E-casting for cost-effective marketing

Posted by Ciaron on 15 August 2008 in General

We understand that you may be feeling the pinch recently. If you’re looking for ways to save money but increase sales, we’ve a few ideas. In times like this it’s important rethink/focus your marketing rather than stop altogether, and spend your budget more wisely. E-casting is the ideal marketing tool.

Over half of all Internet users check or send e-mail on a typical day. E-mail marketing is often reported as second only to search engine marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic. Sending a purposely designed email has the ability to attract a wide range of specific, potential customers at a very low cost. It’s less expensive than print and much better for the environment!

It’s fast too. Emails are instant as opposed to a mailer advertisement, producing a much faster return, pushing your message and driving business towards your website or encouraging customers to pick up the phone.

You can also track the exact return on your investment, which has proven to be very high when done properly. We can do this for you in many different ways which you can later use to measure open rates, positive or negative responses and correlate sales with marketing.

Worried about your message being flagged as spam and banished to the depths of your potential client's junk folder? Worry not, we test all of our outgoing messages to make sure they pass all of the most popular spam filters (including Outlook 2007 and SpamAssasin).

We also make sure that you message displays correctly in all of the most common email clients, including not just Outlook and Apple Mail, but many of the most popular web-based email clients, such as the ever popular Gmail and the all-dominating Hotmail.

Relationships are important in business and regular emails allow you to enhance these with existing customers, encouraging loyalty and repeat business. They can also build long lasting and trustworthy new ones. So why not give it a go? Contact us today to see how we can help you deliver your message directly to your prospective client's inbox.

Time to redesign your logo?

Posted by Matthew on 14 August 2008 in Logo Design

Todays world is obsessed with the strive to remain young and attractive. This obsession also effects the way in which we consume, and unfortunately, if your brand starts to appear dated, drab, and no longer ‘attractive' it gets left behind. That's why it's important to keep up with the times and remain contemporary in the eyes of your target market.

A logo redesign is a good start. Sometimes this can mean a tiny tweak here and there - maybe a new, more contemporary typeface. Other times, a bit more of a ‘face-lift' is needed, with the logos emblem cleaned up and refreshed and a new colour pallet established. And , if things are looking really dated, a complete logo redesign.

Here's a few examples of some well know brands that have recently redesigned their logos. Taking into account their target audience's growing concerns with the food they consume, the environment, and the importance of a healthy, balanced diet they dropped the ‘value' looking black and replaced it with a fresh and healthy green. The font has been slimmed down, yet recognisable at the Morrisons typeface.

Vauxhall also haven't gone for a complete redesign. When a brand has lasted so long it's a little dangerous to stray too far away from it's previous image. To help modernise the overall appearance and boost recognition, they have simply focused in on a small section of the current logo. They've replaced the red backdrop with a black, conveying a more sporty and technological image. The logos sharp edges give a more focused appearance.

HMV and BBC Three both target the youth demographic. Therefore remaining youthful and contemporary is vital to their survival. Both have used a soft, rounded typefaces to appear friendly and informal, and the use of vivid colours currently seem to be the trend in this area of design. Whereas HMV has decided to drop the dated beveled effect, BBC Three has chosen to introduce a glossy three-dimensional effect, bring a little more life to the logo.

Finally here's a logo that's taken a huge step backwards. Capital One recently introduced a ‘swoosh' symbol heavily embossed behind their typeface. Along with an unusual choice of colour is makes the brand appear dated and more like a brand of toothpaste than a credit card company.

What is a website CMS?

Posted by Terence on 13 August 2008 in Web Design

Here at Bourn Design we've recently been giving the entry pages to our CMS a facelift, as some clients will doubtless have noticed. Whilst pondering the question 'Just another CMS', it's worth asking just what is a CMS in the first place, especially if it's one of those terms you've heard people mention without explaining what it actually means.

CMS, thankfully, isn't some hyper technical term. It simply stands for Content Management System. And what does that do? If you have a website you typically have a lot of useful information to put onto it that you need to get to your potential customers; this is your content. The Management System affects how you get this information to them, by providing you with a system designed for organising content.

In the old way of the web, the process typically involved building a new webpage for every new piece of information (assuming you didn't really feel like forcing your readers to turn away by trying to fit it all on a single page). Whenever a new page needed to be added, or a change was needed to be made, pages either had to be created afresh, or altered 'under-the-hood'. Whilst Word Documents for example were designed to be edited easily, editing web pages has traditionally been a more involved process, requiring specialist and sometimes expensive software which doesn't always leave the page underneath accessible to Search Engine Bots or people with certain web browsers. Then what happened if ever you wanted to update the entire site design? Suddenly changing those 200 pages of content to match seemed quite a daunting, time-consuming and expensive task...

