Bespoke Digital Design, London

Newsletters:: Click image to enlarge...

2009-03-26T02:34:00.000-07:00

Three or four topics:

Longer format:

One Topic>>

Copy Ideas…

2008-06-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

Sales and Promotions…

2008-06-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Photography References…

2008-06-18T02:45:00.001-07:00

Nice Layouts…

2008-06-18T02:35:00.000-07:00

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GIVENCHY..Nice Use of Dark Ground...

2008-03-18T06:38:00.000-07:00

Case Study: Design new Homepage for London Art Gallery

2008-03-17T23:23:00.000-07:00

The Client: an art dealer with three galleries established since 1995 who built his own website back then using FrontPage and has managed to dominate the Google rankings in his category ever since.

The Brief: apply a very light re-design to clean up the clients current homepage while maintaining all the same text and html code and not run the risk of upsetting the galleries Google hierarchy and which he can continue to update still using FrontPage…

Old below

Nice Graphic Design…

2008-03-17T13:34:00.001-07:00

This design works well for an edgy media company as Urban Junkies is and I think this look and feel would be good for PR company…

Nice PHOTO ESSAY, 40 Years of Calvin Klein...

2008-03-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

In 2003, Calvin Klein and his business partner, Barry Schwartz, sold Calvin Klein, Inc., for more than $400 million—a move that appears to have ended one of the great careers in modern fashion

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SUMFORTUNE...GOOD LUCK IN PARIS...

2008-02-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

The studio is busy this week! As well as building websites we are also working on a flash banner project for COSABELLA Lingerie, designing and programming their Flash banners to announce to the UK trade the company's product placement in the new SEX and the CITY movie to be released June...

We also designed a look book for an up-and-coming British shoe designer Cynnie Rainey for the luxury Sumfortune brand as she prepares to exhibit in Paris later in the week...

Great products... Lamy

2008-02-26T10:28:00.001-08:00

I have always liked the look and feel of writing with a fountain pen and for over twenty years I wrote with a Parker. Sadly I lost that cherished old friend and the following Christmas my wife gave me a very expensive platinum Montblanc fountain.

I had high expectations for the brand but for the next nine years my wife cringed every time I tried to use it as she watched me struggle to make it work. Despite only using their own ink and having taken it for repair only at their store on Madison Avenue in New York, the pen has never worked propperly. I even had the nib changed... My wife has never fallen for the Mountblanc hype always preferring Lamy herself, for its functionality and quirky design. She rrecently gave me a Lamy fountain pen for Valentine's and I am happy to say that now I’m a convert and love the fact that it writes without shaking or licking the nib, it just works...

Brazilian Design...

2008-02-10T07:55:00.001-08:00

“Brazilian design can look back on a long history. And although it was initially strongly influenced by European design ideas, it has since developed its own, unmistakably Brazilian aesthetic” Said Nora Schmidt author of the essay on Brazilian Furniture design posted at the Swiss website Architonic

They also have hundreds of photos of Brazilian furniture dating back to the 1940’s...

I would love to have a poster of the photographs of all the pieces in the posting which I know would sell well at any museum shop around the world...

Valentines: Sweets for your sweetie...

2008-02-09T08:24:00.000-08:00

Website Review >> www.HotelChocolat.co.uk Being notorious chocoholics we were given a box of these chocolates for Christmas and are now hooked. Not only the chocolates tested delicious, there were no “fruit flavored oddities" amongst the selection! Every single one was an honest, wholesome, nutty little gem of goodness! That alone made me gain respect for the brand and when we visited their website we were met with its beautiful, carefully considered design.

The homepage almost tastes of chocolate. The whole aesthetic of the site is inspired by chocolate colours: mocha, many shades of brown and vanilla beiges, which help bring edible decadence to mind. The photography is luscious but clean, and the choice of fonts and use of white space makes the website clean and modern, even though it is packed with choices and information.

