Last year our long standing clients, Scriptorum, came to us ready to give their website a refresh.
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We first worked with Scriptorum in 2012 when we helped them build a website to promote their legal transcription services. As Scriptorum have grown over the years and developed their range of services they have placed more emphasis on their “Scribe” service, which allows for quick and easy transcription of phone recorded voice memos. As “Scribe” has become a major part of Scriptorum’s process it was clear it should be the primary focus of the website and it was important that the new build reflected the service’s simplicity.

We opted for a simple one page layout to consolidate all of the important information into a single page. To help Scriptorum’s potential clients understand the simplicity of their services we incorporated illustrations and iPhone screenshots to showcase how easy the process of using their services is. The inclusion of fields that expand when clicked to reveal additional areas, allowed us to regulate the maximum height of the website whilst ensuring all of the necessary information was included throughout.

As part of the project, Scriptorum asked us to create a logo for their “Scribe” service. We used a simple and friendly script font with an inviting colour scheme to reflect the simplicity of Scriptorum’s services and the obvious connotations of the word scribe.

View the website here: www.scriptorumweb.co.uk

This may not seem like big news but it could have massive implications for your business and its online exposure.

 
Currently Google focuses very heavily on new content on your website (news, blogs etc) and effectively social media should be used to push traffic to your site, but unfortunately social media is often operated within its own little bubble. So if someone isn’t following your business on twitter they only get to hear about you on the off chance that someone they are following retweets something.

 
This problem is further exacerbated by Facebook where even the people who like/follow you don’t always see what you’re posting (general rule of thumb is a 1-2% reach, so for every 100 likes you have 1-2 of those people will see what you post). This is there to push you into Facebook’s business model of promoted posts and adverts, but that’s another blog for another time.

 
Anyway back to twitter, it’s very easy for things to be shared and spread but it’s very of the moment. Rarely does anyone check or share a tweet from several months or years ago. Google search results could change this.

 
If your tweets start coming up against searches, this could massively increase your exposure and potentially reduce the requirement to write lots of time consuming blogs, it most certainly will have impact on your google ranking.

 
At the very least advertisers on twitter will have to be far more coherent than simply posting a link to their product.

 
This could very well make twitter the most important social network for your business.

Welcome to ado.media, the new home of adomedia. As you will have realised it’s not only our domain name that’s changed. We’ve also undergone a major online facelift which has seen us restocking our ever growing portfolio with our wide range of printed literature and online media.

Take a look around and if you’ve got any questions or enquiries, head over to our contact page and send us a message, or give one of our friendly team a ring on +44 (0) 1625 612 198.

As many of you will be aware, since the end of July we’ve been running a little inspiration project on our Twitter page. The aptly named #dailyinspiration series was our way of helping other creatives kick start their day by sharing an article or piece of work that’s inspired us.

We aimed to post 1 a day and on Monday shared our 100th post, which we agreed was the perfect ending to the project. Some of the work that we’ve featured includes this awesome Batmobile illustration project by David Lo (@flnz) and the stunning “Through a Glass Darkly” photography series by Nick Turpin (@NickTurpin).

About half way through the project we were finding it was rather annoying having to scroll through our feed to try and find previous posts. We came up with the idea of setting up a website where we could showcase all 100 to make it easier to browse what we had already covered. This is when seenby.adomedia.co.uk was created.

We found that a simple, grid based layout with a smooth and fluid hover state on the posts would work best. The fully responsive site also has the ability for users to post comments on their favourite piece. If you haven’t already, why not take a look for yourself at seenby.adomedia.co.uk.

So, whether you’re looking for some inspiration for you latest photography project or just need a push in the right direction for your next illustration, head over to seenby.adomedia.co.uk and have a good old nosy around.

We’d just like to take the time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year. We’ve had an excellent 2014 which was recently rounded off with a great Christmas party in Macclesfield. Big thanks go out to Rosanero, Red Willow & Mash Guru for the hospitality.

Christmas Opening Times

The office will be manned right up until Christmas day, with the team finishing around 1pm on the 24th. We will be closed on the 25th (Christmas Day) & the 26th (Boxing Day). The office will then be open on the 29th, 30th & a half day on the 31st (New Years Eve). We will then kick start 2015 on the 5th January where normal working hours will resume.

24th December: 09:00 – 13:00
25th December: CLOSED
26th December: CLOSED
–
29th December: 09:00 – 17:00
30th December: 09:00 – 17:00
31st December: 09:00 – 13:00
1st January: CLOSED
2nd January: CLOSED
–
5th January: 09:00 – 17:00 (normal hours resume)

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year from all of us!

Black Friday. Sounds like a horror movie, right? Cyber Monday. A futuristic sci-fi film? Wrong. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are very real and very of the now. Unless you’ve been under a rock, you’re likely to have at least heard something about them in the past week.

