WDL project www.downhall.co.uk went live this week. Working closely with Mosaic Publicity on one of many hotel sites, we designed and built a new site for the client to replace their old one.

When we received the Downhall brief it was clear they were unhappy with their existing website and needed to create something that was more inline with their branding.

With the help of Rodney Appleyard (Mosaic) we worked together to create a modern and sophisticated design which represented the company and how they wanted to be perceived.

One of the main criteria for Downhall was a need to show off the beautiful surroundings and luxurious architecture of the building, which we achieved by making the background of the website fill the full screen of the browser. In addition we made sure the user could also hide away content on the homepage so that they can enjoy the slideshow in the background.

We’re pleased with the results and we wish Downhall all the best for the future.

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Just a quick heads up on the next Colchester Digital event on Wednesday 2nd November, 2011.

Incidentally we need a venue for this event. If you can help please contact us at social@colchesterdigital.co.uk. More information can be found at the above link and previous venues have included; 15 Queen Street, Mosaic Publicity, WDL & Browser Media.

The second in our series of speaker events will see Give Up Art’s  (site is currently being redeveloped) Stuart Hammersley telling us about some of his recent work, including the Official Chart Company and music label Tempa – most of you will be familiar with his design for the Katy B album (below).

Give Up Art (GUA) is a graphic design studio, formed in October 2006 by Stuart and Emma Hammersley. Producing bold, effective design and communications for clients both large and small – they’ve achieved a growing international reputation for their music design work – with clients such as Tempa, Rinse FM, Apple Pips, Bleep.com, FWD>>, Bloc Music Festival. As well as working with clients in the publishing, advertising, travel and broadcast sectors; advertising agencies and production companies, working across print, motion and digital.

To attend this event please join the group at Colchester Digital, or, if you’re a member already don’t forget to RSVP to secure your place.

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When WDL were contacted with regards to building a website for Colchester Executive Job Club we understood the thinking behind it and what they were trying to achieve. Losing your job can happen to any of us at any time and as such we felt compelled to help with the project. We offered our design and build services at a reduced rate and worked closely with James Cracknell (founder) throughout the project to help get the message across through a website that is clean and simple to navigate. It was a pleasure to work with Colchester Executive Job Club and we wish them the best of luck for the future.

James Cracknell

“I found the whole process easy and enjoyable. From the initial meeting to the last they (WDL) have been informative and helpful, understanding what I am trying to achieve and respecting my wishes. Despite my requirements being far from standard they embraced the ideas and delivered a web-site that is accessible, easy to manage and the core of what I am trying to achieve.”

For more information about Colchester Executive Job Club or to visit the site click the link.

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Last night saw the Colchester Digital group meet for the 3rd time in it’s short 3-month history. Around 25 members attended the informal get together at the River Lodge bar in Colchester.

Members from many different areas of the digital spectrum – software developers, social media guru’s, web developers, digital marketers, SEO practitioners and graphic designers – were among the attendees. Topics of conversation ranged from the Google + social platform to the new html5 markup language and the various projects that members are working on.

Colchester Digital is a Meetup group for individuals and businesses in and around the Colchester area.

Spanning the digital sectors, our members are developers, designers, digital image and video specialists, marketers, PR, social media and SEO experts, and everything between.

The group welcomes freelancers, graduates, experts, professionals and anybody who feels that they could gain from the group, or add something to it.

Colchester Digital members meet once a month (usually the 1st Wednesday) at various locations in and around the Colchester area. We get together to share knowledge, experience and information, and where possible to collaborate on a wider scale. It’s essentially a group of like-minded people who want to grow a bigger and better foundation for the digital community in Colchester.
Please note that you can still join the group even if you are unable to attend a Meetup or event. The group pages allow for interaction with other members and for dialogue to occur, and your suggestions on future Meetups or events are more than welcome. There are no expectations if you join, all we ask is that you give us your feedback and input your ideas when you can.

Future Colchester Digital Meetups will include speakers, trainers and workshops on various aspects of the internet and associated industries. So tell your friends and colleagues to join Colchester Digital. The more members there are, the more you can get out of it.
To join the group, and keep up-to-date, simply go to www.colchesterdigital.co.uk and click the button in the top right-hand corner of the page.

If you have any questions email us at social@colchesterdigital.co.uk, or join and leave a comment.

