Foresite Architectural Limited

Architectural Technologists & Designers

Foresite are a local Telford architects company who work on the full spectrum of architectural projects. The site is again authored using WordPress and gives Gareth the owner of Foresite everything he needs to be able to admin and update the site himself. We linked the Foresite website to their Twitter feed so tweeting actually adds conte3nt to the website side bar.

The design for this website took shape a year or more ago and was one of the many times that design conscious got it spot on first time, the design did not change from the first draft presentation. This was one of the first sites we integrated the social Share and Follow options.

Shropshire Notary Public

The Shropshire Notary Public website is a redesign bringing the original content up to date with a fresh new look. The first website was originally built using WordPress so this new theme was easy and straight forward to put in place. The theme colours stay within context of Mark Bridgman’s other website and help to convey the his expertise and attention to detail.

This WordPress website is the first one that we have used a slide out contact form. The slide out tabs are good for efficient use of space and may well appear in other work we do.

SWS Garage Equipment

Garage Equipment

SWS are a garage equipment supplier based in Shropshire but a company who service clients all over the UK. The equipment they supply is anything from compressors to full MOT test lanes including 4 post and 2 post lifts. Their product range is enormous so the website needed to accommodate all the categories of product and be able to display everything in selected order.

As part of the design brief we were tasked with providing a new logo for SWS and even though more complex designs were supplied, the one that they settled upon conveys the lettered company name in a study typeface.

Other logo ideas

So, we are back at our desks and raring to go…. OK, we are back at our desks at least. I always get a mixture of feelings on my first day back, excitement – what’s in store? who’s going to ring? and trepidation – what’s in store? who’s going to ring?

At least I know there have been no big website drama’s this holiday, because for the first time I have been able to offer proper emergency support over this holiday break. I now have an iPad which monitors my email so I was able to respond to a couple of clients who needed website updates and email support without turning on my computer. While a ‘shut down’ period should be just that, I didn’t and don’t mind having the odd call from clients who need help, after all if they are working and need support then I’d rather they call and get sorted than feel they can’t and get frustrated.

Adding value

Thinking about the new year lead me to thoughts of what I want to achieve in 2012, because by all accounts this could be a critical year for many businesses. I identified a couple of areas to focus on, get more clients, stay in profit but most importantly look after my existing customers. Looking after people is something I hope I have always done, but I feel there is always scope for more effort. This year I hope to give you all: added value. I already try and be as fair as I can with my pricing, so my thoughts were to try and improve the service I give to my clients.

I’ve joined a Google program called Google Engage – it should help me get a better understanding of Adwords and some of the other offerings from Google. You may not be interested in advertising with Google so I have something up my sleeve that is twitter based. Also, I realise that I haven’t really explained the control panel that you get with your hosting account, there are features in there that you might find useful, so I will point out a few things to you in subsequent emails.

I want to hear from you

I was reminded while my mind was rambling over how to add value, of something that a marketing guy once said to me, the best way to decide how to improve your service is to ask the market place, so, I’d like to invite you to email me with your requests and ideas of what you need help with or what you want to get done with your website. Don’t worry if it’s a small thing, or something that might seem obvious, any feedback you give will help me formulate an action plan.

Contact me

Please email ian@designconscious.com with your needs or ideas however big or small, I’m not looking for an in-depth explanation just a few lines mentioning your thoughts.

Also…

While I’m on the subject of contacting me, I need to let you all know that as of the 1st February my 0845 number will cease working, please make sure you have updated your speed dials and contact details and have replaced the 0845 number with:

01952 414 003

2012

So, here’s to a good year for us all (I’m lifting my coffee cup in a toast) and I look forward to receiving your ideas.

Speak to you soon

symeco

Environmental advice and action

Symeco is a new start up company giving quality, independent and affordable environmental advice. The website was the second part of the design job that Design Conscious took on, the first part was the logo design.

Symeco is an environmentally aware company and the logo needed to reflect that, but it really didn’t need the cliched ‘recycled’ imagery that people immediately think of when anything environmental is mentioned. The logo needed a sympathic nod towards the green issues, but nothing over the top. It also need to read as one word even though the name is derived from two words, the brief was challenging and needed some sensitive consideration.

On designing the logo Ian Blackford said:

After researching the keywords and phrases that are associated with the market that Symeco are in, it became apparent that a font based logo would serve better than the overtly ‘green’ imagery I was seeing. I chose two weightd of the font Brink and if you look very closely the word is split into light weight ‘sym’ and heavier weight ‘eco’. The stylised world became an obvious choice of graphical device as it suggests enough of the ethos of the company without going to far, and could if needed, be a graphical device that could be used in the future.

Richard from Symeco was so pleased with the work produced so far that he extended the brief and ask me to design some business cards for him. I supplied a number of front and back variations from which his final business cards were produced.