America’s Black Friday phenomenon hit UK shores this year with force akin to that of our latest import from the Atlantic, Hurricane Gonzalo. It brought a tidal wave of discount deals, floods of shoppers and of course the ensuing media storm. One poor lady even took a falling flat screen TV to the head in the midst of the mayhem.

In the previous two years Black Friday has begun to enter the consciousness of the British public via the magic of social media and this year we decided we were going to give it our best shot yet. Stores such as Asda were the main outlets for major price cuts who are, of course, owned by controversial American discount giants Wal-Mart.

Still in the dark about Black Friday? It came to prominence in the United States in the early 1900’s on the Friday following the Thanks Giving holiday (the fourth Thursday in November) where the major retailers open their doors in the early hours of the morning and offer seemingly unmissable promotional sales. Since the early 2000’s it has become the unofficial mark of the start of the Christmas shopping season in the USA.

This year, Black Friday saw Amazon eclipse last year’s record breaking Cyber Monday item purchases by a distance. 5.5 million items sold on Black Friday 2014 to 4.1 million sold on 2013’s Cyber Monday. In the USA alone, $50.9 billion was spent over the Black Friday weekend.

In the aftermath of Friday, customers who flocked to retailers, filled their boots and fought for their 50% discounts, have taken to e-commerce platforms, such as eBay, to offload their fancy flat screens at inflated prices in an attempt to ‘make a fast buck’.

After Black Friday’s commercial success, Cyber Monday kicked-off at 12:00 AM, giving retailers another chance to offer consumers discount deals – the online equivalent of Black Friday. Amazon, high street retailers and other online stores, such as ASOS, getting in on the act with some websites even crashing under the pressure of their own traffic.

Cyber Monday sales are expected to increase 26% on last Christmas and next week’s “Manic Monday” will likely see online sales explode again, with retailers offering further discounts leading experts to predict a £676.5 million worth of sales (£470,000 per minute) in one day.

In recent years e-commerce has risen dramatically with consumers opting to buy online rather than in-store. At this time of year, more people are choosing to avoid battling the busy crowds of stressed shoppers and screaming kids, who wish to be anywhere else than packed out shopping centres, and who can blame them.

Online sales offer the perfect chance for organised, savvy shoppers to get their Christmas shopping done early and efficiently from the comfort of their own home. The increased capabilities of personal devices and responsive web design means consumers can make purchases on the go with tablets and even their mobile phones. With this in mind it’s easy to see why retailers are capitalising on it.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday proved, once again, the power of social media and online retail in a modern consumer market.

If you think a social media package, an e-commerce platform or even a dedicated hosting server to cope with your busy online traffic could be beneficial to your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on +44 (0)1625 612 198 or at enquiries@adomedia.co.uk. We’re always happy to talk about new projects and ideas.

You may have seen last week that we launched a spanking new web build for Ron Tiki cocktail bar in Macclesfield. Well this week we’ve just launched a beautiful new website for their mother bar Ronnie’s.

Ronnie’s Bar are one of our long standing clients and they recently approached us again to assist them in giving their website a little bit of an update to coincide with the bar’s relocation (84B Mill Street).

Part of our brief was to ensure that the primary emphasis was on the bar’s new address and their upcoming events.

Ronnie’s Bar is a well known, popular part of Macclesfield’s evening scene so it’s important that the local clients are aware of the relocation. We incorporated their new address as part of the site title to place instant emphasis on the bar’s new location.

We implemented an Events page, to help users keep up to date with the venues pending events which includes dates, prices, times and drinks promotions. The Events page uses a live calendar function to automatically remove the event from the page once it has gone by to avoid a confusing backlog of past nights and shifts the spotlight on to their next upcoming events.

We also implemented a promotional slider on every page to further promote the bar’s upcoming events and the site also includes a Gallery section, where the Ronnie’s event photographers can showcase their pictures of the bar’s past events.

The Ronnie’s and the adomedia team are really pleased with the results and the short, 10 day turnaround to get the site live for their launch weekend. Are you heading out for a few drinks over the weekend? Why not pop into to Ronnie’s Bar for their launch nights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

We love working on exciting projects like the Ronnie’s Bar website. If you’d like to talk to us about a potential project contact our Business Development Manager, Steven Taylor, at steve@adomedia.co.uk or on 01625 612 198.

Website for Macclesfield’s premium late night bar, Ronnies. Now located at 84B Mill Street.

View the site here.

