Report and Accounts - a labour of love

We have just recently designed and produced the Annual Report and Accounts for Teachers Building Society and it has been a real pleasurable and satisfying job to work on. It has been a while since I have designed my last Report and Accounts and I forgot just how typographically demanding they are.

Any designer who has produced a R&A will understand ‘tabs’ are crucial and accuracy of lining up text, numbers and brackets. Hours were spent agonising over column widths, lining up text and making sure ‘feed’ and ‘number kerning’ was consistent throughout. Our designer Wesley again excelled in producing highly accurate and consistent page layouts. Timescales were demanding as the final figures to be set were only released a few days prior to our print deadline, a challenge, but one we just thrived on!

I have just re-discovered my love again for R&A’s and the client was a pleasure to work with, which made the job even more satisfying to work on. We hope to get the opportunity to produce more R&A’s for other clients over the next financial year. If I was not a designer maybe I should have been an accountant…not!

Internet Explorer 6 - Why Upgrade?

EC have noticed that 10-20% of our website users are viewing the site on Internet Explorer 6. With Internet Explorer 8 in beta stage (soon to be widely released), and other browsers such as Firefox or Chrome increasing in popularity, are there any benefits to using IE6 and why should you upgrade?

IE6 was originally released in 2001, and therefore in many ways the browser is 8 years out of date. Not only does this have an effect on the speed of browsing the Internet, the look of websites and website compatibility, but there are also major security issues. IE6 is still potentially only able to cope with with virus, malware and other security threats circa 2001-2003, and therefore it does not always have the capacity to deal with the modern, more complex threats that the newer browsers do.

Other criticisms of IE6:

• It does not support new web development technologies so web designers must use workarounds for IE6 to display web pages correctly, costing time and money in the process
• Any new websites not taking IE6 into account, may be displayed incorrectly or not work properly
• It tends to crash easily
• It takes longer to display webpages, as the software which takes HTML code and outputs it visually as a website is out of date
• It does not use tabbed browsing so a new window has to be opened for every website being viewed, and this may slow down the users' computer
• It does not 'anti-alias' text on webpages, which means fonts looked ragged at the edges
• It has always been very unpopular, and was voted the 8th worst technology product of all time by PC World in 2006

EC will continue to develop IE6-compatible websites until the software is obsolete, however if you agree with any of the criticisms, or are concerned about the security issues, it might be time to upgrade your browser:

IE7: www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx
(or through Windows Update)
IE8 beta: www.tinyurl.com/cwk87j
Firefox: www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox
Google Chrome: www.google.com/chrome

Are you a freelance web developer/programmer?

EC are looking for developers/programmers to work freelance for us on a number of varied and interesting web-based projects.

Freelancers should have:

- Excellent PHP and MySQL skills in order to build web applications and back-end website systems
- Experience developing websites within CMS frameworks such as Drupal or Joomla
- e-Commerce experience, such as setting up/building within Actinic, other shopping cart software, or building their own small shop management systems

They should also have some experience with building valid, accessible XHTML/CSS websites. Some ASP and Javascript knowledge would also be a bonus.

If you are interested please send your details, examples of work and hourly/daily rate to jodi@ecdesignltd.co.uk

Implementation, Rebranding and Design

The majority of UK companies see a successful rebrand as a key way of weathering the recession, according to new research.

Implementation, Rebranding and Design, a report commissioned by branding consultancy the Principle Group, surveyed 250 marketing directors of blue chip companies and UK business owners and found that the majority recognise the importance of rebranding in a downturn and acknowledge the role of design in assisting business recovery. A few that is shared here at EC and the brands that we represent.

85% said that design can play an important role in generating a recovery for some brands. A successful rebranding was seen by 64% of UK business leaders as a route to gaining a competitive edge. Similarly, 63% agreed that a new identity signified a ‘bold embracing of change’.

“Any brand with the appetite to develop its identity in a recession demonstrates a willingness to challenge the market and a commitment to its businesses, services and products”.