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WDL was commissioned to come up with a redesign of alloywheelworld.co.uk’s existing website as well as add new functionality to help increase sales and drive more traffic to the site. The vision was to create a new site which would stand out from the crowd and that was clean and simple to use. They didn’t want to alienate existing customers but at the same time they wished to make it easier for new customers to find the wheels they were looking for.

The initial stage of the project was to come up with a new design for the site that would reorganise their existing homepage into a more coherent and clean layout. The company was very impressed with the design and felt that it ticked all the boxes that they had set out when deciding to change the existing websites look and feel. This new design was integrated into the company’s existing jshop e -commerce platform.

The main goal for the homepage was to drive as much site traffic into the vehicle selector as possible which would give the user a faster and more effortless way of finding wheels for their car. We created a simple to use vehicle selector interface at the top of the page that would filter the vast selection of alloy wheels available.

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Below are some examples from a range of recent work we produced for the Barn Brasserie, which stays true to the branding we previously created for them.

The design for a new website captures the tradition and elegance of the restaurant and its surroundings, whilst complementing the clean nature of the branding by using clear layouts and subtle uses of typography.

Other work includes print-based items in the form of a new drinks menu and gift vouchers which stay consistent with the branding to help establish the design throughout all media.

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Every now and again we come across a quirky little idea that tries to make our lives easier, but sometimes we come across an application – or app as the cool kids are putting it – that is just designed to take away a little bit of stress.

For all Photoshop users this app could be a blessing. How many times have you yelled words not fit to be heard until after the watershed whilst Photoshop is loading and saving your work. This particular app brings in all your RSS feeds each time the loading bar appears, so instead of getting irate you can catch up on your latest news without leaving the confines of Photoshop, making your work a little less stressful – hopefully!

http://www.popuload.com/

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Infographics are images used to display information. These could be anything from population sizes, Facebook posts or cocktail recipes and have been around for hundreds of years. But as with many things the popularisation of the internet has in turn popularised infographics. The blogging world in particular has made what used to be a simple way to show data a very trendy art form. There are now beautifully designed infographics for practically any information you could think of. Companies like designbysoap.co.uk that create infographics, or dailyinfographic.com and infographicsshowcase.com that showcase display them are becoming increasingly popular.

As hard as it is to choose some of my favourite infographics, I have to start with Harry Becks’ Tube map, which positioned London underground stations according to their adjacent stations rather than the geographical locations. This combined with colour coding each line allows thousands of passengers to navigate around London with ease, whether they know London or not.

Information Architects use the Tokyo tube map to create the much loved Web Trend Map, which positions the 50 most influential websites along lines for similar sites (tubes). Visit http://vimeo.com/8253034 to watch a video of the designer explaining how and why he designed it.

As with most of the most popular infographics, you can purchase them in a poster format. The Web Trend Map is available as an A0 size poster from Information Architects, who also created another of my other favourite infographics – The Spectrum of User Experience.

In fellow Colchester Digital member Joe Stone’s X-Men Family Tree, he has arranged beautifully illustrated X-Men superheroes and added lines connecting them depending on their relationship to each other. This cleverly shows the complexity of the X-Men comic world.

Lastly, I would like to mention a new growing trend of in-video infographics, where, as the title suggests, the infographic is animated. One of my favourites is the Röyksopp music video of their single ‘Remind Me. I will be keeping a close eye on this new and exciting world of video infographics as it will surely boom in the following years as have the static infographics.

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Have you ever wondered ‘how does Google work?’ If the answer is yes, then look no further. This rather splendid infographic that Lloyd (our apprentice) found at www.ppcblog.com the other day should help.

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The team here at WDL have decided to set up and launch a Meetup group for like-minded digital professionals in Colchester, and the surrounding areas – www.colchesterdigital.co.uk.

The thinking behind the group is to get as many of us together so we can collaborate, share knowledge, experience and information. Essentially, an opportunity to regularly catch up and meet others who earn their living (or want to earn their living…) from the Internet. Somewhere to discuss issues that have a direct effect on our businesses, or just a time and place to have a drink and a chat. We know there are enough of us out there to justify this Meetup, so we thought why not; it’s not hurting anybody and it has the potential to be really useful for the members.

Initially we’ll get together once a month (1st Meetup – 8th June, 2011 at WDL, East Street, Colchester), but there is scope to meet more often, and at different places, it’s up to you – it’s your group! There will be no expectations so just bring yourself, a friend if you want, and perhaps a few business cards – you never know who might be there.

To join the group, go to our Meetup page at www.colchesterdigital.co.uk

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact us

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