2012 Macbook Air 13”
iPad Air 32GB
iPhone 5
Jabra Revo Wireless Headphones
Jabra 3.5mm cable with mic (For those moments when the batteries run out)
Anker 1200ma Battery
2 x USB to Micro USB
Apple Micro USB to Lightning Adaptor
1 x Folding USB Charger
Chromecast
Maglus Stylus
Cross Ball Point Pen
Butterfox Accessory case
EE 4G Mobile Hotspot
Slim Car to USB Adaptor
Sandisk 64GB Wireless USB Stick
Seagate Wireless 500GB Hard Drive
Contigo West Loop Autoseal Travel Mug

This is generally my day to day carry and allows me to have a full mobile office, though where possible I try and avoid carrying my Mac Book Air.

The iPad is my main out of office device, I love it, I try and do everything I can with it but sometimes it’s just quicker to work off a laptop, particularly for presentations, but the iPad is my go to for reading, gaming and note taking.

For years I just used my phone as a mobile hotspot but as my requirements grew, I needed a mobile hotspot that could be on for several hours. I decided to invest in the EE Osprey hotspot, it works a lot better with multiple devices, and when we do live social media coverage it’ll last about 8 hours before needing a charge. That said when it’s just for me the iPhone is the hotspot I’ll use 4 out of 5 times.

While travelling I’ll be listening to music and the Jabra Revo’s are Wirecutter’s best bluetooth headphones, I’m a big proponent of going/living/being wireless where possible, the sound quality is great, the isolation is good and I can answer my phone and use Siri without digging my phone out of my pocket.

I’ve kept the cables to a minimum, USB to micro USB charges the backup battery, hotspot, headphones and Chromecast and then the apple lightning adaptor allows it to charge my iPhone or iPad, I’m not sure why I carry the USB to mini USB. I’ve stopped carrying the cable for the seagate drive, it’s not the sort of thing I need to charge on the go and as you’ll read below, it’s not used all that much.

I’m hoping to ditch the Anker battery when I get an iPhone 6 or 6+ and my phone can make it more than 6 hours away from a charger (it’s my fault I’m always on it, streaming music, tweeting etc)

The Chromecast I picked up as a way for me to carry less cables, when doing presentations or training etc most venues now have HD TVs instead of projectors and as such I can just plug it in, turn on the mobile hotspot and mirror any tab in chrome from my Mac Book Air. I’m hoping in the near future that I can mirror my iPad to it, if not I could see this getting swapped out for an Apple TV.

Most of my data is stored in the cloud but when I’ve got to quickly grab things the Sandisk Wireless USB stick or Seagate Hard Drive are my go to devices. The Seagate is mostly loaded with movies for when travelling. But if I’m honest I’ve not used these all that much they are just hold overs from when carrying a USB stick was a must.

I’ve got some misc headphone adaptors, for sharing music or when on a plane, I think I just have them in the case so when going abroad I know where they are.

It’s a constant work in progress and I’m always trying to reduce what i carry but so far this allows me to work anywhere and travel relatively lightly.

Website & illustrations for Macclesfield bar, Ron Tiki.

View the site here.

Earlier in the year Ron Tiki Bar approached us to help them create a new, engaging website for their popular night spot. Ron Tiki is the sister tiki bar of Ronnie’s, one of Macclesfield’s most popular evening bars. Part of the brief was to create a fun and engaging site to reflect the atmosphere of the bar itself. We knew that the site wasn’t going to be very text or content heavy so we aimed to put a focus on the imagery of the bar. We implemented a one page, side-scrolling element to make the navigation of the site as slick and efficient as possible.

In addition to the website project, the guys at Ron Tiki commissioned adomedia to create a series of 15 bespoke illustrations for the website. The section called ‘The Story’ and is a fun and quirky introduction to where the Ron Tiki bar originated from.

The story follows the journey of ‘Big Ed’ an Easter Island Moai who leaves his beach shack cocktail bar in paradise to bring his knowledge to Macclesfield at the request of Ronnie, a bar owner from Macclesfield on a mixologist scouting mission in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean…Of course!

The guys at Ron Tiki are really happy with the outcome, and so are we. We’re looking forward to working with them again in the future. You can view the website here – www.rontikibar.co.uk.

Would you like to talk to us about a website or illustration project? Get in touch with Steve our Business Development Manager at steve@adomedia.co.uk or call us on 01625 612 198, we’re always happy to discuss new and exciting projects.

Earlier this week saw the release of the latest Apple operating system, iOS8. For those of you who managed to free up the space (4.7GB) and download it straight away, you’ll most probably be aware of the latest features iOS8 has to offer and surprisingly, there are quite a few.

One of things that I noticed almost immediately was the slight design modification to the icons in the Control Panel. In iOS7 the icons and the stroke around the circle would change from black to white once clicked. In iOS8 the whole background of the icon fills with white and the icons stay the same. A small and rather insignificant change I know.

One of the more interesting developments is Siri’s built in song identification software. It seems that Apple has partnered up with Shazam to deliver this feature and I must admit, it works rather well!

