In 2012, I’m looking forward to using ‘Experience Mapping’ as a UX tool to thoroughly define and document the customers’ experience of a service and the needs that arise on their journey towards their goal.
Nikolas Head, Information Architect.

With more and more different types of devices on which you can browse the internet becoming available, I think responsive design will have a greater role to play in 2012 in order to create great interfaces that work across multiple platforms. 2011 saw the beginnings of this but I think 2012 will be the year when more focus is put on displaying content that it relevant to the device, which you are viewing it on.
Nathan Parris, Designer.

2011 saw brands really embracing the idea of storytelling, and I look forward to seeing how this will evolve further. I will also be watching technologies such as mobile computing, gesture control and augmented reality, as I expect their growth in the industry will continue to soar, bringing with them exciting new brand to consumer experiences.
Melissa Bennett, Copywriter.

Mobile Commerce has been growing fast and I believe it will be bigger in 2012… Most people never leave their mobile and with longer working hours and people having less free time to actually ‘go to the shops’, browsing and buying via a mobile device or tablet is starting to fit into people’s lifestyles naturally – Bring on 4G!
Georgie Pares, Project Manager.

With online games starting to popup using Canvas, (such as Cut The Rope www.cuttherope.ie) you can really see how Canvas is easily as good or better than Flash on a performance level, without any need for a single browser plug-in, purely native, along with being GPU powered it really is quite good. JavaScript is becoming almost real-time in processing, due to the latest browsers JS engines’ precompiling code on load to really speed things up, they make a great partnership in what will be the  mainstream medium for graphically rich websites.
Joe Angus, Senior Developer.

2012 is the year of the first digital Olympics. In the UK, the BBC will stream 2500 hours of digital coverage of the games for TV, desktop, mobile and tablet, allowing users to personalise their Olympic experience via the media platforms they use. I predict social media will play a big part in this. Allowing users to act as commentators through real-time posts and tweets. This simple yet personal experience will hook the interest of even the uninitiated and encourage digital media consumption to rocket in the future.
Nia Lonergan, New Business Co-ordinator.

If Microsoft releases Windows 8 with their own app store and with IE 10 (which is planned for this year), to fully support all HTML5, it will be huge step for mankind and it will rapidly increase the standardisation of HTML5. There is still long way for HW acceleration for advanced graphics and 3D. But most of the microsites and apps on the web are not using that much graphical effects so people will turn to HTML5, which would work on most devices and doesn’t need any additional installation (unlike Flash Player).
Stefan Vadocz, Creative Developer.

2012 will be the year of the Smart TV, with us accepting the digital world into more and more aspects of our life, counterbalanced with it being (I think) the year Facebook crumbles!
Simon Beale, Designer.

Agree or disagree? Let us know what you think will be big in 2012!

Our motives of starting an agency were questioned, but we believed in a better creative world – where an agency got back to its routes and produced great work without charging (let’s face it) the inflated and greed orientated fees of others. Work that benefited the intended audience, not purely the agency.

Our sense of timing was questioned, but we welcomed the recession, I know that sounds misguided, but in our industry great agencies are born out of recessions – There is a flick of the reset switch, the fat is removed – we remember it’s about great creative, marketing and communications. Simple.

So what has been the secret to our last 4 years? Well, I won’t give it all away, but…

…in the beginning we had no clients, no website and no folio. All we had is what all creatives dream of… A completely white piece of paper to do with as we wished, along with our hard won reputations. It was time to start afresh – to reinvent what an agency should be and remember why we got involved in this industry in the first place – align our ethos and ethics to an ever (rapidly) changing and demanding world – get out there and spread our message. One of creative love.

We went against the grain when others played it safe and employed top of game talent to deliver on our promises of great creative and management. Within this structure we fostered an environment that invested in staff, encouraged creative thought, and empowered individuals to take ownership and accountability of their work whilst developing the concept of the team and not rely on hero dependency.

We found a niche. We developed an approach to transparent management and communications – allowing staff to have voice and help shape the future of the company. There should be no secrets.

We worked hard. Often above and beyond the contractual agreements we had made… Even today, if it needs that little extra we will give it, meaning that we do it better, faster, cheaper, more honestly, and with a wider range than our competitors.

But most of all, we created an environment that allows people to work with a smile. Promoting people to look at things with new eyes, to not be afraid or think of limitations.

Things great and small

With each dollar having to work harder and the amount of channels now available it pays to stay small and agile. It pays not to be the ’800-pound gorilla’. It allows us to work under the radar of the bigger agencies.

By staying small and focussed we hold on to the things that are dear to us, our passion of ideas, our love of storytelling and the acceptance of making mistakes. Mistakes are OK… If we don’t make them, then we aren’t pushing hard enough.

And what of 2012…

As advocates of design and communication we will be thinking about how we can change the world. To make it that little bit more special and leave a legacy – gifting back to the audience we rely so heavily upon to love and be influenced by our work. Yes, we live and work within a commercially driven world and environment, but it’s evolving… And brands can and will be playing a central role within this communication evolution – To make the world a better place to live in. It’s not all about the financial rewards… It now incorporates the story we are telling and the smile we should be leaving behind.

Our mission

As always; To over achieve – to deliver time and time again on our promise. To change the world ever so slightly for the better. To make the complex simple. To love what we do.

Here is to what we believe is going to be a most excellent 2012. Have fun with it.