The navigation on top is clear and functional, and there is no time wasting, the site is all about product, and to give an indication of the lifestyle that comes with this brand, there is a Flash slide show at eye level, which loads quickly and flips thorough photos of a couple in indulgent chocolate fuelled seduction. (Were we not approaching Valentine’s, these could verge on tacky, but due to the approaching occasion they are appropriate).

I loved the architecture of the site and the detailed navigation options, which is offered by dropdown menus on top of the page or by links on the right navigation bar. One can browse by occasion, product, person (which even includes vegan and diabetic) and attributes, which refer to the type of chocolate (dark, milk, etc.)

The site is sophisticated and modern at the same time, and a delightful surprise: the brand is not Swiss or even Belgium but British, and we are not alone at being smitten. Apparently Hotel Chocolat is quite popular and it even has a star studded following: Elle Macpherson, Billy Zane and Jonny Wilkinson are some of the many who have indulged so far.

And finally, adding to this I have learned that Hotel Chocolat pioneered the exclusion of ingredients such as hydrogenated vegetable fats, artificial flavours and colours with their ‘no nasties’ policy. This is now underpinned by their “Less Sugar, More Cocoa ™” policy; driving down the amount of sugar and replacing it with quality cocoa...Go eat chocolate!

LEARN MORE >>

Amazing project, great images...

2008-02-07T01:53:00.001-08:00

As well as hosting the Olympic Games Beijing is also hosting the architectural show of the decade....

One of its centrepiece which has already opened is The Water Cube aquatic centre, designed by Australian-based PTW Architects with Arup...

A photo essay by photographer Ben McMillan posted at icon eye...

Good website for Vintage and Modern Mid-Century Furniture online...

2008-02-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

If you like vintage shopping or collecting furniture but find it hard to get away from your computer you should visit Modhaus... (Don’t be put off by the design of the website which honestly needs an update)...

There are some treasures in furniture, housewares or lighting, to enjoy and I also enjoyed reading the “Who We Are” page which is cute and informative and I agreed with William Morris's advice: "Keep nothing in your house which you do not believe to be beautiful or useful"...

Travel in style...

2008-02-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

As we all start to consider where to go this spring and summer the completely updated Louis Vuitton City Guide 2008, which focuses on 30 European cities with advice, suggestions and 7,500 entries, covering everything from food and fashion to the arts and design, should come in handy...

“These booklet formats, packed with endless tips and ideas, are as easy as ever to slip into a bag or pocket” claims their press release.

The City Guide Europe boxed set and City Guide New York 2008, available in French and English, are on sale in Louis Vuitton stores and on the Web at louisvuitton.com >>

And when you get home...

You might want to settle down with “Contemporary World Interiors” which invites the reader on a tour of some of the best and most interesting interior design and architecture projects of the past 25 years; a thorough survey of the current state of international interior design, consisting of 450 projects completed around the world.

Rather than simply charting passing trends, author Susan Yelavich, a veteran New York-based curator and critic, describes projects by famous international designers and promising newcomers. With more than 1000 colour photographs and plans illustrate the book, all reproduced in a generous format.

Chapters on: Tate Modern; the New German Parliament in Berlin, Moonsoon restaurant in Japan, and Joyce Department Store in Taipei, by the New York firm Tsao & McKown.

SEE MORE ABOUT THE BOOK >>

Is the Luxury market courting the blogosphere?

2008-02-04T07:28:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to see that Gucci are advertising at The Sartorialist, while last fall Chanel invited 15 bloggers to Paris to learn more about their illustrious fashion house... It seems as though luxury vendors have discovered the blogosphere...

Photo:Notcot.com

Right on Target...

2008-02-03T10:14:00.001-08:00

I have always liked the underlying philosophy of Target i.e. modern good design; paired with the economies of scale mass merchandising/retailing; to deliver great prices/value.... This is the first eShot I have received from them, delivering on the brand promise...

Financial injection improves eCommerce campaign...

2008-02-02T07:08:00.000-08:00

In November 2007, Agent Provocateur, the luxury brand lingerie retailer was acquired by 3i, one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity company.