Another element that got our Business Development Manager, Steve quite excited was that if you’ve installed iOS8 on your iPad and it’s connected to the same WiFi network as your iPhone, then you’ll be able to take calls on it. When your iPhone rings a notification will pop up on your iPad and you’ll be able to receive the call as you would do with a Skype call.

The camera features a few upgrades too. New exposure settings and a self timer have been built in along with the ability to record time-lapse videos. Here’s our first attempt…

Group messages also get a few enhancements with the ability to name, mute and leave the conversation altogether. To access these, simply click “details” in the top corner of the conversation.

Not so much of a new feature but more of an upgrade, the talk-to-type component on the keyboard (little microphone button) is now more accurate than ever. It’s probably still best to manually type those private message though, especially in public.

Overall, not a huge difference from iOS7 and more upgrades to existing features rather than entirely new ones. You’ll probably get the most out of iOS8 with the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus which have gone on sale this morning, but we’ve not managed to get our hand on one…yet.

Tuesday evening, 6pm (GMT), saw the highly anticipated annual apple conference in California. Rumours of the new releases and pending launches have been circulating for a few months now with talk of bigger screens, slimmer handsets and wearable tech leading the build up hear say and they weren’t wrong. On the night Apple unveiled the two new iPhone models, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus as well as the new addition to their product line the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is Apples first dip into the wearable tech market, billing it as a ‘health and fitness device’. Apple Watch can track movement, activity and heart-rate and can export and share data with other apps when paired with an iPhone or iPad. However, Apple’s first smartwatch is much more than just a personal trainer on your wrist, it can perform many of the same functions and can run many of the same apps as Apple’s other devices including Twitter, Facebook and Emails.

Main navigation is done by using the ‘Digital Crown’ a scrolling toggle on the side of the watch but don’t worry if you like to feel like Tom Cruise in the Minority Report whilst you text your Granny, swiping is still possible as Apple have implemented the now standard touchscreen interface that recognises the difference between a touch and a tap the same as their other devices.

We’re still yet to be convinced about the need for the Apple Watch, it only runs ‘almost’ as many functions as an iPhone, has a smaller user interface to work with and isn’t really built for browsing. It is already being considered by some as a bit of a money making gimic, especially when you consider it only works to its full potential when it’s paired with an Apple iPhone 5 or later.

From what we have seen on the internet though the response has been mixed and the general consensus is split fairly 50/50. However, if one thing is for sure, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be Apple’s biggest sellers in the device market this year.

As for how it effects you as a business, there is very little impact for website owners, the intention is not for the apple watch to become your main device or even something that can browse the internet. The idea is it’s a companion device to your phone, offering quick glimpses into notifications and information, so don’t worry you won’t have to roll out your watch compatible site just yet.

The iPhone 6 comes in two separate sizes. The standard iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch screen, making it over half an inch bigger the the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6 Plus is 1.5 inches bigger with a screen size of 5.5 inches. Bigger screens means a larger user interface and the new 1080p resolution could potentially mean mobile site templates will begin to be fazed out in the not too distant future.

What would that mean for creative agencies and its customers? Currently, for a successful overall user experience, websites need to have a mobile template that will show a simplified, better constrained version of the website built exclusively for smaller devices, which means you need to design a desktop template and a mobile template. More templates adds to the amount of design and implementation work and of course the cost.

The iPhone 6 Plus’ new 1080p resolution and larger interface could mean that in a few years time mobile specific templates could start to be fazed out of web design meaning websites are cheaper to build and as a consequence cheaper to buy.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus also include Apples new Apple Pay function. Apple Pay is effectively a virtual wallet (unfortunately the money isn’t virtual) that you use to pay for transactions using NFC (Near Field Communication) on your phone instead of your credit cards, much the same as fast card payments. It also allows for one touch checkout on websites, no more entering all your billing and shipping information, just hold the fingerprint scanner and done, purchase made. We are looking to offer this functionality to our clients with e-commerce sites soon.

The new iPhones will also have an upgraded camera, increased wifi speed, finger print recognition technology and of course the much anticipated iOS8 which will likely make even the iPhone 5’s feel like a completely new phone.

First of all, I must admit and apologise that this is a slightly edited version of, ‘What’s In My Bag’ after I spent a good while cleaning out old receipts and snickers wrappers, but here goes. So, the guys bags have mostly boasted cool tech gadgets, cameras and more importantly (how could we forget) Magnum’s spork – brilliant. But my, ‘What’s In My Bag’ will be a little more modest.

It’s probably odd that as a social media co-ordinator I have no laptop to speak of. I work soley on adomedia’s iMac and on my 32gb iPad when I’m at home, or out and about.

