these recent updates ‘mobilegeddon’ and claiming that anyone without a mobile site is about to lose any traffic they may be receiving from Google search – sounds pretty scary right? Actually, there is a lot of scaremongering happening, and the affect to most people is probably much smaller than you might think.
Here are 10 points to help you understand the recent Google changes.
What is responsive web design?
Responsive web design is fast becoming the new standard...
Clever logos...
Author: Michelle Dalley on 17/03/2015
We are HUGE fans of Design Taxi at Creating Media. So much inspiration, so many smart people and a place where EVERYTHING is clever and smart. A site inspired and for designers, Design Taxi always brings a little light relief on a busy day.
This is a blog from them all about the power of suggestion and negative space.
You can read the article in situ right here…
Stop by soon on the blog for more design inspiration! Or give us a follow on Twitter where the posts are sometimes a bit random. You have been warned!
Michelle
...
The Language of Colour
Author: Victoria Jones on 27/02/2015
Colour is a very emotive design tool, and our reactions to many colours are deeply rooted in our psyche and culture so it’s important to choose your brand colours carefully. There is a reason that bright, warning red is used for road signs and hospital wards are painted a soothing pastel green or blue!
As well as considering what you want your brand colour to say about you, you also have to consider how the supporting colours in your scheme work together – this is where you need to consider a colour wheel. A general rule of thumb is that colours...
Creating Media client work - Lodge Farm Kitchen website
Author: Creating Media Team on 17/02/2015
One of Creating Media’s latest websites to go live is Lodge Farm Kitchen. Take a look at this brilliant new high-quality ready meal site designed through our sister company Umami!
The process started, as ever, by discussing what was important to the client. Lodge Farm Kitchen has had fantastic growth since they started in 2009, and have recently moved into a brand new purpose built factory and had an updated logo and packaging redesign to fit their new market position. They were in need of a new website to match this fresh new image, and aimed at targeting trade customers rather than direct to the...
5 bits of design jargon worth learning
Author: Creating Media Team on 02/02/2015
Here at Creating Media we know that the design world has its own share of jargon and specialised terms the same as any other industry. While most of it is put into plain terms when we talk with clients there are just some terms that are worth knowing if you are discussing design… Below we give you a 5-point roadmap to blagging your way through a conversation about design!
Logo design vs branding
Logo design is an aspect of branding, but not the entire process. Brand is everything that customers experience about your company, from the colours chosen, to your brand values,...
Creating Media client work - Speciality Desserts
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/01/2015
Our sister company Umami were thrilled before Christmas to produce the new website for Speciality Desserts – a dessert manufacturer serving the foodservice sector. Take a look at www.specialitydesserts.co.uk
We started the process, as always, by liaising with Ann Tysoe (Head of Sales) and other key team members at Speciality Desserts to establish what was important to achieve with the new site. Speciality Desserts had not refreshed their old website for a while, and felt it was decidedly not foodie feeling. It was also built in flash, meaning the site was accesible from a wide range of modern devices (including all apple iPhones, iPads...
Top website design trends to look out for in 2015
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/12/2014
We are drawing nearer to the end of the year and have started looking forward to 2015 – just to celebrate this forward thinking we have just found a gorgeous infographic detailing all the website trends that will be on the rise next year. Many of these we already recommend to our clients and have already provided many single-page websites, flat designs and clean layouts. Below are a few excepts from the infographic – or take a look at the full infographic over on our Pinterest. If you want any of these trends on your website then make sure you get in...
Have you met Monty yet? Our thoughts on the John Lewis Christmas Ad
Author: Victoria Jones on 07/11/2014
November has started, which means that even if you hate to admit it, the Christmas season is unavoidably upon us. Nothing heralds this better than the launch of the new John Lewis advert – which has become more of a harbinger of glad tidings and festive spirit than the notorious ‘Holidays are Coming’ Coca Cola ad that inevitably gets trotted out every year.
I will put my cards on the table right now, and say that I love Christmas. However I don’t normally like the John Lewis Christmas advert that much as I find it all a bit contrived. The first...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 8
Author: Creating Media Team on 03/11/2014
This week is all about how to improve those backlinks. Backlinks are links to your website from any other site (i.e. not an internal link). Your backlink profile is a good ranking factor with Google, but whereas the focus used to be on pure quantity, these days you are better off focussing on quality! Here are a few tips on how to get the most bang for your backlink.
Avoiding going on pages of ‘sponsored links’ or ‘link partners’
Google frequently gives no benefit to these sort of backlinks, and may even penalise you for them (especially if you have lots!)
Links should...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 7
Author: Creating Media Team on 27/10/2014
SEO doesn’t have to be scary – even on the week of Halloween! Find our latest SEO tips below.
Keep visitors on your site
If your site has a very high bounce rate, or very low visit length, then Google takes this as a signal and could reduce your ranking as a result.
Encourage external reviews
Google has actually admitted that it uses reviews from third-party sites as a signal of legitimacy and quality. Google+ is obviously the best place to focus your efforts, but FreeIndex and Yelp are also good places to encourage reviews.
Use Analytics
Though it’s never been definitively proven that having Google...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 6
Author: Creating Media Team on 20/10/2014
Hope you all had a brilliant weekend and are ready for another week! To kick off, here is another set of 5 SEO tips
Always use Ts&Cs and Privacy Policy
Google uses these as small factor in gauging a websites trust and legitimacy, so ensure you include them. Also remember that these can be legally binding, so make sure you are happy with everything included within them!
Avoid Server Downtime
If your site has an awful lot of server downtime it can affect your ranking.
Leave a breadcrumb trail
If you have a large site with lots of subpages, then definitely consider ‘breadcrumb navigation’. You would...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 5
Author: Creating Media Team on 13/10/2014
Welcome to another Monday and another week! As always, the team at Creating Media are raring to go, and have carefully selected a few more top tips for improving your SEO.
Check your links aren’t broken
It’s worth checking your content for broken links every now and then, especially if you link out to external sites which may have gone down or changed address. There are plenty of tools to do this online, just google ‘broken link checker’
Check for code errors
While you’re checking for broken links, also check for broken code using the W3C validator – one or two errors shouldn’t be cause for...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 4
Author: Creating Media Team on 06/10/2014
This weeks SEO tips are a little later than usual, but there is still plenty of time to implement them in your strategy.
Do NOT duplicate content
Never steal content from someone elses site for a whole range of reasons – it is often copyright infringement, and is also bad for SEO (especially if you steal from a site that ranks better than you as you will be competing directly with them). Looking at other peoples websites can often be a good starting point for content but ensure that it is sufficiently rewritten.
Always use image alt tags
We did mention this back in...
Ways to stay creative!
Author: Creating Media Team on 02/10/2014
We ADORE this infographic about how to stay creative. We love the illustrative style and great typography of the image, as well as the fabulous advice.
Creativity is a strange beast that we deal with every day in our world, and we find that when things become a little stale a change of scenery can really help – some of the most productive team brainstorms we have held have been off-site at places like St Pierre or Sawyers Bar & Grill (our lovely clients!). Putting some music on can also help stretch the creative muscles, and get fresh ideas flowing.
Take a look...