PARTNERS SHARE $60M Originally founded in 1994, by Joseph Corré (the only child of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren) and his then partner Serena Rees - are now set to share £60m after selling off 80% of the company to 3i. “This new phase in the development of Agent will give us the operational and financial platform to realise the company’s potential” said Joseph Corré, “so that it takes its rightful position as the world’s most dynamic luxury lingerie brand!”

WITTY COPY AND PRIZES This injection of cash already seems to have had an impact, with improvements in Agent Provocateur’s eCommerce marketing campaign. For example the eShot AP sent in November 2007 (just prior to the announcement of the acquisition) now seems flat compared to the Valentines eShot just sent. The current message has witty copy, offering free gifts with purchase to add value and increase sales and focusing on list building by offering a prize draw of a trip to Paris... To help generate revenue around the time of the acquisition, Agent Provocateur had selected leading adserving management and tracking company, Mediaplex (part of ValueClick Europe) to manage its entire cross-channel online marketing activity.

RE-TARGETING WITH BLOWFISH Mediaplex is now working with Agent Provocateur’s digital marketing agency Blowfish Digital, to track, manage and evaluate Agent Provocateur’s natural search, paid search and affiliate marketing activities in the UK. “We have chosen to work with Mediaplex to track our online marketing activity because they have a wealth of proven experience in this area” said Farhad Koodoruth, from Blowfish Digital “It is integral for our business that we know where our clients’ customers are coming from, and for us to develop on behalf of our clients a clear understanding of how the various online activities are impacting each other. All this means that we can effectively plan across media, search and affiliates, leveraging data across channels to allow re-targeting and improve our marketing efforts.

Mr. Koodoruth added, “We are already looking into next steps to take our work with Mediaplex further and we anticipate continued efficiencies and improved results for our online marketing spend.” If you are interested in Email marketing please visit our sister blog Email Marketing Design, which archives current eShots for future reference...

Print Design, Spring 2009...

2008-02-01T13:12:00.000-08:00

As you will understand from previous post, as well as being web designers, we own a digital print design studio currently selling designs to retailers and manufacturers, which will be produced for Spring 2009... Currently the strongest selling category for next year are florals. Posted above are two of my favourites from our Spring 2009 collection, created by a Brazilian artist we represent... For more info please visit www.hazelnutstudiocollection.com

Hazelnut Studio gets a redesign...

2008-01-31T08:05:00.000-08:00

After three years in business we decided our surface and textile design studio website (representing ten artists around the world) needed an update... We established the studio in 2003 and since then we have been providing digital commercial art to clients in the USA, and while we were living in the US we used to visit clients in person bringing our portfolios of prints on paper (those were very very heavy!) On relocating to London, we could no longer see our clients as often anymore and we decided to put the whole collection online. Artists now upload new artwork as they produce them and we send regular eshots to our clients when there is a number of new prints up. Clients then register on line to view and purchase designs and the digital files are dispatched via email... Since we started trading this way, not only our backs no longer ache, our business has actually increased and we have expanded our client list in a huge way. Now we say "go digital!" to everyone.

About Us...

2008-01-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

We are a small digital design studio with over 10 years experience gained in New York and London, offering a wide range of design services for small, medium size enterprises and the marketing teams of larger organizations who require assistance with their project...

Our New Website...and our promise....

2008-01-30T10:13:00.000-08:00

As a preferred web designer to many leading SME’s, BespokeDigitalDesign.com are committed to the very best customer service and individual attention to its clients. Sincerely, The Team...

Clients include...

2008-01-30T10:11:00.001-08:00

Aeropostale+AvalanchePublishing+Bloomingdales+Champion+ EveLom+Fila+Gap+LeSportsac+Kleenex+KMart+PaperChase+ PrintmakerInternational+Sears+SpaceNK+VictoriaSecret+ Walmart+more...

Services...

2008-01-30T10:03:00.000-08:00

We are delighted to discuss any design request and are fees are very competitive. For example the average e-shot costs between £90 - £150 to design, revise and code the html and mass emailing and distribution can also be arranged. For info: Robert@BespokeDigitalDesign.com