Due to the wonders of Evernote I needn’t carry my lump of a laptop around with me, I can now happily sit at home on my iPad easily dragging pictures into posts with no hassle. Finally, I can happily float through the internet without getting really, really hot knees – I wish someone had told me this earlier. But my main love is my Aspinal of London black leather journal, the pages are a light yellow with small horizontal lines, this is especially handy as it gives me more room to ramble.

By hand writing most of my work, this allows me to throw all of my ideas down onto the paper, and tidy up or expand on certain points when I type up the final piece. However, I’m trying to completely convert to Evernote, as it’s so helpful when creating blogs. But, as Ben talked about in his post, it’s nice to have a physical form in front of you, it’s just more comfortable somehow.

For little notes I always have my mini notepad with me, which I love. It’s easy to flick through and has a picture of a 9th Century Greek bracelet from the Thessaloniki museum in Greece with a beautiful blue bird on, which is nice and a bit more fun than the black leather book. My A4 notebook also comes in handy for longer pieces, and the radio, television and mobile phone technology combo on the front cover is cute. The notebooks that I carry around are helpful when I’m working on the move.

However, my favourite item is my dark purple and silver Cross fountain pen which writes beautifully. I am a bit of a stationary geek, (I know there are more of us out there) and it’s nice to have a quality pen that writes well without scratching up your paper, or leaking on your sandwiches before dinner.

How could I leave out the countless train and bus journeys that have been saved, due to my trusty headphones. But other than a couple of lipsticks and maybe a highlighter or two if I’m lucky, there we have it.

Back in June 2013 Carers In The Home approached us to help them establish a visual identity and an online presence.

Firstly, we looked at what makes Carers In The Home different from other care services. Carers In The Home assist people looking for both care and care work so it was important that their overall identity worked universally.

We opted for a type based approach using the leg of the second “R” in “Carers” to wrap around the “S” to subtly convey the idea of support and trust without being patronising or condescending to those who may require care.

Using the newly established branding we provided the Carers In The Home team with a full stationery suite including business cards and letterheads.

Using the colour scheme established in the initial branding process we created a simple to use, function based website that can be used by people of all ages and abilities.

Carers in the Home’s main aim is to facilitate safe online introductions between senior people requiring care and care givers. We provided an advanced search function that allows users to connect with people based on location, requirements and availability. We then implemented a secure messaging service that allows users to connect safely without the need to release any personal information until they are ready to do so.

Working closely with the Carers In The Home team we have created a safe and secure place for people requiring care and care givers to connect and build trusting relationships.

Branding for unique care services, Carers In The Home.

Website for unique care services, Carers In The Home.

Have you seen Instagram’s new Hyperlapse app? You may have seen us Tweet a video giving you a very rough guided tour of our studio. Over the last couple of days we’ve had time to play around with it a bit more, it’s pretty damn cool.

Hyperlapse is Instagram’s first standalone video app. User’s are able to create elegant, high-quality time-lapse videos, anywhere at anytime. What sets Hyperlapse apart from other time-lapse video recording apps is its image stabilising feature. Most time-lapse videos rely on users keeping there hand/body steady to create a consistent shot without any camera shake, anyone you has ever used the Panorama camera on an iPhone will know the struggle against representing your own sitting room as a warped, parallel universe.

(Via Distractify)

How does Hyperlapse work? Instagram wanted to create a time-lapse video app that removed all of the complexity and meticulous planning and editing that goes with producing a professional time-lapse video. After all, who has the software, time or the know-how to do so.

Using Hyperlapse is as simple as tapping the record button on the app, and it does the rest for you. It takes your recording and uses a complex, under the hood, decoding system to request certain frames and speeds up the video to a new playback rate. There are 7 playback rates depending on how fast you want your time-lapse video to be; 1x, 2x, 4x, 6x, 8x, 10x and 12x. If your original recording is 60 seconds long and you choose a 2x playback rate, your resulting time-lapse video will be 2 times as fast as the original, 30 seconds long and so on.

Whilst the app is recording and processing your capture its clever image stabilising algorithm, Cinema, is working in the background to help to give the recording a fluid motion with minimal camera shake. It’s the image stabilising feature that sets Hyperlapse apart from the rest in its genre. The app’s flexible zoom algorithm reduces the field of view depending on how shaky your video is to smooth out the folds and provide a much steadier, smoother outcome. Its best feature might not be so apparent at first, the app really starts to flex its muscles when the user and subject are both in motion allowing the image stabilising feature to really come into play.

Overall, the app is great. Its interface is so uncomplicated a child could use it and it’s beautiful in all of its simplicity. Some pre-consideration may be need to go into what you want to do with your finished piece, for example, the video length limit on Instagram is 15 seconds and 7 seconds on Vine, so if you plan to share them on your favourite social networks you’ll need an idea of the time parameters to stay within. Hyperlapse haven’t left you on your own with this though. Two timers give you real-time feedback whilst you record, one tells you the length of the recording and one indicates how long the resulting time-lapse version will be at the default playback rate, 6x.

