Are graphic designers ruining the web?

No, but neither are the Germans up for a bloody big war.

Fortunately, some things move on, unlike John Naughton. Cliff came across this article on The Guardian website yesterday and shared the love (or lack of) for it around the office. It ruffled my feathers to say the least – who are these people that want content only websites? I thought I’d be able to think of some instances that I would prefer simpler websites but I can honestly say that I can’t think of any reasons I’d want to view a text only website over a fully functional, beautiful, all singing-all dancing site.

With any form of considered communication, balance is generally the key to success. A website that is well designed and contains user friendly functionality is usually best balanced with being able to load at an acceptable speed. Studies show that over 60% of people will click away if made to wait for more than 5 seconds for a page to load – you can load a lot in 5 seconds, you don’t need ugly websites.

The wonders of WordPress

At Firedog our preferred content management system (CMS) is WordPress.

When I joined Firedog I had very little knowledge of the wondrous system. I have worked with various Content Management Systems previously; Kentico, Drupal and even a custom made CMS, but nothing lives up to the impeccable WordPress usability.

Bouygues UK – showcasing innovative and sustainable construction

Here at Firedog, we have been working away on the new Bouygues UK brand visual identity & website which is now live.

Take a look at www.bouygues-uk.com

Bouygues UK are the UK arm of Bouygues, a French construction company, full of French flair and passion. Our brief was to create greater brand awareness, communicate the company’s core capabilities, demonstrate their diverse portfolio, create synergy with the parent brand whilst retailing a strong individual identity and change the perception of Bouygues UK within the marketplace. Bouygues UK are more than equal to their bigger competitors but awareness of the brand did not reflect this.

Xmas creative quiz

It’s the time of year for catching up, being festive and getting a bit competitive.

There’s no better way to test your knowledge than by organising your very own pub quiz – it’ll keep you all entertained (or struggling for answers) for hours! We’ve provided the questions and answers, you just need to provide pens, paper and a few festive treats.

You can download our quiz PDF here.

To find out the answers click to the next page of this blog post.

PriceRunner – New digital brand identity

During the second half of the year, Firedog has been excitedly working away on the PriceRunner brand refresh. The refreshed visual identity, logo and website header is the first brand refresh in the company’s 12 year history and went live at the end of November.

The refresh was influenced by softening the brand image, as research states that many people do not trust shopping comparison sites and frequently confuse them with the financial comparison sites that spend large budgets on advertising campaigns.