It’s RANT Time!!!! Well It has been a while since my last…
My Dad drove SAAB’s, I drive a SAAB and god damn-it my Son will drive one too. I am that sure that SAAB can be saved. Help prove me right.
I am not sure why I picked up this strange allegience to a car brand. My Dad and me are very very different – be it outlook on life, automotive priorities, even risk assessment. And SAABs: they are not the prettiest. They are not the safest (any more). Or the fastest, most balanced or roomiest… but there is definately something about them that sets them apart. I love big Citroens for the same reason. They just make their own rules and they sort of make you feel good inside. And for that reason I love them (and Citroens and also many other quirky car companies come to think of it) and I guess that is why the creative industries (And for some strange reason, Dentists) bought into the brand. SAAB has always been design brand. A bit quirky , a little bit out there. I ask you all a favour if you care about great brands with value and true heritage (and for the people who work for them)
Its time for the design industry and its associated colleagues to SAVE SAAB.
Smashing Magazine entered Dripping in Fat as one of the stores that make the showcase of online t-shirt stores & Web designs, all of which serves as a great source of inspiration for Web designers, graphic designers and even illustrators.
This is what they said:
“Dripping in Fat is a store dedicated to creating t-shirts with a distinct message, all designed by some of the best designers around the globe! The modern, colorful design evokes a clothesline, with some awesome Flash animations”Check it out >>>
A few months back you may remember reading on our blog that Mark, our CD, had been invited to the Design Off in .NET magazine. Well now you can witness his works, thoughts and direction in response to the fictitious brief of a redesign of a theatre site in November’s issue. We believe it to be the best of the bunch… but why don’t you judge for yourself and see if Mark has still got his mojo…
And if you rush out and buy a .Net November issue you can also see his piccy… which he most adamantly claims has had no retouching what so ever… well, we will leave you to make up your own mind on that one…
The Brief:
Mock up the homepage of a theatre site. Visitors should get excited about attending a production and have no trouble finding out what’s on and how to buy tickets. The page should also reflect the atmosphere and personality of the theatre. Consider including social networking features and video.
Last Friday We Love were honored to have the esteemed Patrick Collister – ex-Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy and creator of some of the best known and loved advertising in our industry – visit our studio and spend a couple of hours to discuss what is making him tick in todays fast moving and forever changing Advertising landscape.
He gave us great insight as to how the industry has changed in the last 10-20 years. How Brands MUST re-establish and learn to love themselves again, deliver on their promises and live up to their values in a much more educated and savvy marketplace. How that if they do not accept change and rely on the old and tested methods of days gone by then they are doomed to fail, to become dinosaurs of the modern age. Just keeping up and treading the same path is not good enough. Best practise means what everyone else is doing – until someone does it better… so make sure you do it better.
He pointed out that within the last 6 months a number of major brands have died on their feet. They have ceased to exist, and yes there is a pattern to their failure. A pattern of apathy and resistance to risk, of reliance on the statistical data and marketing methodology of yesteryear, of not going with gut feeling, and not utilising the vast amount of data that we have available to us… and finally… to NOT have or BELIEVE IN, the IDEA!!
We are all inspired here at the We Love manor… so together let’s re-install the value of the brand to the consumer. Let’s not be happy with just a small % increase in market share or the status quo… let’s tread upon unknown territory, take the risks and prove that ROI actually stands for Return of Idea – not investment…
We live and work in a creative industry… It is not a science. Be prepared to do battle for the idea that you know is a winner. Battle for it within a marketplace, and with technology that many fail to understand, or where return of idea is near impossible to prove.
With any financial downturn comes a shortage of creativity, where agency and client alike fall back on the tried and tested to sell their product or service in order to protect their job or position. Its a safe option and one that always adopted during hard times, even though we know that in reality it should be the reverse (look at BMW in the ’80’s – ’90’s – Doubled their marketing spend and took over the world) – we should be playing smarter and harder to distinguish our clients from their competition.
So knowing that we are due an influx of rubbishy adverts that include cute animals, hot women, stupid cartoons we present Nando’s latest offering… the only thing… I sort of like it
Today I was randomly pinging through design agency websites. Seeing what people were up to. Hitting google and generally sodding around on the internet… when I came across this. Russell from R&R web design claims that he has the solution for overcrowded and badly devised websites and that this is his solution after reviewing every other agency site out there… PLEASE open this image and actually read the copy. Please post into the relevant sites and together we can get R&R Web Design to the top of the Design Charts.
After a month working at We Love I thought I’d better pull my finger out and write my first blog… seeing as the Hoskinator has already chalked up 4.
Whilst wondering how best to flex my (slightly underused) literary muscles I came across what might well be the most incredible pack of cards ever – assembled by 52 of the country’s most famous contemporary artists it’s being exhibited at the Haunch of Venison Gallery, London.
The “House of Cards” exhibition was launched to raise awareness of the housing insecurity facing millions of families in the UK and has been backed up with this sublimely hard hitting video.
With more than 1.9 million households awaiting social housing and an estimated 65,000 facing repossession it really hits the note.
Hi, it’s Nick here (The Aussie), I’m currently half way through my 7th day here at We Love and the time has come to make my first blog post! My first week has gone quite smoothly, the a..a…a….a…Ashes haven’t even been mentioned once, and I am still on the good side of the developers…. I think!
Last week while doing some pretty thorough research on Social Media Marketing I came across this video which presents some of the overwhelming statistics behind the importance of Social Media Marketing
It seems that the most important aspect of Social Media Marketing is creating conversations rather than targeted campaigns, which in turn establishes a better relationship between the Company and the Consumer.
The time to embrace and really make the most of Social Media Marketing is now, and those that master the art will most definitely reap the rewards!
As Avinash Kaushik, an Analytics Evangelist from Google stated, “Social Media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. Nobody knows how…”
Congrats to not only Gavin Clark(e) our Tech Lead here at We Love… But also to Steve Jenkins for having the smarts to know an educated geek when he sees one. Gavin has had not 1, not 2 but 3 nuggets of wisdom printed in the Top 50 Flash tips in this months Web Designer Mag.
We are here, not only to perform, but to educate as well!
Have you noticed that, when showing cross-sells and upsells, many eCommerce sites hijack you off the page you’re looking at to view the suggested item, often with no way back to the other page without hitting “back?” Surely this is not the most usable way to suggest products and improve merchandising conversion rate. The same bad experience is applied when you wish to view your cart… why is this?
Surely cross-sell usability is a factor in their effectiveness. But how can you show customers information about cross-sells without forcing them to abandon the page they’re viewing? How do you create a fluid experience that is based on years of ingrained ‘real world’ habits. Not just reinvented and forever changing behaviors of a fledgling medium.
Answers on a postcard? No! Just wait for the launch of Sugagloss. Our soon to be launched flash based eCommerce / Magento driven site that is 100% SEO friendly. By reviewing best practice and rethinking how shoppers behave (and applying the real world physychology employed by successful retailers) we have advanced the design and user experience of the online shopping experience for our client, creating on page (and relevant) cross / up selling and purchase process that doesn’t break the rich user experience. We have taken one step in removing the barriers…
See the live site here>>