5 Top Tips for making the most of LinkedIn
Author: Creating Media Team on 01/10/2014
Here at Creating Media we love LinkedIn. The whole team are on there, as well as our company page. However, we have plenty of pet hates of badly constructed profiles (which are thankfully very easy to fix!). Is LinkedIn not performing as well as you’d like for you? Take a look at our top tips below and maybe you’ll spot some aspects of your profile which you can improve in just a few minutes.
Customised URL
Adding a shortened URL is so easy and has so many benefits, it’s a wonder that more people don’t do it! It makes you easier to...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 3
Author: Creating Media Team on 29/09/2014
Happy Monday everyone! Hopefully you’ve had your coffee, cleared down the backlog of emails and are ready for this weeks SEO tips? You always hear people saying that content is king – so here are a few tips on how to make your content rule!
Try to up your Keyword Density
You want to incorporate your target keywords as much as reasonably possible – talk about what you do! However, keep in mind the ‘reasonably’ part of that tip – come back to your content the next day and if it reads like gobbledegook built around a keyword phrase then Google, and...
The Bay Horse Speaks website wins an industry award!
Author: Creating Media Team on 24/09/2014
We’re thrilled that one of our favourite clients, The Bay Horse Speaks, have recently come second in the International website awards for her industry, the EAHAE Website Award 2014. The award is voted for by members of the EAHAE, based on several aspects including intuitive appearance.
We’re thrilled to have created an award-winning website for one of our clients (especially as the awards were truly worldwide – the other winners were from Russia and Canada!) – read all about the full process of the website design here.
...
How cool are we? Creating Media discuss the CoolBrands list
Author: Victoria Jones on 23/09/2014
As lovers of all things brand we were very excited to see the list of this year’s official ‘Cool Brands’. The brands in the list are decided by 2000 consumers, and a panel of 37 key influencers (which this year’s included models Sophie Dahl and Jodie Kidd and fashion designer Julien Macdonald). The brands are marked on their style, innovation, originality, authenticity, desirability and uniqueness.
When looking at the list, you can definitely see the influence of desirability and style in the raft of high-end luxury lifestyle brands (Dom Perignon, Aston Martin, Bang & Olufson, Selfridges, Liberty, Chanel, Alexander McQueen and...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 2
Author: Creating Media Team on 22/09/2014
Another Monday morning, another set of 5 tips to improve your SEO. This week is all about creating good metadata. I covered this briefly in an SEO post back in March, but it is worth noting that Google has recently had a change to the way it displays meta data so the info there is now out-of-date.
Use the right Meta data.
You may have heard of this mystical thing called metadata. It is part of the background code of a website, but also appears in the bar at the top of your browser, and in your result snippet on the search engine page....
Why, what, how to start a business?!
Author: Creating Media Team on 18/09/2014
We just found this great infographic about starting a new business. It really does cover everything, from where people get their funding, to what marketing channels they are using and what technology is most helpful. There are some really interesting stats and tips for anyone starting up or already running their own business, or anyone tempted by the notion!
Take a look at a few snippets below, or check out the full infographic over on our Pinterest
...
5 Tips to start your week with SEO - Part 1
Author: Creating Media Team on 15/09/2014
Over the next few weeks we will be offering a new feature on the Creating Media blog. Our last post on easy tips for SEO proved so popular, we thought we would start a series, so check in with us every Monday to start your week with SEO – 5 tips to be added every week until we run out of things to say! Some will be easy to implement, others a little more difficult to do so, but all should help you tick the right boxes with Google and the other search engine to help improve your rankings!
Without further ado, here...
iPhone 6 - The First Look?
Author: Michelle Dalley on 08/09/2014
We hate to get our hopes up but we think that we have just seen the first review of the new iPhone 6! Still not sure if it is 100% real but it would be really cool if it is. In our office I am the only iPhone person left, everyone else has gone to Android…but is it possible these new features could bring them back? What do you think?
(Video above – translation available here)
Article by Michelle
...
Creating Media work - Usk Show 2014
Author: Creating Media Team on 02/09/2014
Here at Creating Media we love building great ongoing relationships with our clients. This year we have been thrilled to be working with Usk Show again. Last year we designed their new logo and website, and this year we have built on that by designing the whole range of printed materials ready for this years show.
We managed to upgrade their print to full-colour double sided throughout, and add a decent smattering of design flair to keep everything on-brand, for just a few pound more than they have paid in previous years for simple black-only one-sided print. Faye, the Usk Show secretary,...
Creating Media work - Estuary Oils
Author: Creating Media Team on 21/08/2014
At Creating Media, we have recently been working with Andrew Mould at Estuary Oils to help with the launch of his company, in all aspects of branding, marketing, web, design and print.
The process started some time ago, with a logo design. The design took inspiration from the bold and simple logos of well-known oil companies like Chevron, Shell and Texaco, with their widespread use of primary colours and bold shapes – easily recognisable from a distance.
We then moved on to website concepts, using the bold colours, lots of great images and easily visible contact details. Take a look at the...
Creating Media's Top 5 Sins of Stock Photography
Author: Victoria Jones on 18/08/2014
Ah stock photography. Some people see it as a useful tool, others as a necessary evil, and still others as something to avoid altogether. Here at Creating Media, we do prefer to use clients own photography where possible (or even take photos for our clients ourselves!) but sometimes a bit of stock photography is actually better to use – but use with caution!
There are some amazing examples out there, but for every great stock image you can guarantee a dozen horrible clichés… these are some of our top stock photography no-nos!
Keyboards
You have an abstract concept that you just don’t know...
How many business cards does it take to make a Mini Clubman..?
Author: Creating Media Team on 24/07/2014
…Apparently about 4,500!
This is what happens when a creative team gets delivery of a large client print job… Much more to come very soon for this exciting new company launching next Friday!
...
Creating Media Kickstarter Favourites - Submarine Sandwich
Author: Victoria Jones on 18/07/2014
Pes’s films are quirky and creative, taking normal every-day objects and showing them in a completely new way. My personal favourites are ‘Game Over’ which uses objects to recreate vintage 8-bit video games and ‘The Deep’ which recreates a creepy underwater scene using bits of scrap metal and old tools, but I also love his ‘cooking films’ where he shows meals being created from decidedly inedible ‘stuff’.
He has already created two films in this style, ‘Western Spaghetti’ and ‘Fresh Guacamole’, which have both gone viral and even inspired a series of recent adverts by OXO (and probably the larger trend...
Creating Media Team's favourite brands - Victoria's Choice
Author: Victoria Jones on 16/07/2014
Victoria’s Choice – Lush
At Creating Media we always say that brand is more than just logo – it is the values that a company chooses and the whole experience their customers have. In my opinion, no brand does this more comprehensively than Lush Cosmetics. They have strong ethics for a cosmetics company, and carry these throughout their product range.
No product in any of their shops is sold if it is over 3 months old (they donate t
hem out for free after this to neighbouring shops, staff, friends and family.), no products or ingredients are tested on animals, all products are...
Creating Media work - Four Stars Tack Shop
Author: Creating Media Team on 29/05/2014
Recently we helped a client launch an online business, by creating the logo, business cards and e-commerce website for the Four Stars Tack Shop.
We designed the logo based on a photo of one of the business partners, Julie, riding her horse. Our illustrator experimented with a few different styles for the horse, as well different placements and styles for the stars we wanted to include.
Once we had settled on the final logo we designed and printed the business cards, as well as getting a holding page up to a tight deadline as the Four Stars team were going to a...