The report shows a number of examples that includes Tesco retaining its ‘Every little helps’ approach and Aldi actively marketing and advertising its core ‘value’ proposition to a new audience of middle-class shopper. Also this month Citroen launched a new identity and according to Citroen Communications Director: “At a time when the bulk of the automotive industry is suffering a loss in confidence, we’re using the opportunity of a difficult climate to change the relationship with customers and show them that the company is reinventing itself”

In-fact in a way, us the designers should be communicating the strength and power of good design, its value and relevance to success for business owners and in this report 76% agreed.

Source: Principle Group

The top 5 Recession busting must-have website features for 2009

1. Blog - with RSS/Atom feeds
They’re quick and easy to update, can be informal and can develop a large user base if the right content and appropriate sharing mechanisms are used. A blog can also be a way of encouraging two-way communications, engaging the user by giving them the ability to comment on posts and providing a research resource for consumers. All of this of course providing sound commercial benefits which may include an increase in website transactions and enquiries – and remember it is search engine friendly. You can also allow users to subscribe to your news and blog feeds via RSS/Atom, which not only helps to establish you as an authority in your area of business, but also encourages repeat visits and increased brand awareness and loyalty – all contributing to increased levels of sales.

2. Regularly updated content
One key factor in SEO is frequent updates to your site’s content – search engines will love you for it and this will certainly help your overall SEO strategy and rankings.

3. Customer reviews/testimonials
Taking the communication one step further and enabling customers to review you, your products and your service can open a valuable communications channel, whilst increasing customer confidence. Don’t be scared of bad reviews, they give you the chance to react and the opportunity to improve your service.

4. Offer something for free
Letting users access useful and interesting content will increase visits and may even encourage a viral buzz about your website on forums and other social networking sites. Informative articles, glossaries, help guides, downloadable PDF print-outs and so on can help to build brand loyalty with customers.

5. Newsletter sign up area
Your website could offer the functionality to allow visitors to sign-up for email newsletters quickly and simply. Users who have signed up can then be targeted about new products and services, which will increase repeat visits. By including deals and offers in these newsletters, it may also encourage users to forward them on to friends and family, promoting awareness of your brand.

What will 2009 bring?

In the latest edition of Design Week it made interesting reading as journalists predict how our industry will fair in this recession. Plenty of advice but there was an article that caught me eye which was a ‘Vox – pop’ of opinion from our industry leaders. The question was ‘What do you hope 2009 will bring?’ I am inspired by the following responses.

“There is a great line by Woody Allen that goes ‘I’ve got my principles and if you don’t like them there are plenty more where they came from’ This coming year will need self belief and an absolute focus on which opportunities are the right ones, belief in what we do best, why we are doing it and who we should do it for”

My favourite was from one of my ex bosses – “2009 is going to be extremely tough, but I hope it will bring braver designers and even braver clients”

We hope 2009 will be a profitable and focused year. We will continue to deliver strategic quality brand marketing, good strong clean creative solutions for our clients to help them compete their way through the recession.

Viral games

Companies are finding online games a valuable addition to the marketing mix and getting them right appeals to your customer’s playful side and has been shown to have a number of tangible benefits. Popular games spread awareness of your brand or product, and games can include a company message. Keeping ‘hi-scores’ not only increases a game’s popularity but allows you to build a database of leads. Successful games are infectious, they make you want to play it over and over again and can then be sent to friends as a viral campaign.

To make a successful viral game follow our simple tips:

• Ensure that it is fun! People won’t play or spread the word if it is not a fun game.
• Send out an appealing EDM (electronic direct mail) as an invitation to play.
• Make access as easy as you can. Don’t over-complicate the rules or make people register before they play.
• Keep the message simple.
• Use the game as a possible new business tool.
• People are there to play the game so their concentration will be focused on the game and not on some complicated sales message.
• Incentivise responses. Make the user have a chance to win something of value.
• Make sure you collect the data, analyse it and put it to good use.
• Build a complementary microsite, with a unique web address.
• Remember to exclude family and friends from winning any prizes.
• Finally, make sure the game is noticed in the first place, leverage social media and email the game to everyone in your database (called seeding) and ask all of your employees to do the same. You may even want to invest in a mailing list.

EC Design have built numerous games on behalf of clients and they can be seen in our interactive part of our website. We have also launched our own Christmas game, which can be viewed at www.merrychristmasfromec.co.uk please have a go, the player with the top score will win a Nintendo Wii… good luck!