Hyperlapse is clever, fun and most importantly free so it’s worth a download just to have a go. Take a look at some of the creative capabilities some of the clever folk of the internet have already started sharing.

What’s in my bag? As it happens, a lot more than I thought…A little goes a long way.

– Biro
– Pencil
– Sharpie
– Keys Set 1 – Home/Car
– Keys Set 2 – Work
– Banana
– Wallet
– iPhone 5 and Cable
– Headphones
– General Notebook
– Dot Grid Mini
– Sony RX100 Camera

When I was told it was my turn to write the third in the ado “What’s In My Bag” series my first thought was “****, but there isn’t really anything in it!”. It wasn’t until after I’d photographed it all for this post and made an inventory list I realised I had a 12 point strong list, and the best thing, I actually use all of it at least once a day…Apart from the Banana, they’re generally a one off once you’ve eaten them.

It’s probably best to start with the obvious, self-explanatory stuff and get it out of the way. The trusty Bic biro, of which I’ve bought loads of 24 packs in the past and never made it through the full ink supply of even one pen. An HB pencil that only stays sharp through sheer will power, despite Scott and me having the aptly named “Stationery Village” draw next to us in the studio, it’s full of novelty sticky notes and picture frame hooks…(**NEW BLOG IDEA STEVE: What’s In My Draw**). Then there is the customary sharpie to round off my stationery utensils. The rest of the standard bag contents stuff includes a couple of sets of keys (personal and work), a Banana, chosen snack on the day I took the pictures and my wallet which unfortunately doesn’t seem to have the same knack of being fuller than expected as my bag does.

Most used item in my bag? My iPhone 5. Now there’s an app for everything, I don’t really need much else outside of work to keep my mind busy, I don’t have a tablet or a portable computer so on the whole my phone is a little trooper. I love Vine, am partial to a Snapchat and I do a heck of a lot of Instagramming. Buzzfeed and Sky Sports are on there too and I use MyFitnessPal on a semi-regular basis. There’s also the obvious social network stuff – Facebook, Twitter and then Pinterest and Behance which I can use for research or some creative inspiration whilst I’m on the go. Then of course there is what the phone is actually supposed to be used for, texting and calling which is probably pretty low on the functions it has to perform.

I’ve gone through a couple of iPhones as the family phone rotation system has gone round so we’ve been afforded a few extra Apple Lightening Cables. I’ve got one at home and one in my bag which means I can charge my phone pretty much anywhere; in the car, on my work iMac and even in the gym. It also means I can access my own music wherever I am at that time. Obviously, you can’t have an iPhone without your headphones, you never know when you might need to block out the background noise, get in the zone and give yourself a soundtrack. My Sony bad boys have just survived a wash and tumble dry and are still pumping out as good a sound as you’d want without the impractical Beats by Dre style headphones strapped to the top of your head. At least I think they’re Sony, I can’t tell, the branding has washed off.

Next up I’ve got my notebook, usually used for team meeting notes, jotting client feedback down and brainstorming around new design ideas. I tend to do a lot of preliminary sketches in there too because the Dot Grid Books are just too precious to start messing them up with rough skamps, although the current one has taken a good battering over the last 3 weeks. It’s always nice to have a separate book for notes, somewhere you can scribble down ideas no one else needs to understand and it doesn’t have to be particularly legible. Also, I struggle with the idea of having all my notes set-up digitally, I can’t stand clicking through folders trying to find a one line note I could have just pulled out of my bag 10 minutes previous.

The Dot Grid books feel different to notebooks though, I’ve never been able to find one in a shop off the shelf. The fact you need to order them online and await their arrival automatically gives them an aura of superiority and this is why I treat them as such. For those who have never used a dot grid book, it’s not that much different to old maths books you used at school with the square paper, but instead of the gridded lines they’re just dots. They’re really useful for working with logo design which I tend to do a lot of at adomedia, they help with letter structure and spacing, scale and generally just give your drawing a little more balance and accuracy. How do you get the sketch from the grid paper to the screen? Usually you’d be best served using a scanner or something similar as its most accurate, but at the moment I just grab my phone out of my bag, take a picture and email it straight to my work email from there. Just like that.

