Feelingpeaky

Feelingpeaky Ltd have an immediate vacancy for a Graphic Designer within our creative team.

- Minimum of 5-7 years on-the-job experience
- Experience of designing across a broad range of media – web, print, email
- Experience of identity and branding
- Confident in presenting both internally and to clients
- Ability to input to planning processes – schedules and budgets
- Strong interpersonal skills, team player and ability to motivate others
- Loyal, hard working, and fun

For more information Job Description – FP Designer2011.

Applicants should forward their CV, three examples of recent work they feel are most relevant to the skills we are seeking, plus a short statement articulating why they feel they are the right candidate for this role.

Salary offered: £25-£30k depending on calibre of candidate and experience.

How to Apply:

Email your application to info@feelingpeaky.com.

No agencies please. Not even to enquire how we are going – Many thanks!

The internet needs an upgrade. HTML is the dominant language for structuring web pages, but it is over 10 years since the last version was released, and the web is now a very different place. Back then, the average internet connection was barely fast enough to watch a video, and mobile phone users were quite happy with using their device to make phone calls. Today, internet speed and computing power, storage and graphics have improved exponentially, and everyone expects their mobile devices to do everything their computer can on the web.

HTML5 is not actually a new version of HTML, but a family of new technologies, including CSS3, a few additions to HTML and several powerful new features known as APIs. HTML5 is still in the early phases of a rather lengthy development process, and it may not be finalised until 2022. For some it appears that it is just too early to start worrying about something that is so far away. However, the reality is that many features of HTML5 are already supported by the popular modern browsers. It also has many tools which can be used to create rich, interactive, dynamic websites.

Please note the demos may not work in all browsers. Try upgrading to the latest version if you have any problems.

More for Mobiles

Over the last few years, mobile devices have made huge leaps in power and in popularity. While computer users have a choice of which browser and plugins to install, this is often decided by the manufacturers of mobile devices. This leads to issues such as the hugely popular plugin Flash not being supported by the iPhone. HTML5 brings a consistent standard which every manufacturer can use, which allows for greater compatibility and richer content on the mobile web.

Advanced Graphics, 3D and Effects

Canvas and SVG are two very useful new features which allow developers to create programmable graphics. This means that they can make complex games and apps without the use of other programs. It is even possible to create interactive 3D graphics using WebGL or CSS3.

Here are a couple of games and other clever demos of what can be done with SVG and Canvas.

- Pirates game

- 2d biking game

- funky interactive canvas

- subtle graphic animation

Audio and Video Support

Audio and video can now be placed directly onto a page without the need for any plugins, which lets you make things like this interactive music video.

Improved Interactivity

Every API brings a powerful new features to HTML5. For example, Geolocation allows a website to find out where the user is. It offers exciting new possibilities for games, as it offers new levels of interaction between games and the real world. There are many other potential applications of this technology, such as targeted advertising or social networking.

Drag and drop allows people to drag and drop almost anything on the web, just like on their computer. There are several other APIs, most of which deal with more technical issues adding improved functionality.

This page uses Geolocation to give you the weather where you are.

Greater Efficiency and Performance

There are several new features which allow websites to load and run faster. Websites and apps are now able to utilize more of the user’s computing power. Also coming with HTML5 are Web Workers, which allow your browser to deal with Javascript processes separately, which can prevent many browser problems.

Site performance is very important as it makes your users happier. Less strain on the computer means less energy use, which is important for anything that uses a battery. Research from big internet companies has shown that even small increases in loading times have a direct relationship to their revenue per user. Moreover, Google has recently included site speed in its search algorithm, meaning that faster sites get ranked higher on their search results and will therefore get more visitors.

Do More Offline

A very practical addition is the new offline storage capability. This allows users of mobile devices to store pages, apps and other data for when they have no internet access. This has a multitude of applications, such as allowing offline use of web apps, and storing interesting or useful articles for when you need them.

Backward Compatibility

Unfortunately, every aspect of HTML5 has different levels of support from the various browsers. This was always going to be a problem, so many features are designed to be compatible with older browsers. There are also many programs out there to help with this. It is even possible to design websites to provide alternatives to fall back on, without the user having to do anything.

This is just a selection of the many changes and useful new features coming with HTML5. It will also make many old features easier to implement. It is the biggest step forward for the web in many years, and it promises to make things faster, more reliable, and more powerful. While it may be a few years before it is fully supported by everyone, we can’t wait to get started.

Just received this in from a happy client – They sell great coffee (www.greencup.co.uk) – Fab getting this sort of feedback and great to see that our work delivers a return on investment:

—-

We are an ad agency in Chelsea harbour and get through huge amounts of coffee for client meetings.  We are looking for a more ethical brand which is much more in keeping with our company ethos.  We would like to purchase in bulk and would like prices too.