What is 'Creativity'?
Author: Michelle Dalley on 13/05/2014
The other day I was talking to an Accountant, let’s call her Lisa. Lisa was telling me that she is “not creative” at all. I asked her why she thought that and she told me that she likes lines and spreadsheets, plain paper and freedom of space freaks her out.
The conversation reminded me of being at senior school and being told that I was not creative, because I couldn’t draw, I wouldn’t sew and that was it. Seriously. OK, this was MANY years ago but I left the education system with my seven GCSE’s and a clear understanding that I...
Kickstarter favourites - LIX 3D Drawing Pen
Author: Creating Media Team on 02/05/2014
At Creating Media we love a good nerdy gadget – and we ADORE this Kickstarter project for a 3D printing pen. We have been keeping an eye on the latest developments in 3D printing technology, and this one really is an awesome step forward. Of course, we saw the previous incarnations of 3D printing pens but they didn’t appeal as they were large, clunky and noisy. The next step on is this project from LIX – a real sized pen that plugs into a USB socket to heat plastic and let you draw in mid-air.
It really needs to be seen to...
We recommend widespread password changes following worldwide security bug
Author: Creating Media Team on 10/04/2014
Creating Media are advising all of our clients to change their passwords as soon as possible, following a huge security leak in one of the worlds most prominent password encryption services.
The bug – known as ‘Heartbleed’ is suspected of harvesting passwords over the last 2 years from any site using OpenSSL (these include Yahoo, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook) – so be sure to go back through any service you may have used and change your passwords. Focus on banking, email and any sites containing sensitive data first, before moving on to social media and shopping sites.
Also, security firms are...
Under the Hood of a Great Design Agency
Author: Creating Media Team on 03/04/2014
Everyone knows that the Creating Media team love the company Mini… But what exactly goes on in the engine room of a great design agency?
...
5 top tips to improve your SEO in a few hours
Author: Victoria Jones on 14/03/2014
We all know that SEO is important, but how do you actually interpret and tackle the link-building, content marketing, social signals and all the other jargon and geek-speak that you see bandied around. We thought we’d throw together a few quick, easy tips that you can carry out in just a few hours to help your website be more visible to google.
Many SEO techniques need access to change the code on the website, but there are some quick and easy techniques that you can use even without this.
1. Google+
Creating a Google+/Google Places for Business page is probably one of the...
Creating Media Work - 7's HR & Training
Author: Creating Media Team on 10/03/2014
We are really happy to announce that today sees the new brand re-launch of 7’s HR & Training!
We have been thrilled to work with Stephanie of 7’s HR on the design of the new brand, and have been involved heavily since the early stages of the rebrand. We have also introduced her to another one of our clients which has already resulted in paid work for her – we love making connections and building local business! We were initially going to design the logo, but one of Stephanie’s clients are also a graphic design agency who had offered to create...
Keep lots more secrets over at Pinterest boards
Author: Victoria Jones on 07/03/2014
We are BIG fans of Pinterest in the Creating Media office, and we regularly use the secret board feature for researching clients, leads and inspiration. That’s why we were absolutely thrilled to find out the Pinterest will now offer unlimited secret boards (there used to be a maximum of three – so we were forever deleting and recreating boards)
We came up with our top 5 tips for using the secret boards on Pinterest:
1. Market research. We very often use secret Pinterest boards as part of our research process for new clients and leads – you can share the link if you want...
Valentines Day for Valentine's Day haters
Author: Creating Media Team on 14/02/2014
For anyone who doesn’t like Valentine’s Day – there are a few sets of fantastic cards for singletons and Valentines sceptics.
The first set, from Dysfunctional Valentines, are available for couples who want to send mushy message with a twist… such as ‘You’ll do’ and ‘You’re OK for your age’ (If you want to see the whole set just be aware that some have bad language)
http://www.dysfunctional-valentines.com/
The second set, from Buzzfeeds Jen Lewis, are for those people who just want to re-affirm their self-love.
http://designtaxi.com/news/363675/These-Cheeky-Valentines-Will-Remind-You-That-Being-Single-Can-Be-Fun/
...
Fantastic Lego book scenes!
Author: Creating Media Team on 12/02/2014
Here in the Creating Media office we are big fans of both lovely books (anyone who has visited us can vouch for the wall of books!) and fantastic Lego – design genius!
That’s why we loved finding the little Lego scenes created by Waterstone’s this week – depicting famous scenes from literature!
As a big fan of both the books and TV series, I particularly loved the spoilerific ‘Red Wedding’ scene from the Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones series. And the Pride and Prejudice scene is particularly clever for how it creates a semi-submerged Mr Darcy! That’s the fantastic thing about Lego...
Tips for creating media of any type
Author: Victoria Jones on 06/02/2014
Media covers a lot of different topics, an d though we are called Creating Media we specialise in websites, graphic design and printed marketing materials. However ‘media’ can also refer to press releases, films, photography or adverts, among other things.
When you are creating media – any media – you always need to keep your purpose in mind.
Who are you creating it for?
What outcome do you want?
What’s already out there that’s similar?
You tone of voice and content will change whether you are writing to prospective customers, suppliers, other people in your industry etc. Think of retail products as a prime example...
5 top blogging tips - how, when and what to write!
Author: Victoria Jones on 30/01/2014
We are constantly asked by clients how to blog successfully. Well – how better to share our blogging tips than by blogging about them?
1. Think about who you want to attract, and what they might enjoy reading.
Although we are a design company, and obviously blog about our own work and office news, we also blog about things that we enjoy or have an opinion on. For example we also comment on techy products, local issues and business news. Be careful blogging purely about your business – aside from getting stale you also don’t want to start giving too much publicity to potential competitors or...
Creating Media Work - The Bay Horse Speaks is live!
Author: Creating Media Team on 22/01/2014
We blogged in November about the beginning of the Bay Horse Speaks design suite – and we are thrilled to say that the project is now complete and the website has gone live!
As mentioned in the last blog, the project started with a logo based on Emma’s own horse, Hermi. We then moved on to the stationery suite, including business cards and letterheads. We presented Emma with a few different options, then went to print with her favourites.
The next stage was a banner for her to use at networking events and business shows – this was particularly important as Emma runs her...
Return of the Mobile Safe Case!
Author: Creating Media Team on 21/01/2014
You might remember that we recently blogged about the Mobile Safe Case Kickstarter? Well guess what arrived in the post? Our very own Mobile Safe Case, along with a lovely note thanking us for the blog! Very exciting and a lovely thought! It’s great to know the product has been successfully funded and looks brilliant in-the-flesh – go and check it out at gpg2.com
...
New Year round up - A good 2013, a great 2014!
Author: Creating Media Team on 07/01/2014
2013 has been a fantastic year for Creating Media, with lots of new clients and connections to create lovely new work for! Our sister company Umami was also nominated for an Excellence in Marketing Monmouthshire Business Award, though lost out to worthy competitors Hicks Logistics – there’s always this year though!
Our favourite projects are always the ones where we take a new startup, or an established company in need of a refresh, and work from the ground up to create a new brand. This can cover logo design, website design, and printed marketing materials such as business cards, signage, banner stands, stationery, flyers and...
Brilliant Business Show from Sterling Integrity in Cardiff next Friday!
