I’m therefore pleased to announce a new partnership with IfLooksCouldKill, an Edinburgh-based web design and development company.

This partnership will strengthen both studios and allow us to combine our knowledge and expertise to form a stronger collective of graphic designers and web developers. As creative director of both companies, I’ll be looking at ways to bring the benefits to our clients going forward.

This is an exciting time for us and our clients and we really appreciate your support as we get everything in place to join forces.

Fully integrated with their existing website, which we designed and developed with WordPress last year, the mobile site allows the client to tailor content to fit their needs. The main features include an offers area and location page that taps into a smartphone’s own mapping system. And in true collaborative fashion, we’re continually working with The Lovat to keep developing the site, which will see a slick gallery feature launch this week.

Working with a forward-thinking client like The Lovat has been a really enjoyable experience for us, and we’re delighted that Caroline, Managing Partner at The Lovat, is happy with the way the partnership is going too!

“A brand new website, closely followed by a mobile site, is an achievement that couldn’t have been completed without your dedication and professionalism.

Your foresight and flexibility has made the whole experience painless! Thank YOU!”

View The Lovat case study.

The ICO’s guidance document suggests that a website must:

• Tell users that the cookies are there,
• Explain what the cookies are doing, and
• Obtain consent to store a cookie on their device.

In recent weeks we’ve been monitoring the situation to see how other websites comply and how digital marketing communities such as Econsultancy respond.

Based on our findings we recommend taking the following three-step approach:

1. Audit to determine which cookies are running on your website
   
2. Creation of a privacy page on your website (or alteration of an existing privacy page) to state what these cookies are and explain what they do
   
3. Implementation of one of the following methods:
   Level 1. A prominent link to ‘privacy policy & cookies’ and improved information within the policy itself. See example on John Lewis website.
   Level 2. A bespoke plug-in, which ties in with your branding, asking the user to opt-out of cookies. This will link to your privacy page, the user’s browser settings and an opt-out button, enabling them to make an informed choice. See this example on the BT website.
   Level 3. Introduce an active opt-in to your bespoke plug-in.

Regardless of the Directive, an audit is a useful thing to perform because there may be scripts or tracking on your website that you don’t use or need. A fresh privacy page will also allow site owners to educate users by offering information on privacy and providing clear policies.

While the  ICO’s guidance document is unclear in places, and therefore open to interpretation, the ICO has indicated that it is “highly unlikely to prioritise first party cookies used only for analytical purposes in any consideration of regulatory action”. As such, if you have no other cookies on your website besides analytical cookies, you may be safe to adopt the Level 1 approach. If other cookies are used then we would recommend implementing Levels 2 or 3 depending on the cookies used.

There are a number of third-party plug-ins being offered for Levels 2 and 3, however these may affect the look of your website, and some clients have rightly asked if users will trust the message on a third party plug-in. User interface design has an important part to play therefore we recommend tailoring the style of any plug-in to fit with your website design, which should reduce opt-out rates.

We hope these practical suggestions support you in deciding how you would like to approach this.

Please get in touch if you’d like to chat to us about this in more detail.

Clean, bright and modern in style, but with a traditional edge, we selected a fine cream paper and gold ink for their printed material. The letterpress method of printing gives a crisp, tactile finish compared to other printing techniques, an ideal accompaniment to the Regency brand.

Keep an eye out for their new website, due to launch shortly!

Read more about Regency Decor of Edinburgh.

We’ve also been working closely with the client on a series of mailers, refreshed advertising concepts and are currently providing a design consultancy and content strategy service for their new website. So keep your eyes peeled!

View the Creative Tax Recruitment case study.

Rick Hamilton, Marketing Director at CO2Sense, was really pleased with the reception the brochures got and provided some great feedback:

“All of the people involved with the project were delighted with the brochure, which looked superb and highly professional.”

Thanks Rick! To find out more about the project view the CO2Sense case study.

Check out their review of her Fashion Bites Back invitations and the Sunshine and Moonlight prints she created for the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

Occupancy Marketing assisted us in developing a sitemap and structure for each site as well as an overall content strategy. WordPress MU, a multi-user version of the content management system, was used to enable ease of management as it’s ideal for those creating a large network of websites.

It was a really interesting project to work on and I’m sure you’ll agree the photography that was taken to accompany the design is stunning!

Tom Ross, Operations Director at the Mogford Collection commented “Thank you for all of your work on the website. I think the finished product is fantastic. You handled the project very well, listened to our ideas and always found the best way of putting them into practice.”

View the Mogford Collection case study.

There were so many interesting entries from the world of graphics that it was difficult to choose a favourite piece, so I’ll share my top three.

Flipboard

Flipboard is introduced as the world’s first social magazine, aiming to improve the way information is accessed and shared across social networks. Readers create their own content, based on their own interests, and digest information from Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Google Reader quickly and effectively.

At a time when information is moving so quickly it’s not surprising that Flipboard has received recognition. If like us you’ve got a passion for sharing and collaborating this app will appeal to you. Download Flipboard.

Unit Editions by Tony Brook and Adrian Shaugnessy

I’ve been a fan of Adrian Shaugnessy since my good friend Alan gave me a copy of ‘How To Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul’. (I’ll let you in on whether I’ve lost my soul or not another time.) Tony Brook recently spoke at the Design Museum’s Designer Night with Alain de Botton and GraphicDesign& so I was aware of his work. The combined efforts of these prolific designers has resulted in the publication of Unit Editions, a series of books for graphic designers.

Beautifully crafted and collaborative in nature, this publishing venture will appeal to anyone who’s interested in quality design and production standards. Their creative take on texts and commentaries reminded me of how some of today’s design magazines used to be, you know those ones that have lost their edge and given in to everything there is to know about the world of design in general.

I Wonder by Marian Bantjes

Marian Bantjes beautifully and intelligently decorated book, I Wonder, was the highlight of the exhibition for me. The cover is hardbound with a black satin finish, with a gold, embossed pattern and silver writing. The book examines the role of wonder in design and the typography on the inner pages has been crafted in a really smart way. If you’re into foiling and typography it’ll be right up your street.

I’m yet to read the book, but look forward to receiving my copy, which you can get your mitts on here.

The quality of the graphics award entries was top notch and the winner of the graphics award was Homemade is Best, by Forsman & Bodenfors for IKEA. I didn’t think it was the strongest entry but loved the concept. What’s not to like if you love baking?!

The exhibition finishes on 7 August so this is your last chance to check it out if you happen to be in London!

The area boasts an eclectic mix of businesses and Minster Quarter’s purpose as an organisation is to promote this vibrant part of the city for the benefit of its members, the wider community and visitors. A new website was one of the first steps taken to enhance, represent and effectively market the area as a distinctive and valued location for cultural tourism, leisure, shopping and business.

View the Minster Quarter website.