Mark Anderson / Creative Director and Founder

What we are looking for…

An individual who can be responsible for innovative, well conceptualised and well developed multi-platform solutions for projects within the tech / creative department. You will be supported by a dynamic team in delivering high-quality end requirements for International clients.

If you think you have what it takes, visit our jobs page to find out more or get in touch.

Arriving at the office at 5am was a small struggle, but excitement prevailed. Arriving in Paris, we spent a short while navigating (getting lost) the Metro, but once we had our bearings, were in for a great day of hot chocolate, art galleries, delicious cocktails, Christmas markets, mulled wine, and crazy Parisian weather (see windswept and interesting photographs).

We were too busy having a marvellous time to do any shopping, resulting in most of us buying last minute cheese as souvenirs, so I apologise to fellow Eurostar travellers for the strong fromage odour, but when in France…!

A brilliant end to the year – good job Niko!

Merry Christmas!

As part of a new three-year plan, MSIF aims to implement a new creative next year: ‘1000 faces of MS’, which will put people with MS at the heart of a campaign, targeted to create awareness and understanding of the disease amongst the general public leading up to World MS Day 2012 on May 30^th.

The campaign will creatively push the global MS movement and will include digital, social, video and print content.

Mark Anderson, Creative Director at We Love 72 commented:

“We are delighted to have won the pitch for MSIF and to work towards a greater awareness of Multiple Sclerosis, by connecting up personal stories, experiences, messages and support from around the world and highlighting the great work MSIF do as a charity.”

Stephen Gray joins us with varied experience working across different areas of the Industry…
With a background in print, coming from the same uni and course as myself, he made the transition into a more digital orientated role through his interest in User Interaction and UX Design.

Stephen is an ambitious designer, whose enthusiasm and creative vision will surely prove to be a great benefit to the team! Welcome Stephen!

Due to a number of exciting projects in the pipeline, we currently have our eyes peeled and on the lookout for some seriously talented creatives to come and join the team! Including:

Senior UX / IA
Senior Designer
Creative Traffic / Project Manager
Senior Project Manager
Junior Front End Developer

Come and be a part of these exciting times at the manor! Visit our jobs page to find out more and get in touch.

Nia joins straight from graduating with a BA in Politics from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwhich. Not a ‘green’ grad- she has experience as a fundraiser for the UEA Alumni Association, and previous work experience within PR & Events in Kent.

She brings the New Business & Marketing roll-call to three, and is busy getting stuck into all aspects of agency (and new business) life.

Mobile computing is currently the fastest growing IT market, with mobile information retrieval ranging among the foremost activities of smartphone users. Marketers and global companies are excited at the prospect that it will soon be common place for their users to point their mobile device camera at anything in the real world and create contextual information/visuals.

There were a few major announcements at this year’s event; including the fact that metaio will be releasing a free version of its Mobile SDK to bring latest AR features to a broad developer community. It will also be publishing a tool called ‘junaio Creator’ to allow virtually anybody to create AR content for junaio. This information is of particular interest as it will become increasingly easier for creatives to enrich the user experience and extend the story we take them on.

Thomas Alt, CEO of Metaio, commented:
“We predict AR to become a common feature on every smartphone and tablet. Of course we are pleased that our solutions have emerged as benchmarks for advanced technology and excellence in our industry, used by developers’ worldwide.”

Software from companies such as Metaio and Layar now makes it possible for social networking to become a real world live experience – when at a bar, shopping or at a gig:

Here’s another example of what can be achieved at the moment with augmented reality: Rofo on junaio

A great brand example is Lynx, who extended their campaign to Victoria train station in London, asking passers-by to look up at a giant screen where they saw, not only themselves, but fallen angels alongside them:

Services such as Google Goggles – a visual search tool, which in basic terms helps define what you see in the real world and wants to monetise the process. Once the public gets used to navigating their environment with tools like Goggles, everything we see and share will become searchable data. Combining environments with predictive technology, Google will be able to serve visual experiences that benefit both the consumer and advertiser.

Although consumers have been confronted with advertising messages for decades and the future could see a positive change of more targeted and relevant messages in our environment, I do worry that this real world product placement could also have a negative impact, for example, instead of someone looking for an item in a shop, people will become reliant on using an app to scan a room for it – almost like putting on your glasses to see. If this was the case, would we lose part of our real-world connections and daily communication with others.

Questions to ponder on… Who owns the advertising space in an augmented world and has the rights to the GPS coordinates? At the moment, anyone can create a message and attach it to specific coordinates. What will stop brands’ realities overlapping, and will this be a movement not just for entertainment and advertising purposes, but for how we see the world in the future? Will the divide between virtual and physical realities become blurred?

Other food for thought is whether ads in the virtual world have to match ads in reality. For example, brands could take over competitors’ outdoor press – presenting an alternative virtual world. Although treading on potential dangerous ground, there is nothing currently in place to stop such a thing.

I find this whole area of our industry fascinating. There is so much opportunity for virtual advertising, projection mapping and Kinect. This mix of augmented reality, social data and interactivity is a real game-changer. My only worry is that without structure and processes in place, the market and our everyday environments will become over-saturated and eventually lose value, becoming a lonely virtual world that no one wants to visit anymore. But, let’s make sure this doesn’t happen by working out rights ownership and allowing virtual ads to evolve into content that users can choose to experience on their own terms.