Author: Creating Media Team on 29/11/2013
At the Creating Media office we are getting really excited about the Sterling Integrity show on 6thDecember in Cardiff.
Sterling Integrity run a range of shows across South Wales and the South West, and next year are spreading up towards the Midlands. In the run-up to their packed and exciting 2014 show season we have collaborated with them on their design work for a small logo refresh and design of their brochures, business cards and show programmes.
We started by brainstorming a new strapline for their logo with Neil and Tracey, and came up with a toss-up between ‘Brilliant Business Shows’ and ‘Business Shows the Work’...
Creating Media Work - Purple Shoots
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/11/2013
Creating Media are just in the process of finalising a very exciting project for Purple Shoots – a new start-up. Purple Shoots have an angel investor, and are loaning out small amounts of the money to start-up businesses across South Wales, as well as offering business mentoring to really get the businesses on their feet.
It was such a great idea, and Karen, the brains behind the business, and Bob Shepherd, her business partner, were so fantastic to work with and passionate about the project that we really couldn’t wait to get cracking!
We began, as usual, with the logo design, establishing the visual direction for...
Kickstarter Favourites - Mobile Safe Case
Author: Creating Media Team on 07/11/2013
This week in the Creating Media office we have been loving the Mobile Safe Case. Although the product seems to be mostly aimed at travellers from the project outline, we think it’s generally a fantastic product for anyone with lots of memory (or SIM) cards floating about – they really do always seem to get lost, particularly as they are getting continually smaller.
As a creative agency we have lots of memory cards – from cameras, phones and more. They are always getting lost and mixed up, so a secure case to carry them in is just genius, particularly with the sticky, grippy pad...
Creating Media Work - Breweld
Author: Creating Media Team on 05/11/2013
Creating Media have been working on the new website for Breweld. Breweld are wonderful local business – highly specialised welders for the food and drink industry, particularly creating brewhouse set-ups and bottling plants.
We took the idea of the welding sparks to make the background of the site, and then used what is known as a ‘fixed’ background, allowing the content to scroll while the background image stays still. We used a classy white-on-black theme, which works really well with the sleek images of shiny metalwork and welding.
During the course of the project, the client got very busy with new contracts, and...
Creating Media Work - The Bay Horse Speaks Logo & Banner Stand
Author: Creating Media Team on 04/11/2013
Creating Media are currently in the process of designing a new visual brand for The Bay Horse Speaks, a business offering horse-led development courses for teams and individuals.
We created the logo by drawing Emma’s own horse, Hermione, who is a bay-coloured horse (hence the business name). For brand colours we used the ‘bay horse’ shade of brown, and British Racing Green, as it is a complementary colour that instantly represents speed and teamwork.
We then went on to design a banner stand for The Bay Horse Speaks – take a look below at the design next to the client’s picture of it erected...
Kickstarter Favourites - Chipolo
Author: Victoria Jones on 01/11/2013
This week in the Creating Media office we have discovered a kickstarter that is absolutely perfect for us –Chipolo.
Every time anyone is off out to a client meeting, or milk run to the shops, or of out to post one of our lovely marketing cards, there is the same reaction ‘where are the keys?’. The keys to the Creating Media Mini are constantly going walkabout, and with this device we would be able to attach a little funky keyring and use a mobile app to ‘zone in’ on them, or even make them sound a horn. (The photo used on...
Marketing Genius - Studio Venues Branded Goodies
Author: Victoria Jones on 29/10/2013
Creating Media have recently done some slightly different work for a long-term contact of ours – Studio Venues.
The Studio are a great independent conference and event venue right in the heart of Birmingham. Inspired by our sister company Umami’s blog on ‘new old-fashioned marketing’ they decided to send gifts out to potential clients.
To show off their fantastic catering they decided to send loaf cakes in branded tins and branded cotton shopper bags stuffed with goodies. This provided a branded, useful keepsake as well as a shareable treat for some instant gratification.
Both products have a strapline across the middle, and a logo with contact...
Apples, Sustainability and local business on Radio 4!
Author: Victoria Jones on 25/10/2013
Today we heard that a fantastic local farm & farm shop, Hanley Farm Shop, have been featured on Radio 4’s Farming Today programme. They are talking all about the organic label, and whether it does more harm than good. Listen to it on Radio 4’s iPlayer . It’s great to hear a local company get a national spotlight – especially one that is linked so closely with many things we’re passionate about at Creating Media, like great food, local issues and sustainability.
Hanley Farm Shop is a fantastic local shop, selling beautiful products from a converted barn on Tidenham Chase (a great road with stunning...
Creating Media work - Quadratec
Author: Creating Media Team on 23/10/2013
Creating Media have recently created an new website for Quadratec – a local engineering specialist.
Quadratec design and develop solutions for a broad range of companies – everything from aerodynamics to robotics and stress testing for high-speed and high-pressure machine parts.
Quadratec are very local to the Creating Media office, being base just of the other side of Portskewett on Severn View Industrial Estate in Caldicot. We love working with great local clients like this.
We started the site some months ago, and it quickly grew from our initial conversations. The site now features drop-down menus, a custom contact form and a library of downloadable...
Creating Media's Kickstarter Favourites - Jolly Clothing
Author: Creating Media Team on 22/10/2013
Each week we’ll be blogging about some of our favourite kickstarter projects out there.
Crowdfunding is a fantastic idea that’s really been taking off recently, where supporters pledge amounts of money to help innovative new ideas get off the ground. It’s great, because you’d pay that money to buy the product in the shops anyway, so it’s just paying in advance. There are always bigger and smaller amounts too – thank-you cards, bulk packs and exclusive gifts, to encourage people to give whatever they can. Often projects are highly design-led, such as innovative or creative new products (very Dragons Den) so...
Creating Media Work - Chantler Teas
Author: Victoria Jones on 17/10/2013
Creating Media have recently created the new logo and packaging design for the fantastic Chantler Teas in Abergavenny.
Chantler Teas and Creating Media were recommended to work together by Business Wales, when they felt that their quickly growing business was in need of a professional facelift to match its new market space and allow them to grow further.
We began the process by going for a meeting (complete with a cup of lovely loose leaf tea) where we dicussed want Elizabeth and Barry at Chantler Teas wanted from the logo – something that would appeal to their wide range of drinkers but steer clear of...
Creating Media at the Monmouthshire Business Awards
Author: Victoria Jones on 16/10/2013
Friday evening saw the Creating Media team scrubbing up for an evening of glitz and glamour at the Monmouthshire Business Awards finals. Plenty of our friends and clients were finalists, and we were finalists ourselves with our sister company Umami in the category of Excellence in Marketing, against two of the biggest local Monmouthshire companies, Mabey Bridge and Hicks Logistics. No pressure.
We entered St Pierre to a reception of sparkling wine and canapés, always a nice way to start an evening, and plenty of fantastic local businesspeople to mingle with and chat to. We were then ushered into the dining room, decked out in...
Creating Media Work - Classic Ironworks
Author: Creating Media Team on 15/10/2013
Creating Media have been working on the website for Classic Ironworks for the last few months, and are very happy to announce that today the site has gone live at www.classicironworks.co.uk.
Classic Ironworks are a fantastic specialised engineering company from Somerset, and have carried out work on staircases, verandas and balconies across Bristol, Bath and the South West.