The last thing in my bag, and probably my favourite is my Sony RX100 camera. It’s great on the go, small and compact and not just the average hand-held digi-cam. The picture quality is better than my Canon DSLR, has a video recording function and shoots in RAW format too. Its size isn’t just for convenience either, most venues and events won’t let you take your own zoom lens cameras inside and if you do manage to coax it by a doormen or steward you’ll quickly be told you can’t use it by another anti-creativity enforcer once you start taking snaps. The RX100 fits in my pocket and most clueless camera police don’t recognise the difference between it and a standard hand-held camera. The final hidden gem is the 8GB SD card it holds. When it’s not saving the excessive amount of pictures I take at the Etihad Stadium on match days it can be used as a portable storage device for files between work and home instead of those ugly looking USB sticks that I always seem to lose track of.

So, what’s in my bag? A significant chunk of my day-to-day life. It holds my utilities, ideas and my hobby. It’s not quite flick-knives and sporks and I wish I could throw in a Creative Review or a “Wreck This Journal” book but I do manage to get the most out of what’s in there, a little really can go a long way.

Be prepared for every eventuality because you never know when you’re going to see a 3D film or need a 1/74 torx bit driver. From front-end development to the office handy man, I’m a co-ordinator with a twist. You may look at the items above and think, what does he need that for? To explain this you’re going to need a bit of background otherwise it’s just a bit looney which I don’t deny it is.

– Sony Xperia Z1
– Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
– Real3D clip on glasses
– Light My Fire Spork
– Sun Cream
– Basic First Aid Kit
– Leatherman Wave Multitool
– Leatherman bit set and bit driver
– 13ft Paracord bracelet
– Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panels
– Goal Zero Guide 10 Plus Battery Pack
– Assorted cables for Nomad 7 and Guide 10

I’m a skydiver and a commuter, I spend a lot of time on the road and in a field in the middle of nowhere waiting for British skies to turn blue. Often faced with terrible network coverage and draining batteries I’ve put together a pack that I could easily carry anywhere. A pack designed and refined over time to give me options and to keep me going in whatever I do. I carry a first aid kit for this very reason, it pretty much covers minor injury, from cuts and grazes to small wounds and suppressing a cold. If I need anything more than this I’m going to head to a doctor.

For as long as I can remember I’ve always carried a multitool of some form and the Leatherman Wave compliments the activities I do on a daily basis. I’ve embraced the fact that I’m usually the one called in to assist with a broken computer, change a light bulb or fit a new work station.

Of the time I’m awake during the week, I spend 12% of my time travelling to and from work and between drop zones. Including travel 40% of this awake time is spent away from a regular internet connection or constant power supply so my everyday carry is very much geared towards keeping me connected. Not pictured above is a 4G EE hotspot which I’ll use some weekends if I know the area I’m going to is especially patchy or the onsite wifi has heavy traffic.

I use Evernote for almost everything these days and its very reassuring to know that all my notes and important documents are synced in the cloud. In combination with Google Drive I can access all my important files and documents, share my notes or videos anywhere on any device. Having the GoalZero Nomad 7 Solar panel has allowed me to charge all my electronics from lanterns, torches and radios. It pumps out 7watts which is perfect for my phone and tablet. By just having everything charged it’s made my quest to go paperless just that much closer.

The goal of this pack has been to create options by having efficient flexibility. From the tools I use to the online services I employ, it’s all allowed me the freedom to engage in whatever activity I do.

– Apple MacBook Pro, 13inch, 360GB Western Digital HD
– Apple Magic Mouse
– Apple iPad 3, 32GB
– Apple iPhone 5
– Rhodia A5 Notebook & Pencil

You’re probably thinking, “Why has he got a notebook and pencil when he carries his MacBook, iPhone AND iPad with him?”. The thing is, ever since I was a kid, writing things down on a good old fashioned piece of paper with a pencil is just easier for me. I trust that piece of paper, I know that if I look after it, the lead on that paper won’t disappear. The amount of times I’ve written things down on my iPhone or iPad and forgotten to sync it with some app or upload it to the appropriate cloud storage program is unbelievable. (Sorry Steve, I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve told me to download an app that syncs all my notes to all my devices).

The rest of the contents are quite self explanatory. I’m never without my iPhone, but then again, who is? I use it as a sat-nav, storage device, messaging, photography, social media and so on. It’s safe to say it comes in more than useful, since my last phone was a BlackBerry Curve anyway! Saying that, I’ve not got any problems with BlackBerry, but I’ve found that once you go Mac, you never go back!

My MacBook Pro is up there with one of the best things I’ve ever spent money on. I went through university with a Dell Inspiron which did the job, but since I was working on Macs in my workshops I couldn’t help thinking how great it would be if I could then go home and finish working on a MacBook. When I left Leeds and came back home, the first thing I did (apart from sulking about having to enter the real world) was buy a MacBook. Soon after, I found myself having to buy the Apple Magic Mouse purely because the trackpad just doesn’t cut the mustard when using Photoshop and Illustrator.