A Content Management System replaces this need to change pages directly, with a simpler and more familiar Word-like interface. You worry about typing in the main content (your terms and conditions for example), and the system automatically worries about putting the website design around it. What if you want to add or edit a page? A few button clicks, and it's all done. It's what we at Bourn use for our own blog here in the office, and it certainly saves us no end of time.

Hopefully that should help clear up this mysterious 'CMS' term sometimes bandied about. If you're still confused, why not get in touch with us at hello@bourndesign.co.uk, and we'll be happy to show you what one can do for you.

Hiring a designer and what to look for...

Posted by Mark on 08 August 2008 in Graphic Design

If you've never hired a web designer or graphic designer before it can be a daunting task. What should I be looking for? What should I ask? Here are some frequently asked questions to ask yourself and the designer before hiring them.

Where do I find a good web designer or graphic designer?
It's always better to use an agency that have been recommended. If you know of someone who has used a design agency before, then its a good place to start. Ask them if they were happy with the service, price and quality of work. If they were than go to the designer's website and have a look through the portfolio, whether you need a brochure or a website this is the first place to go because it's all about the quality of the finished product.
Bourn get a lot of work via word of mouth it's one of the best forms of marketing but 100% of customers always go and check out our website before an initial meeting.

Should I hire a freelancer rather than an agency?
Freelancers can sometimes offer cheap prices but there is a trade off. A lot of freelancers have fulltime jobs and therefore they are hard to get hold of when you need updates or if things go wrong. If you need a reprint of letterheads or a new page adding to your website will they still be there next year?

What about companies overseas offering cheaper rates?
There are companies in India and Poland but ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you want to meet the designer in person?
  
• Are they sensitive to British design trends and know how?
  
• Will the language barrier be a problem?

How much does a designer cost?
We price jobs on an individual basis and give clients a capped price but we work out those costs using an hourly rate. Design agencies in Manchester and Stockport charge between £40 - £90 per hour, Bourn are priced at just £50 per hour.

For example if you want a small 5 page website that just provides information on your company and services it's likely the cost will be £500 - £900. However, if your site needs more functionality you should expect the price to rise. For example, if you want an online shop or the ability to update the website yourself this will increase the price. You also need to consider other costs like web hosting, domain name purchase and ongoing maintenance.

Avoid agencies who offer packages or cheap websites; it's asking for trouble. You do get what you pay for. The last thing you want is an amateur looking website that does your company image more harm than good.

You should always negotiate a price based on your needs and deadline but remember if you ask for something extra after a price has been agreed expect to pay more for the extras.

How long does it take to design something?
Remember that a design agency will have other clients and they will have a roster of projects. Bigger projects with more requirements will inevitably take longer to deliver than smaller projects as they need more planning, proofing and if it's a website - testing.

Will my website appear in Google?
It depends on how the webite is built, the content that is on your site, how often its updated and whether other websites are linking to your website.
A good design agency will be able to get your website listed quickly but if you're hoping to get your site listed high up in search results for very competitive keywords then it will need planning and ongoing work to achieve this.

There are many more questions that I have been asked on this subject, if you have any question why not email me on hello@bourndesign.co.uk.

BBC's Olympics 2008 branding campaign

Posted by Matthew on 07 August 2008 in Branding

Last week the BBC launched it’s promotion for its Olympics 2008 coverage.  The campaign is inspired by the contemporary Opera, “Monkey: Journey to the West” which premiered to rave reviews here in Manchester last year as part of the Manchester International Festival. 

Cult comic artist and graphic designer, Jamie Hewlett was approached once again to recreated the four main characters in a twist on the classic tale.  Now entitled “Journey to the East” and the Beijing Olympics, Hewlett’s instantly recognisable graphic style is paired beautifully with Damon Albarn’s contemporary take on the Chinese musical genre. 

And the campaign doesn’t stop there.  The ‘monkey’  brand will be used throughout the BBC’s coverage of the games along with mobile downloads, cut-out-and-wear masks and your very own interactive monkey desktop which the user can personalise, set reminders, and catch the latest news from their favorite Olympic event.  Pretty impressive stuff.  Find out more by clicking the links below.

www.monkeyjourneytothewest.com
www.designmuseum.org/design/jamie-hewlett
www.news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/monkey/7521287.stm