The website has a brushed metal style background, representing the metalwork carried out by the skilled team, and an eye-catching blue and orange colour theme. The blue was already present in the Classic Ironworks logo, and the orange was added as a contrasting highlight for the...
The divorce of Lloyds and TSB - who got custody of the pointy-nosed children?
Author: Victoria Jones on 02/10/2013
It’s now been a month since one of the biggest high-street banks, Lloyds TSB, was forced by an EU ruling to split into two companies – Lloyds and TSB.
We have been watching this closely as a design agency, very interested to see what each branch does with their branding. None of us were really fans of the old branding – the bizarre pointy-nosed family felt a little patronising and childish, not particularly want you want from a bank.
TSB have reclaimed their logo from before they were swallowed up by Lloyds in 1995, but with an updated edge. A sans-serif font...
Creating Media design work - Julie Kelly HR
Author: Michelle Dalley on 23/09/2013
At Creating Media we love getting to know a new client and creating a suite of design for their business. We recently had the pleasure of working with Julie Kelly, a HR specialist who needed a new professional edge to her branding to match her growing client base.
We started by creating the logo – we worked with concepts including jigsaw puzzle pieces and cogs to symbolise the HR element that Julie could bring to businesses, but we eventually settled on a neutral, yet professional, ‘lozenge’ style logo that Julie can use for a range of services of she expands – simply by editing a...
Usk Show Stand
Author: Creating Media Team on 23/09/2013
So after a week we have finally recovered from Usk Show – Who came to visit our lovely Creating Mediastand? For anyone who missed it, take a look at the photo and tell us what you think!
...
Kraken Rum Tentacles
Author: Victoria Jones on 17/09/2013
Over the weekend, during the ‘Festival No. 6’ food festival at Portmeirion in North Wales (Nice little reference to The Prisoner there…) a 30 foot tentacle washed up on the beach.
This mysterious occurrence was actually part of a (fantastic!) marketing stunt by Kraken Rum as part of the festival – where they served up pieces of ‘kraken tentacle’ which were actually rich fruit cake soaked in the rum. The staff at the event were dressed in old fashioned diving suits – as fully suited ‘kraken hunters’. The whole things just sounds like a really great idea carried out really well...
Apple iPhone - what's next?
Author: Victoria Jones on 11/09/2013
So I hope I’m not the only one finding the new Apple iPhones unveiled this morning a little… underwhelming. With the leaps and bounds forward in Android technology (for example, the Nokia Lumia’s nighttime camera, and unveiling of the new Android KitKat version to be coming soon) and the rumours flying around about potential Apple innovations in the run-up to the launch, a reskinned OS, pretty colours on the cases and a fingerprint sensor just aren’t enough to get anyone in the office excited.
I think Apple have placed themselves in a strange position – they have released a ‘budget’ version...
Creating Media in the South Wales Argus
Author: Michelle Dalley on 10/09/2013
Following on from our recent appearances in the Chepstow Voice and sister company Umami’s appearance in Chepstow Beacon, Creating Media are hitting the headlines again. We are featured in todays South Wales Argus – so go out and grab your copy! Now who has a contact at one of the national papers? We need to get into a newspaper that is bigger again!
...
Sir Terry Matthews announces Celtic Manor Organic Brand
Author: Victoria Jones on 05/09/2013
Sir Terry Matthews has announced that he will be beginning to turn the Celtic Manor and Usk Valley into a model organic paradise.
The South Wales business giant already sources organic food for the Celtic Manor Resort’s catering operations, including over 3000 local organic turkeys over the Christmas period. According to Sir Terry the ‘natural progression’ was to move on to growing his own. As such a big local landowner and big-name influencer Sir Terry is probably uniquely placed to head a crusade for more organic food – the purchasing power and brand recognition of the Celtic Manor are unmatched within...
Lots of news in the smartphone world!
Author: Victoria Jones on 04/09/2013
So yesterday we had the big news that Windows are finally buying out Nokia – I have to say it hardly came as a surprise since the only phones that Nokia now make are Windows-based, and Nokia are the only phone manufacturer that fully adopted the Windows OS (Other manufacturers, such as HTC and Samsung, still use Android on the majority of their phones).
But what does the news mean? I thought initially that it would make it easier for Microsoft to finally make the jump from computers to phones – but then Apple have made that jump with no problem...
Unveiling the brand new face for Creating Media!
Author: Creating Media Team on 03/09/2013
Today is a very exciting day for us here in the Creating Media office, as we are officially launching our brand new website and visual brand!
We regularly carry out the ‘brand refresh’ treatment for our clients, but it has been long overdue on our own business! The Mini, a huge part of the old brand, had become tired and tatty, so we had removed the distinctive vinyl covering. Our website had grown and grown with time, until it was a bit of a confusing beast to navigate. In general we were badly in need of a dose of our own medicine!
We finally...
Umami are Monmouthshire Business Award Finalists!
Author: Victoria Jones on 22/08/2013
We are EXTREMELY excited, as last night we found out that our sister brand Umami have been shortlisted for the Monmouthshire Business Award in Excellence in Marketing! We’re so excited to get through to the final of this well-respected award – dubbed the ‘Oscars of Welsh business’.
Umami has been shortlisted for the marketing work we’ve been beavering away at, including our innovative high-quality targeted mailshot, and active social media approach. The next stage includes filming a short interview at a local landmark, then final judging before the winners are announced at a glitzy event at the St Pierre on October 11th – We’re already...
How to choose a web designer
Author: Victoria Jones on 21/08/2013
We have recently published a blog on what to do if you’re getting ready to create a website – but today we’re going to look at the process before you come to choose a web designer. A lot of this can be transferred to choosing any sort of designer – for your logo or brochure design for example, but I will be focussing mainly on web design, as it’s often a confusing and jargon-riddled process for anyone who doesn’t know their CMS from their CSS.
The first thing you need to think about is why are you getting a website in the first...
New Creating Media Mini preview
Author: Creating Media Team on 20/08/2013
We’ll be posting little snippets of the design for the new Creating Media Mini across our social media for the next 2 days, all in preparation for the grand unveiling of the new signwriting!
We’ll be running a competition on twitter when the new signwriting is unveiled – snap a picture of the newly branded mini with #creatingmediamini or @creatingmedia to be in with a chance of winning a lovely treat (we were debating in the office – think it’s probably going to be a lovely bottle of fizz!)
So here’s your first snippet – make sure you check our G+, LinkedIn and brand new shiny Facebook...
Creating Media and Usk Show in Chepstow Voice Magazine
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/08/2013
At Creating Media we seem to be gathering press at the moment! We recently spotted a mention in the local Chepstow Voice magazine (August issue), about the design work we did for Usk Show. Take a look at our mention in the article, and read the whole magazine online for lots of local news.
...
To Google Drive or Dropbox? That is the question...
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/08/2013
Google Drive moves in on Dropbox.
At Creating Media we have long been fans of the awesome Dropbox. As a team it allows us to share files, images, briefs and designs online without clogging up our already very busy and large email boxes. When you are creating logos and brands the files are very high resolution so sending them out to clients across South Wales and far beyond, plus between the team it means that they take up a lot of space. Dropbox means that we can all view the file up there “in the cloud”.
For client work we can then take this a step further and set up shared Dropbox folders...
Why are you with your bank? Would you switch because of brand?