I found you guys through the DM leaflet you sent out.  Lovely piece of advertising!

Feel free to call me or email.

Many thanks

—–

It’s always nice to get your work recognised – especially recognised as effective. Better than awards – helping to make our client’s business grow.

A design is only as good as its brief. Here are some tips for briefing a design agency that will help you get the outcomes you want.

- Start with the results; what do you want the project to achieve? What are your business objectives?

- Make sure your agency understands exactly what your company does. And how this project fits into the bigger picture.

- List your main competitors and explain how you differ from them.

- Who are you targeting? Are there several groups of customers? Think about age, occupation etc., and also their views and tastes, what worries them and how you solve those problems.

- What do you want the audience to hear? Define the key message and any secondary messages.

- What do you want your audience to do as a result of hearing those messages?

- Find examples of styles you want to achieve.

- Set clear time scales and budgets.

- Trust the designer to do the creative bit.

- When you evaluate the concepts, do it objectively: list the pros and cons. Ask yourself “How well does this meet the brief?” “Does it transmit the right message?” rather than “Do I like it?”

The start of the Feelingpeaky design process

For all Feelingpeaky design projects we provide a comprehensive project briefing document. This forms the foundation to our process of helping you to get the designs you want. Have a design project? Call Feelingpeaky on 020 8997 4700.

Have you got any tips that work or pitfalls to tell others about?

If you read our May newsletter, you’ll know that Feelingpeaky is rebranding. This month we got our branding consultant in and, with the help of magazines, scissors and post-it notes, we found out some very interesting things about Feelingpeaky.

How did it work?

- We kept it to 1.5 hours: plenty of time for everyone to have their say, and not so long that it lost momentum. Our crew loved taking part – especially when they found out they were being rewarded with a pub lunch!

- We involved people with different views. Directors, designers and account managers see the clients and the agency from different perspectives. Recent joiners are more objective, old-timers have more knowledge of the company.

- We held a separate workshop for the bosses. Not that it’s a problem when you’ve got someone like Chris calling the shots, but staff can worry about looking foolish or saying something critical when the big cheeses are in the room.

- It was interactive – by the end we had a wall of paper covered in yellow stickys and pictures from magazines.

What did we learn?

- What makes us different (and better)
- What our values are and how they show in the way we work
- Who our target audiences are (and who they aren’t)
- What issues we need to solve
- Some ideas for improving our service to clients

What’s next?

Now we know who we are and where our strengths lie, we’re working on refining what we represent to our clients (our “proposition” if you like marketing lingo) and being more specific about where we are heading (our “vision”). Check out next month’s newsletter for tips to find out how we got on.

Have you got any branding workshop tips to share?

The boys and girls at Google have been busy again. Quite rightly, they want to make sure customers get what they want when they Google something. Here are a few ideas to help you keep up with the latest and improve your SEO activity.

1. Focus on Google.

That’s still where it’s at in the UK (around 90% of all searches), with Yahoo and Bing therefore coming not very close seconds. If you have an international audience you’ll need to look at other search engines.

2. Select generic search terms and then look for qualifiers.

Think adjectives “cheap flights”, comparison/quality “compare flights”, intended use “flights to Ibiza” and brand “EasyJet flights”.

3. Educate the website team.

Make sure your website’s author(s) and editor(s) know which keyphrases to use and where they will have the most impact.

4. Prioritize the key phrases for each page.

When considering what keyphrases are right for a page, think about whether that is what the visitor was expecting to find when they typed in the search phrase.

5. Don’t overdo it.

Google spots “keyword stuffing” and will penalise you by decreasing the position of that page. A key test is that a human being can read it without noticing you’ve optimised it.

6. Update your site regularly.

Google is always on the look out for new stuff and may index a new or updated page within hours.

7. 20% of searches specify location.

(e.g. “theme parks Surrey”) so make sure you are listed on Google Places.

8. Keep your content unique.

Google has developed a special tool for filtering out duplicate content.

9. Work the crowd.

Google notices when you are being talked about on the social networks. For example, have a look at our client Longleat Safari & Adventure Park and their Facebook Account.

10. Not all links are created equal.

One link from a website with authority can be more valuable than 100 from less relevant sites.

Have you got an SEO tip? Why not share it?

A very brief post to introduce the whole new world of web fonts that are out there ready and waiting to be discovered. For years web designers were tied down and shackled to the fonts common on the vast majority of computers including Arial, Verdana, Times, and Georgia. Not now though – there are literally thousands of web fonts to flex your typographical muscles.

Here are 12 places to find out more about web fonts and typography for websites – browse and discover your next favourite.

