Recently, we upped sticks and moved office, from the Vanilla Factory to the Tea Factory. You might say we’re keeping the food and drink theme going!

We haven’t moved that far and are still within the Urban Splash group. You can read my interview with Urban Splash about the move below or read it here

Who? Christopher McInerney, chief at CM2 Creative

What? We’re a design agency, specialising in brand, print and website design.

Where? I’ve just set up the new office at Tea Factory in Liverpool’s Ropewalks area.

When? We moved in last month, so it’s all shiny and new. Before this we’ve been based at two other Urban Splash buildings in Liverpool.

Why should we visit you? If you want a new website, brand or graphic design advice then I’m your man!

Winning feature? It goes without saying you can rely on us to create effective design. But we also like to impress with the attention to detail we put into every project.

WWW? cm2creative.com

The aim of the organisation is to raise money through art for Claire House Children’s Hospice.

With the previously developed brand design, the website has now gone live. The website has been created to provide information about the organisation but primarily to provide a bidding platform for original pieces of art to be bid on. Money raised through online activities and through a Gala Auction night will benefit Claire House.

The Museum of Liverpool is set to host the exhibition of works, displayed together for the first time, by international leading and emerging artists.

Liverpool Love, a collection of 29 pieces curated by Merseyside-born artist Christian Furr, will open in the Museum later this year from 28 September to 25 November 2012.

Conceived by Christian Furr and Vaughan Davies, Liverpool Love aims to bring together a contemporary collection of works by artists that symbolise their love and connection to Liverpool and its people.

Works by 23 artists are confirmed to feature in the exhibition including Yoko Ono, Sir Peter Blake, Noel Fielding and The Beatles’ original bass guitarist Stuart Sutcliffe. All the pieces displayed have drawn inspiration from the city, depicting Liverpool’s fun, spirit, vivacity and soul in many different ways.

It’s been two months in the making but we’ve finally gone live with our new website. We’ve been very busy recently with lots of new projects for clients like Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Minta Medical and many more.

This was one of the reasons we wanted to update the website to showcase some of the new Website design and Graphic design projects for our ever expanding client base.

Rather than updating our previous website with new work, we thought we would take the opportunity to have a bit of a re-fresh and make the website easier to get around. We’ve updated the services categories into Print design, Website design and Brand creation to make it easier to get to the desired place quicker.

We’ve also made it easier to get in touch with lots of contact points throughout the website. The feedback forms are more visible, again making it easier to get in touch, there’s also a specific person to speak to on the contact page for any of your questions or enquiries.

Like the last website, we’ve explained the process of working with us and made it as transparent as possible. The creative process can sometimes be a minefield, so we’ve outlined the process on the Why us page. Why not check it out?

We hope all the new improvements have been worthwhile and look forward to putting the next wave of work on the new website, along with this we’ll be keeping you up to date with the latest blog posts and twitter feeds.

So keep visiting and don’t forget, feel free to get in touch!

Create a common theme of colours, fonts, graphics and page layouts. Simplicity and consistency in your visual design can be the most effective way of presenting your online brand.

Consistency

Plan to create a unified look for the various sections and pages of your site, so that the users are aware that they are moving around within a single site as they move from page to page. Use templates to create a common page layout across your site.

Create smooth transitions from one page to another by having consistent elements on each page, for example: placing navigational elements in the same position on each page using the same fonts and colours throughout the site having a clear, visual hierarchy to the elements on your page

All of this will help to reinforce the identity of the site. Also think about the placement of any marketing messages and ‘calls to action’. These should be prominently placed so that there is no ambiguity – improving customer response rates.

White space

Don’t be afraid to use white space or blank areas in your webpage design. Good use of white space can help define areas of your page and can be used to structure and separate content.

A lack of white space can give the impression that the page has too much content and can confuse the user.

Branding

If you already have a recognisable brand or image that you can capitalise on, incorporate it into your design. The brand and image of your business should be reinforced by your website. Consistent use of your company logo throughout the site will help in this. Your website should be part of your wider marketing strategy – integrating online and offline communications to reach your target audience.

Source: BusinessLink.gov.uk – subject to Crown Copyright.

There are several technical issues to consider when designing your website.

Browser issues

You will have to design webpages that can be displayed by many different browsers. Common browsers include Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari and Google Chrome.

You should test your webpages in as many browsers and different operating systems as possible during the development process to ensure that they will display properly. You should also ensure that your webpages work in previous versions of the browsers, as some of your audience may not have updated their software.

If you are enhancing an existing site you can use web analytics to see what browsers your customers are currently using to access your website. See the page on website monitoring in our guide on maintaining your web content and technology.

Screen resolutions

The most common resolutions, expressed in pixels, is 1024 x 768, although there is a growing trend towards higher resolutions. If you opt to design your website for a higher resolution, then you need to be aware that some screens with lower resolutions may not display all of the content.

Many users are now also accessing the internet from mobile devices such as smart phones and net books. It is also worth considering how your site will appear when it is accessed from such devices.

Download speeds

Not all internet users have high speed access, so connection speed should also influence your webpage design.

Too many images or rich media will slow down the speed at which the webpage loads. Generally, pages should load within eight seconds or less. If your pages download slowly, your users will probably move on to another site. Slow download speeds may also impact negatively on your search engine ranking. For more information see our guide on search engine optimisation.