Author: Victoria Jones on 16/08/2013
We’ve been reading the news that from September 16th we’ll be able to change our bank account provider very easily in just 7 days. It looks like it will just be a case of going on the switching service website and choosing who you want to move to – your new bank will then pick up everything from there and even transfer your direct debits and standing orders.
It seems like a great idea, especially as most people these days only change their bank account on average once in 26 years. There are probably a lot of people who have never changed in their life, and...
Why marketing is always important - even for Mini
Author: Victoria Jones on 12/08/2013
For anyone who didn’t see the video on Friday – our very own Michelle was displayed on a cutting-edge Mini ‘Art Beat’, a Countryman covered in 48000 LEDs to show videos and animations onto the streets of London. The Mini Art Beat project is a very cool concept – the Mini is streamed live around the clock on the web, and anyone can upload an image or video to be displayed alongside their message.
It made us wonder why Mini have gone to all this expense and trouble – this sort of campaign would be perfect for building a viral buzz...
Step-by-step guide to what you need for a website
Author: Victoria Jones on 06/08/2013
So you’re considering changing your website and need to know what you need to do next? While us web designers can take care of the creative visuals, design elements and complicated code to make sure you have a great website, there are certain things that we need you to take care of such as copywriting and domain access. They are often simple things that just get forgotten about, but very often end up slowing down projects.
Below is a simple step-by-step guide to work through, which will make the project go as fast as possible.
Ensure your logo is fit for purpose.
Your...
What's the fracking problem?
Author: Victoria Jones on 02/08/2013
Here at the office we’ve been ogling this lovely website this morning – it’s like a huge, interactive infographic all about the dangers of fracking.
It’s all done in a beautiful, contemporary graphic style, using blocks of simple colours and quite a limited palette. This keeps it fresh and engaging, despite being quite a technical and boring subject.
As you scroll up and down the website little icons ‘stick’ to the top of your view, giving the main facts in little bitesize chunks, a great way to remind you of what you’ve read and cement the facts.
The best part is that all this style...
How fast does the web move?
Author: Victoria Jones on 30/07/2013
We just discovered this great infographic on the Gizmodo website. It’s a little staggering how much can happen on the web in just one small minute – every minute 24 hours a day (that’s 1440 minutes per day – that’s nearly 60 MILLION facebook status updates). Hard figures to get your head around, to be honest.
It does raise an interesting question of quality over quantity though – just how many of the 72 hours of video uploaded to youtube every single minute of the day is footage of cats, or people falling off skateboards? How many of the 204 million emails are...
Monmouth Comprehensive School Website
Author: Creating Media Team on 25/07/2013
Monmouth Comprehensive School approached Creating Media along with several other local companies, to choose a new designer to create a new expansive website for the school. They chose to replace their existing monnoodle website, as they felt it was too plain and outdated.
Thier key goals for the new website was that it could be controlled by them, by an easy to use Content Management System (CMS) that would require little training for the team to pick up. Creating Media also wanted to make the site aesthetically pleasing by the inclusion of a slider that is based on the school aims.
The site has various...
5 pros and 5 cons of Design Industry Regulation
Author: Creating Media Team on 25/07/2013
Time and again the same argument comes up – is design industry regulation a good idea? As a design company we are always trying to conduct ourselves in the professional way our clients expect, however not all designers are as conscientious. With no professional accreditation required, or recognised industry bodies it can be a minefield for clients to know whether the designer they are sizing up is what they say.
You could say there are many pros to design industry regulation:
It sets parameters for both parties to follow
There would be a set pricing structure based on instinct, overheads and approximations
It would...
Usk Show, Monmouthshire Rebrand and Website
Author: Victoria Jones on 25/07/2013
We are really excited to announce our latest website going live – for the local Farmer’s Club annual event Usk Show.
We were chosen out of 4 local designers who pitched to the committee to completely rebrand the Usk Show – like many agricultural shows they were very behind the times in terms of branding and online presence.
We created a gorgeous logo for them incorporating the show marquee, a tree and little figures to represent the various aspects of the show – a family day out as well as competition for sheep, cattle and horses. The theme also contains some lovely colourful...
Michelle on Women Outside The Box Festival
Author: Michelle Dalley on 19/07/2013
Our very own Michelle will be presenting a seminar for our sister brand Umami at the Women Outside the Box Festival in Bristol this October – check out the video for more information!
...
Wales True Taste Awards Scrapped
Author: Victoria Jones on 19/07/2013
As a business based in Wales, and an office full of foodies, we were quite surprised this week to discover that the Wales True Taste Awards are being scrapped this year.
The aim of the awards was to reward businesses which create delicious Welsh ingredients, or great dishes using those ingredients. Here in Monmouthshire we had our fair share of winners last year, from preserve makers to poultry farmers, and a thriving local food scene.
I can’t quite understand the reason for the schemes demise – from reading the statement released by the Welsh Assembly Government they seem to be concentrating more on working...
Michelle on Business Growth During the Recession
Author: Michelle Dalley on 09/07/2013
Creating Media’s own business guru Michelle Dalley on how we created growth in our business during the recession, and what you can do to build your own business too!
...
Hashtags on Facebook - Good idea or bandwagon?
Author: Creating Media Team on 13/06/2013
So I found out today that facebook has finally decided to join in with the rest of the social media behemoths and offer searchable hashtags. This will come as a welcome feature for many people – primarily those who already added hashtags on facebook despite the fact they didn’t do anything, and those who were annoyed by this pointless trend (since the hashtags will now work).
However, it adds a whole new dimension to the ‘privacy’ argument as the hashtags will be searchable to the public by default. I know plenty of people who are a bit paranoid about their facebook...
Channel 4 Scrapbook
Author: Creating Media Team on 10/06/2013
We found out today that Channel 4 has launched an online Channel 4 scrapbook – where you can ‘cut out and keep’ the best of its lifestyle articles. After a quick poke around, it seems fairly obvious they are trying to cash in on the success of Pinterest (an office addiction here at Creating Media!), as the format is very similar.
They have set up a few scrapbooks (similar to Pinterest’s boards) relating to various home, style and, most importantly, food programs that the channel broadcast. So think – a scrapbook relating to the various recipes used on Come Dine With Me, or craft ideas...
Wild Garlic carpets in Monmouthshire
Author: Michelle Dalley on 31/05/2013
I can still remember walking in the woods with my husband and our weimaraner Dragon just before we moved to Monmouthshire. The woods were somewhere between Chepstow and Usk, lush green, stream flowing through it, perfect country walk. There was a smell, really powerful in the dewy morning and I could not believe that it smelt just like garlic. Everywhere.
Wild garlic is a wonderful thing, like a carpet in the forest, really pretty and found around the bluebells. It has pretty white flowers but the key part for cooking is the green leaves, you can use the flowers but really...
Free wifi
Author: Michelle Dalley on 31/05/2013
Here it is an opinion. All mine,
Free wifi – is that too much to ask for?
I was introduced at an event to a senior board member of one of the major hotel chains, he asked me “how could we improve the service in our hotels”. My answer was simple, not the price of coffee or food (although that could well be another blog now I think about it – hotel food prices are out of control!). The answer was “free wifi”.
If you know me from my corporate world then you will remember that I lived up and down the motorway...