1. Fontdeck
2. Fonts.com
3. My Fonts
4. Typekit
5. Webtype
6. Typetogether
7. Typotheque
8. Google web fonts
9. Font Squirrel
10. Fontspring
11. Fonts Live
12. Kernest

Finally, there are different ways of achieving your typographical impact. Although we’re not going to get techy here these range through Cufon, sIFR, FLIR and @font-face.

A couple of examples:  The new Longleat Safari & Adventure Park website designed by us here at Feelingpeaky implemented cufon and the font Dirty Headline in the headers and sub headers. Have a look at the safari park intro page to see. We also used Cufon on our newly designed site for Nordoff Robbins the music therapy charity. Here we used Helvetica Rounded. Both slightly more interesting than Arial – we hope you’ll agree.

That’s it… A quick start to your web fonts journey. Go out, discover and enjoy this whole new world.

Clap your hands, Tap your feet, Sing out loud, Dance or stomp, Shout or cry! It’s time to rejoice charity website design and our work for Nordoff Robbins.

Nordoff Robbins is a UK charity specialising in music therapy providing individuals the ability and confidence to express themselves and communicate where they may have not been able to do previously – the results can have a profound impact on individuals and their families.

Feelingpeaky provided their expertise to help Nordoff Robbins produce a new website. Its aim is to act as a powerful engagement tool with their various audiences and ultimately increase support and donations for the charity. This new vibrant and exciting website now helps Nordoff Robbins to promote fund raising events, encourage people to get involved and educate them on the powers of Music Therapy.

Fraser Simpson, Communications Manager at Nordoff Robbins comments on their charity’s website design project….

“Thank you so much for all your hard work and particularly in this final stage over the last few weeks. We have got a superb product and your team has done a magnificent job for us.”

Feelingpeaky used Drupal, the powerful open source content management system as the platform to drive the Nordoff Robbins charity website. The solution provided numerous functionalities including, news blogs to talk about all their fundraising activities, galleries to show their music therapy in action and web forms to give their audiences a simple and quick way to sign up for fundraising, courses and newsletters! Finally, integration with SecureTrading provides an easy to manage payment gateway that gives donators a quick, easy donation process!

Have a look at the website here: www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk and consider giving to a very worthy cause. If you’re looking for charity website design Feelingpeaky would be happy to discuss your brief and bring our energy and expertise to help your charity perform online. Contact us on 02089974700 or email info@feelingpeaky.com.

It’s a tiresome thought isn’t it?  Especially if you don’t particularly like writing.  And just because everyone else is at it, does it mean there are any benefits for you?  Here are our top 8 reasons on why blogging is a good thing.

1. More potential customers find you

Blogs increase your search engine ratings.  Write on relevant subjects and make it keyword rich so that you attract plenty of the right customers.

2. Conversation starters

Use your blog to get potential customers talking to you.  People ask questions, you answer them – it helps them get to know you.  And only when they know you will they trust you.

3. Other bloggers will talk about you

They will point at your site through an inbound link, sending their readers to your blog so that more people find out about your services and products.

4. Your readers will multiply

Syndicating your content via RSS feeds is easy.  That way you get your message out there where lots more people see it.

5. Demonstrate your expertise

Writing a blog proves that you know what’s going on in your industry and have something to say about it.

6. Sell without the sales pitch

You can spread news about your company’s achievements, about prestigious or complex projects you’ve worked on or about new products and services.

7. It gives you ideas

You learn a lot when you write a blog.  Thinking about what you are going to write, and reading other people’s blogs can give you fresh ideas for your own business.

8. It’s easy to set up

It can be as simple as adding a module to your existing website.  And if you don’t have time to write it yourself, you can always get a professional in.

What do you think about blogging?  Good thing or bad thing?

Ever noticed how nothing stays the same in business? What’s changed since you last looked at your brand?

- You’ve got bigger.  Or smaller
- You offer different products or services
- You’ve taken on new people – so the culture of the company has changed
- The competition is doing things different – and succeeding
- You want to attract new groups of customers
- The customers you have want different things

If you answered yes to any of the above, your brand has changed too.

How will a rebrand help?

- Clarify who you want to attract and what they want now
- Show what the competition is up to and where customers see you in comparison
- Take advantage of what’s different and special about you today
- Win new customers
- Keep the loyalty of the customers you have
- Inspire your people to work towards your business goals

Follow our story

Take us, for instance. 10 years ago, we were all about websites. Our customers wanted more so we moved into print. Then we started using a freelance copywriter. Now we do full rebranding projects. Over that time, we got busier. So we employed an account manager. And another designer. We moved into a new office. Back in 2001 we had 1½ people. Now we’re 7 full or part-timers and have numerous specialists who we call on when we need them. Have we rebranded ourselves? No. But we know we need to. And we are about to start.

Watch our rebranding project in action – we’ll update you through our newsletters and blog.

Have you got a branding story to share?