Lastly, the iPad. It’s so good to be able to just sit and relax without having the burning fan of a laptop on your thighs and since Google released Chromecast it’s gotten even better. If you haven’t heard of Chromecast, it’s basically a device that you plug into your TV using the HDMI port. Then, using your smartphone or computer as a remote, you can stream content from apps such as Netflix and Youtube to your TV. A bargain at only £30!

Branding, business cards and promotional flyer for events company, Podium Events.

Branding for Saxon Vaal business consultants.

Branding for 3XCG, a recruitment firm based in Australia.

Branding. Arguably the most important aspect of any company’s visual presence. It’s the face of any business, large or small, it creates an instant impression, offers an insight into what you do and it’s what clients and customers will instantly recognise you by. With this in mind it’s easy to see why branding is considered such an important part of any business’ marketing strategy.

Constant development of new technology and coding languages make it difficult to create a website that has a life span of more than 2 – 3 years without it starting to look a little dated and printed literature is often time specific, relating to current promotions or events.

Successful branding however should be future proof, and when it is updated or tweaked, the changes should only be minor. Cue Google’s latest logo update…

Whilst Google’s latest tweaks (moving the second “g” one pixel right and the “l” one pixel down and to the right) may seem unnecessary to anyone who isn’t a typography nerd, it’s fair to say that they’re overall identity is a successful one. They have established one of the largest and most powerful companies of the modern age, and have only made minor updates to their branding since it’s inception, maintaining the original colour scheme and the same serif typeface from the very first logo. 16 years on they have one of the most recognisable commercial identities on the planet along with the likes of Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple, who have only made minor tweaks to their branding themselves.

ADOmedia are now well into our 9th year of business and before our recent branding overhaul we’d only made small tweaks to our logo since we were a small start-up business back in 2005.

We originally started with an icon that represented our three main services – branding, print design and web design. It had a modern and techy feel for the time and made us instantly recognisable to current and potential clients. We kept the typography simple and understated and established red as our primary colour.

As we began to grow, we started to offer more services and in 2009 we decided to drop the 3 circle icon from our logo, and use the original typography as our main identity.

Keeping the original type allowed us to progress as a business whilst maintaining our recognisable presence. Our new range of services began to grow and eventually we upgraded to a new studio space and were working on a new website that catered for our expanding capabilities as an agency.

New space felt like a new era and meant new stationery for the growing team and new vinyls for the windows. It was time for a little update.

We reversed the colours in our branding to make them more inviting, keeping red as our primary colour basis and began using an italic, secondary font that would be used throughout our new website for our strap-line. The latest updates to the branding proved to be our most successful and became the identity we are most recognised for.

It wasn’t until this year that we decided to have a full branding overhaul.

Our new logo is a fresh approach, more fitting to a dynamic and creative agency. We’ve updated our typeface to something a little more modern, reversed out the colour scheme and used lowercase type to create a simplistic, to the point feel. The feedback we have had so far has been fantastic and you can see our new branding on our new signage out on the Chestergate in Macclesfield.

Moral of the story: Branding is the most important part of any company’s marketing, especially small start-up businesses who are yet to establish a strong visual presence. Successful branding will help you to make a good first impression and will make you recognisable to new and existing clients/customers which will in turn help you to grow as a business, so it is important that you get it right.

Over the years we’ve got pretty damn good at this identity stuff, if your’e interested in our branding services don’t hesitate to get in touch with our business development manager Steven Taylor on 01625 612198 or email us at enquiries@adomedia.co.uk.

Website for events management company, Podium Events.

View the site here.

Parallax website for business consultants, Saxon Vaal.

View the site here.

Branding for the ECC, a competition hosted by the UKCA at the Manchester Velodrome.

New and informative one page website for The European Cheerleading Championships 2014.

View the site here.

Website for outside catering company, Vanilla In Allseasons.

View the site here.

E-marketing campaign for Sporting Promise.

E-marketing campaign for First and Only Airsoft.

Menu design for outside catering company, Vanilla In Allseasons.

Pop-up banners showcasing two fantastic properties for Maro Developments.

Exciting new responsive website for GBR Bobsleigh.

View the site here.

Wild Carpathia: Wild Forever leaflet for The European Nature Trust.

Shopping bag and business card design for boutique beer shop, Brewtique.

Corporate identity for one of the UK’s leading aircraft handling agents, J-Max Air.

E-marketing campaign for Beagle Bar & Restuarant.

E-marketing campaign for the UK Cheerleading Association.

Brand identity for a UK childcare provider, Trusted Nannies.

Brand identity for fashion writer and editor, Alannah Sparks.

Logo design for dental care tutor, Diane Rochford

Fresh identity for the Official GBR Bobsleigh Performance Team

New, easy to use website and course booking platform for UKCA.

View the site here.