Creating Media are exhibiting at the Sterling Integrity Show in Cardiff
Author: Creating Media Team on 28/04/2013
We are thrilled to announce that the Creating Media team will be exhibiting in December at the Sterling Integrity exhibition later this year. The exhibition that takes place on the 6th December at the Legacy Hotel in Cardiff.
Tracey and Neil Davies from Sterling Integrity are highly experienced in running exhibitions across the South Wales and South West, with 12 events running through 2013. The final event in Wales is the December show.
The Creating Media team will be carefully planning the event to ensure maximum return on investment by creating leads, contacts and brand awareness.
To find out more about the Sterling Integrity Shows...
Steve Abel - branding, illustration, website project
Author: Creating Media Team on 03/03/2013
Creating Media met Steve Abel when he was the Managing Director of P4d, the highly successful parcel delivery company based in Oxfordshire. We met at a 4Networking event in Chepstow in the Summer of 2012.
Fast forward four months and I received a call at the office from Steve Abel, his words were “I have asked on the 4Networking forum who I should work with for my personal branding and the only person that did NOT respond was you – I see that as a sign!”.
I am thrilled to say that Steve and Creating Media have worked together to position Steve...
At The Sharp End - by David Norrington. Raising money for Cancer Research UK
Author: Creating Media Team on 03/03/2013
Sometimes you hear about a project and realise that you have no option but to roll up your sleeves and get involved.
The vision for At The Sharp End – in aid of Cancer Research UK was created by David Norrington.
I met David, Onion Custard Publishing, through 4Networking over 12 months ago. In that time I have got to know David pretty well and when he announced that he was putting together a book made of contributions from entrepreneurs and business owners I knew that this was my opportunity to become a published author. David was looking for contributions of just 1500 ish words...
Ten Top Tips for choosing the company name and website domain you really want.
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/08/2012
So there you are – all excited about getting started with your great new business idea and right now is the time to start thinking about website domain names and trading names.
I regularly get asked the protocol on choosing domain names. Back in the day when the world wide web was new, unchartered waters you could snap up domains very easily. These days you need to either be very lucky or slightly creative in your thinking.
Hot Tip 1 – Check that your domain is REALLY available not just dormant, it will save a lot of heartache and work. Just typing the...
New online Health and Safety solution logo design - HSC Partnership
Author: Creating Media Team on 15/04/2012
Creating Media has been working with Trish Fulford and the team at HSC Partnership, based in Gloucestershire, to update the brand identity and visual style of their business.
Creating Media were commissioned to re-design the logo and create and print 600gsm deluxe quality business cards for the team. In addition we created a story board style flyer for the team to use when they meet with potential clients. A thousand flyers were printed on 300gsm card and are used at networking events and meetings across Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, South Wales and the rest of the UK to explain the services.
As part of the project Creating...
Logo and website design for Club Social Junction
Author: Creating Media Team on 09/04/2012
Barry Watson from Chepstow based Club Social Junction commissioned the Creating Media team to firstly provide a logo brand identity to represent the new social media platform and then to design the main website home page. The visual for the Club Social Junction was created using 3D rendering design to create the visual of a library, university, clubhouse and community. The brief from Barry Watson was very detailed and clearly he had a vision that the Creating Media then expanded and turned into web suitable graphics.
The logo design needed to provide a strong visual identity that could be used as an icon alone on social...
Eco collaboration project in Monmouthshire
Author: Creating Media Team on 20/03/2012
A localised, green collaboration project near Chepstow, Monmouthshire.
Portskewett based recycling top soil/aggregates company with a green design company with a green environmental landscaping company…
Creating Media first became aware of Crownhill Topsoils from our client EcoVigour who we designed and printed a 4pp brochure for last year (recycled paper of course!). Creating Media linked James from James Davies Landcare with ecovigour last year and they already work on some projects together.
Crownhill are a successful company with clients across Chepstow, Newport, Monmouth and surrounding areas but with no website and dated branding. We discussed the situation and traded skills and services. Simon’s team were...
New website for Properts - Chepstow and Magor based local estate agents, solicitors and notaries
Author: Creating Media Team on 04/03/2012
Properts Solicitors, Estate Agents and Notaries are an established Monmouthshire business with offices in Chepstow and Magor. Creating Media met Properts through local business networking, including 4 Networking in Chepstow and the Chepstow Chamber of Commerce.
Creating Media were commissioned to build a new website for Properts that improved their profile in the area through a modern interface for viewing properties for sale and rent plus clearly demonstrating their expertise as Solicitors and Notaries.
At the meeting the team at Properts clearly wanted to have the very best website in Monmouthshire and beyond with clear and simple website navigation, a flexible search facility,...
4Networking client - I Am The Car Finder
Author: Creating Media Team on 04/03/2012
Roger Green is the first person that I met through business networking over two years ago. Based on the meet, like, know and trust values of 4 Networking I am so pleased that two years later Creating Media have been asked to create the brand visuals for Roger’s new business – I Am The Car Finder.
Roger Green, based in Bristol, works with clients to source used cars across the UK and the move from Wraxall Motors to I am The Car Finder was a huge decision. Creating Media were very involved in the naming of the new business and the huge debate that ensued.
The...
Bee Clear Windows Nottingham
Author: Creating Media Team on 02/12/2011
Creating Media are delighted to announce that the website for Bee Clear Windows based in Nottingham, Leicester, Burton on Trent and Derby, has now gone live.
The team at Creating Media were commissioned to design the creative and brand identity for this important business. The client wanted a logo design that was visually strong and would work across various medias including the website, vehicle graphics, printed materials and signage.
Bee Clear windows specialise in understanding their individual clients’ requirements. The team of technicians (not sales people!) can then recommend the best solution from a choice of many options including replacement glass, UPVC, aluminium and wooden...
Business networking in South East Wales
Author: Creating Media Team on 30/10/2011
Creating Media are huge fans of business networking across South Wales and the South West. We are constantly asked where we get clients from and of course we get lots of leads through our website but the majority of our clients come through business networking and referrals.
Gone are the days when business networking meant standing in a room full of people pretending they were very important, not talking to each other and checking their phone every ten seconds.
The SME market has recognised that the best way to find more business is to share contacts and buy from the people that...
Local company Genesis Vehicle Solutions go live with Creating Media
Author: Creating Media Team on 30/10/2011
South Wales based vehicle company Genesis Vehicle Solutions have recently commissioned Creating Media to create their new logo, brand, marketing materials and website.
Peter Gabriel, Managing Director of Genesis Vehicle Solutions has offices in Abergavenny, Pontypool and Chepstow and pride themselves on service levels which can be reflected in their testimonials.
In a fiercly competitive market space Peter was certain that a strong visual identity was imperative to stand out in the crowd. The brand identity represents the three elements of the Genesis business model – Sales / Lease / Hire and Any Make, Any Model, Any Way! Peter is thrilled with the work from Creating...
Monmouth Buy Local logo design goes live!
Author: Creating Media Team on 30/10/2011
Creating Media are delighted to be involved with the Monmouth Buy Local campaign. The campaign which represents all shops and businesses in Monmouth has been created to remind people in Monmouth and the surrounding villages that Buy Local supports small business. The campaign was launched at Shire Hall Monmouth and co-incided with the return of the market to the Shire Hall courtyard.
Jacky and Andy Knapp from the Best of Monmouth were in attendance promoting the initiative and received a lot of interest from local shoppers and retailers.