Try and keep file and image sizes to a minimum – generally the total size of a webpage should be no more than 40 to 60 kilobytes.

Technology

Some web technology can prevent users from viewing your site or affect indexing of your website by search engines. These technologies include:

HTML frames
Javascript
Flash
AJAX

If using any of these technologies you need to consider what the potential risks may be to the usability and accessibility of your website.

Source: BusinessLink.gov.uk – subject to Crown Copyright.

It is essential from the outset that you clearly identify what the purpose of your site is. Typical reasons why businesses develop websites include:

Building brand awareness
Saving money
Selling products
Providing improved customer support

Remember that what you want the website to accomplish and what your visitors require from the site may differ. You may be concerned about the visual aspects of the site, while your visitors probably care more about how quickly they can find information.

Content and audience

Establish the type of content you will need to support the objectives of the site and how this should be presented. Look at what your competitors are doing and try to understand what the business opportunities are for your website.

Learn as much as you can about the audience you are trying to reach. Try and understand what will make them visit your website, what they will want when they get there and what will encourage them to return. This should be part of a user-centred approach to the design of your website – ensuring that the customer journey is effective and efficient.

Highlight the customer benefits of using your website, eg include supporting information such as testimonials and case studies. If creating an e-commerce website, provide unique descriptions for your products or services. This will help your search engine ranking and ensure that you stand apart from your competitors. See our guide on search engine optimisation.

There is some information you must display on your website as a minimum. All companies in the UK must clearly state the company registration number, place of registration, registered office address and if the company is being wound up on all of their websites. A common place to put this information is in the ‘About us’ or ‘Legal info’ page of the site – it does not have to appear on every page.

Planning techniques

It is a good idea to create a diagram that shows the structure of your website – including the proposed content, navigation and layout of your webpages.

A popular technique for mapping out a website is to use wireframes. This allows you to create a skeleton of the site that shows the basic elements you intend to include. The wireframe is made up of labelled boxes that illustrate the overall navigation and the blocks of content that each webpage will contain.

The wireframe can be drawn using packages such as Word, PowerPoint or Illustrator. Wireframes are very easy to change, so the initial design can be shown to customers or friends who are representative of your intended audience. Their comments can then be quickly incorporated to arrive at an agreed design. Wireframes often provide the basis for more functional prototypes – once the basic design has been agreed.

Source: BusinessLink.gov.uk – subject to Crown Copyright.

Why is Twitter useful to businesses?

Twitter is an information network that connects people through the exchange of quick, 140-character messages often called Tweets. You can use Twitter to spread news about your company or products, engage in conversations, gather feedback from your customers, and share the inside scoop about your business in real time.

How to get started:

1. BEFORE YOU START: complete your profile
Click the Settings tab at the top of your Twitter page to customize aspects of your profile. You’ll want to upload a logo or photo, fill out your company bio, include a link to your website, and even customize the background and design of your page.

2. DISCOVER: find and follow
Begin your Twitter journey by finding and following Twitter accounts that matter to your company. Follow other businesses, users who have tweeted about your business, and subject matter experts related to your product. Tip: Do a search for keywords related to your company and follow the authors of Tweets you find compelling.

3. ENGAGE: retweet and reply
Use existing information on Twitter to begin contributing to conversations related to your company. Look for messages in search results relating to your business, then reply with a reaction to someone’s Tweet. Try retweeting a Tweet that mentions something positive about your business! Tip: Users love to see replies from companies they’ve tweeted about. This shows you care. Try to be helpful, thankful, or even funny.

4. CREATE: contribute your own content
Now you’re ready to begin tweeting. Not sure what to write? Publish links to photos that share behind-the-scenes info, spread the word about upcoming events or product launches,advertise discounts or specials, or simply tell the world what you think and why. Tip: Post Tweets that encourage replies. Ask your followers to answer with feedback or photos. Offer discounts and prizes to the best respondent.

5. NETWORK: expand your reach
Reach more customers and fans by linking to your Twitter account from your company website or blog. Share your username publicly, be it on a business card, a cash register or storefront window, on invoices, or in a newsletter. Tip: The best ways to gain followers on Twitter are to regularly engage and contribute in a meaningful way, and to advertise your Twitter presence.

Using Twitter search to your advantage:

Twitter Search is a key feature for businesses. Go to search.twitter.com to find Tweets that include keywords related to your product. You can even search by location to find messages posted near you and your business.

Source: Twitter

Our new content managed website makes life a little easier for users and search engines, as it is built on one of the world’s most popular open source platforms. We’ve enhanced it with optimised search engine friendly copy and clear navigation, it should really help to engage and retain readers, new and old.

Some clients are already benefiting from the technology that has been integrated into this website. The new website is also a great opportunity to show off our design skills for recent projects for clients such as, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and fellow chamber member Formby Surveys.

Feel free to have a look around!

We’ve been chosen ahead of two other agencies to design and print the new internal newsletter ‘StaffTrack’, a bi-monthly publication.

CS Fitout UK Limited is a fit out and refurbishment specialist for office interiors, corporate, commercial and retail environments. Their in house team have a wealth of experience and expertise in providing turnkey solutions that deliver the best value for money without compromising on the quality of finish.

CM2 were approached to create a new website to give the company a professional image. We also created a new brand identity along with supporting marketing collateral which carried the new branding throughout.

Take a look at www.cs-fitout.co.uk