Creating Media were commissioned by the Monmouth and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce to design a visual identity...
Creating Media get involved with Transition Chepstow
Author: Creating Media Team on 30/10/2011
Haddon Sullivan, Managing Director, has become actively involved in Transition Chepstow.
The aim of Transition Chepstow is to help Chepstow and the surrounding villages to fight climate change and thrive by becoming more sustainable, less reliant on oil and a more sociable place to live. The initiative is part of a rapidly growing network of ‘Transition’ communities across the UK, who are planning and designing ways to use less energy and resources to make their towns more resilient to the impact of climate change and more pleasurable places to live. Transition Chepstow strives to be inclusive, imaginative, practical and fun. Collectively, we can enable...
September Networking - Back to school?
Author: Creating Media Team on 11/09/2011
Back to school – September 2011
With a back to school feeling in the air, it is time to dust off the design portfolio and get back to networking. We always get a great reaction when we show the Creating Media branding and logo visuals for our clients.
As a huge fan of 4 Networking in South East Wales I will be attending meetings at Newport, Monmouth, Cwmbran and Chepstow where I will be guaranteed a warm welcome, some new faces, some old / familiar faces. 4 Networking is 50% business and 50% social – it works!
In the 18 months I have...
Creating Media add portfolio to behance network
Author: Creating Media Team on 16/05/2011
Please use the following link – we will add some new design work every week so this will grow and grow
http://www.behance.net/creatingmedia
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Funding available for Creating Media services
Author: Creating Media Team on 01/02/2010
The Welsh Assembly Government has funding for businesses across Wales. This includes areas such as Newport, Cardiff and Monmouthshire that have previously been excluded from grants. These grants can be sought for up to 40-50% contribution towards websites, marketing materials and branding. Creating Media have contacts that can help you access this funding free of charge. Please contact us for further info.
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New website for Garden Designer
Author: Creating Media Team on 23/01/2010
Creating Media are very proud to launch the new website for Cheryl Cummings, Garden Designer. The website includes a portfolio featuring stunning images of design projects. The site includes the new logo design. Please visit www.gardendesignerwales.co.uk
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Cardiff University Prospectus 2010
Author: Creating Media Team on 14/01/2010
Creating Media have designed and printed the Cardiff University Open for Business 2010 prospectus. The 24 page brochure incorporates an innovative pull out wall planner to provide details on the courses. For a copy of the brochure please contact us.
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E mail marketing campaign
Author: Creating Media Team on 07/01/2010
Creating Media are reviving their e mail marketing campaign to share best practice and tips on web design, graphic design and social media through 2010. If you would like to know more contact us.
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Secure Wales goes live
Author: Creating Media Team on 11/11/2009
The new website, designed by Creating Media, for www.securewales.co.uk, has now gone live. Bringing together a group of complementary companies to provide a one stop shop for all your business security needs.
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New Green Client
Author: Creating Media Team on 18/09/2009
Creating Media are pleased to have worked with Andrew Leighton to create the new logo and branding package for Eco-Rating Service Ltd. Andrew provides eco consultancy for the construction industry.
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Secure Wales
Author: Creating Media Team on 15/08/2009
Creating Media are pleased to be working in partnership with Secure Wales, providing a logo package and website for their new venture.
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New website launched
Author: Creating Media Team on 31/07/2009
Creating Media are delighted to announce the launch of the new website for Chepstow based HJ Weir. As a new local client we welcome them on board for creative, local, affordable design.
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The importance of websites and ecommerce in a recession
Author: Creating Media Team on 30/06/2009
One in six small firms consider trading purely online
A sixth of small firms are considering giving up their premises and operating purely online as a cost-saving measure to survive the recession, according to online payments firm PayPal.
Research by PayPal also revealed that 40 per cent of small firms that have introduced an online shop in the last ten months said it had helped increase their turnover by up to a third. A further 56 per cent said simply having a website had increased their turnover in the same period.
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Ethical Junction
Author: Creating Media Team on 27/06/2009
Creating Media have just renewed their annual membership to Ethical Junction. www.ethical-junction.org
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New signage for Office Space, Chepstow
Author: Creating Media Team on 19/06/2009
Creating Media have just erected a HUGE new sign for eco client Office Space based in Chepstow
www.officespacerentals.co.uk
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Come Tweet with us
Author: Creating Media Team on 18/06/2009
Creating Media are embracing social networking.
Come Tweet with us at http://twitter.com/creatingmedia
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CALM
Author: Creating Media Team on 30/04/2009
Creating Media showed their support for CALM (Campaign against the Levels Motorway) with free photography, featured on their recent newsletter. Check out their site at
www.savethelevels.org.uk
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Newport Business Tourism
Author: Creating Media Team on 31/03/2009
Creating Media and Newport Business Tourism have just launched an important website www.southeastwales.org.uk for the South East Wales Region. Monmouthshire County Council, Torfaen County Council & Newport County Council are all stakeholders within the project.
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Earth Hour : Make a difference
Author: Creating Media Team on 25/03/2009
Please sign up for this momentous event, the recession is biting but the climate is still changing. We can all make a positive difference.
From the WWF site: At 8.30pm on 28 March 2009, we’re hoping that a billion people in and around over a thousand cities all over the world will make WWFs Earth Hour the biggest mass participation event ever.
Think of the fun you can have without any electricity!
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Important Accolade for Creating Media
Author: Creating Media Team on 04/11/2008
Creatingmedia are pleased to announce that we are one of only a hand full of companies to be recommended and approved by Business In Focus in South Wales. Please see our press release attached or follow the link to http://tinyurl.com/5572zu (page 9).
Press Release for Business in Focus
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Eco friendly mini
Author: Creating Media Team on 10/08/2008
Creatingmedia are pleased to announce that we are now using the latest eco friendly mini which has CO2 emissions of only 109g/km.
Please follow this link to see it.
After having reduced our emissions overall we also offset the remainder via the leechpool wildlife project that we sponsor.
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Office Space Rentals
Author: Creating Media Team on 08/08/2008
One of our new clients www.officespacerentals.co.uk now sponsors the mini which can be frequently seen at various networking venues in Bristol, Newport and the Wye Valley.
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New, eco-friendly client
Author: Creating Media Team on 25/06/2008
CreatingMedia is proud to announce it has won the contract for a new Eco-Friendly Architect designed Business Centre. It has recently gained a ‘B’ rating in the Governments Energy Performance Certificate scheme http://campaigns.direct.gov.uk/epc/
It is the first eco-friendly serviced office centre this side of “the bridge” and as such should be heralded as a major step forward. A new website, photography and various printed communications (on recycled paper) are being finalised.
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Creating Media joins Green Achiever Scheme
Author: Creating Media Team on 18/06/2008
Creating Media is pleased to announce that it is accredited with the Green Achiever Award. Within this scheme we have carefully calculated our carbon emissions, put in place a strategy to reduce them further and finalised our carbon off-setting plans.
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Green Press Release
Author: Creating Media Team on 12/06/2008
Creating Media is proud to announce its local sponsorship of Leechpool Wildlife. Who are working closely with the County Farms Committee and the Gwent Wildlife Trusts Gwent Grassland Initiative.
We have introduced a new brand and are currently developing and hosting a new website for Leechpool Wildlife so please watch this space. The new site will help promote their great conservation work but also helps offset our carbon emissions at Creating Media.
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