The final pack design gave greater levels of flexibility, allowing sections to be easily interchanged for maximum personalisation. All aspects of the mailer from images to letter copy and offers were individually targeted to the specific segmentation groups.

“We were really pleased with the creative development process. It was very smooth, the creative fulfilled the brief and the finished article looked and worked extremely well.”
Natalie Sach, Direct Brands Marketing Executive, Simply Travel

Andy and Niook busily finalising the prototype packs.

The Satellite crew chomp on some celebratory scones with jam & cream (made up by  Charis) after it was dispatched to Denmark.

Later on in the  week Dave and V will be going on a whirlwind tour of 4 Costa Coffees around Herts, Bucks and outer London. Keep a lookout for the new website.

From top left: Dave, Mum Lisa, Charis, Ben.

The images will appear in ‘Taking Science into the Future’ a brochure we’ve designed to attract business partners for the Rickmansworth School science laboratory refurbishment initiative.

Satellite Creative are a key partner providing marketing expertise, ranging from staff mentoring to practical design solutions. If you would like to become a partner, call Tee on 01442 879712.

Click on the image to see a larger version.

You are not alone, at Satellite Creative we are continuously working to support our clients with cost effective marketing solutions. With many of our clients choosing to develop web marketing into their strategies, we are using our expertise to provide email solutions and pay per click campaigns (PPC) that ensure our clients maximise their online investment.
As a multi-channel agency we understand that this is not the only element that needs to be considered. The right blend of imaginative direct mail, intelligent branding, cost effective online solutions and powerful web design can make all the difference to the success of your campaign.

In our second edition of Launch Pad, we unveil the secret behind X-Putt, an exciting, new and sophisticated product that has been brought to the market by our long term client – World Golf Systems. In supporting WGS through this challenging new development we have demonstrated a thorough understanding of their business objectives and marketing position in order to provide an effective on and offline solution.
Read more >

The “be by ReSound” email marketing campaign has been specifically developed to support GN ReSound’s offline activity. With a tighter budget to work with and the requirement to maximise response rates we have designed an email campaign which seamlessly supports and enhances their print marketing.
Read more >

A brand refresh is an exciting challenge for any design agency and in the current climate brand ‘stand out’ is critical to the success of any business. Ortega, an established Spanish tapas restaurant chain, commissioned us to evolve their current style into a sophisticated design that encompasses all the elements of their brand.
Read more in issue 2 >

As a clever thinking design agency we are confident that our skills can help you to execute the best message possible, if you want to find out how contact Charis Lamond on 01442 879712

Starting off, Andy identified key areas in which we all need to raise our game and work smarter, in order to get through the current financial climate. He summarised by leading us through goals set at the last review, and confirmed that we are on track and are indeed growing as planned, on target and within a set budget. The improved meeting room has been a huge success with our clients this year. If you have not seen it, check it out here>

Charis then followed with her update on New Business, detailing our key marketing tools as an agency and the continuing growth of our client database. She ended with a very positive outlook, summarising that over the last six months we have strengthened our brand and corporate identity, gained strong business partnerships, and have a steady growth of new clients which bodes well for a successful future.

Finally, Richard gave us a vision of prospects in the online sector for 2009. Over the past year the interactive department has redefined the way it pitches, presents and develops online projects and has gone from strength to strength. Current marketing budgets are leading the trend to more cost effective online solutions such as email marketing and content managed system (CMS) websites, which the interactive department is fully embracing.

Discover – See – Explore

Following the melting pot that ensued after the presentations, we had to tear ourselves away from debate and rush to catch a train into London city centre. There, we were set the mission: 3 hours, an abundant choice of Galleries, plus a task to take iconic images of London for a future project brainstorm.

[ Click on the image to view larger version ]

Time to Relax

After a hectic few hours of absorbing as much creative culture as possible, we reconvened at The Blackfriars pub for a well earned drink and an exchange of our day’s adventures. Following this we trooped along the Thames to the Northbank restaurant, and ate a delicious meal in view of the Tate Modern by night across the river. A perfect location for our creative brains to exchange ideas and generally have a bit of a socialise. A very successful day enjoyed by all!

From left to right: Dave, Andy, Ben, Veronica, Tee, Alison, Niook (above Alison), Lee, Lisa, Dylan. Front row: Charis, Richard.

[ Click picture to view large version. ]

Find out more about us! Read our personal profiles here >

Satellite sponsored the event saying that whatever was raised in a cardboard RNLI coin box in the studio, the ‘company’ would match. This afternoon I’ve counted up the cash and it came to £70! So as promised, Alison – holder of the purse strings here – has just written me a cheque for £70 and the £140 total amount will be winging it’s way to the RNLI next week.

The donation will go towards providing training as part of the RNLI’s ‘Train one, save many’ campaign. The title is pretty self-explanatory really – One person gets trained to save many lives as sea. Simple but it seems to work. Thanks everyone who donated, well done us!

“Satellite Creative provided us with the tools to bring our product to life and excite the market enough to secure orders from some of the UK’s hardest buyers. The website design is fitting with the forward thinking technology behind X-Putt. Working with a design agency who clearly has the ability to provide cross platform solutions and targeted marketing material is a welcome relief” X-Putt Marketing Team.

Check out the X-Putt website here >

The shots will be used in future marketing and promotional materials for Danalogic so keep an eye out.

]]> http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?feed=rss2&p=228 0 http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?p=213 http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?p=213#comments Thu, 09 Oct 2008 09:14:59 +0000 Veronica Smolka http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?p=213 Tee returned from her holiday in Thailand today and treated us all to a bizarre selection of snacks. A really fun way to start the day, thanks Tee!

Top left to right: Silky pork and sesame rolls, Woody “assorted wooden strip coated in chocolate”.

Bottom left to right: Siamese rice cracker with flossy pork, Sesame bar, Coconut toffee.

[ Click on the image to view a larger version. ]

*not much hammering action going on here…

Then last week Charis raised the bar pretty high, serving home made scones, jam and clotted cream, Bakewell tarts and Victoria sponge cake. We all agreed that she can have a birthday every week!

Satellite Creative understood that the hearing aid industry is quite internally focussed and dispensers are used to quite dry and predictable marketing. With this in mind, the look and feel of Grow was designed be both user friendly and to instil confidence using clean typography, strong copy and fresh colours.

The Grow brand was introduced to dispensers with an innovative launch pack, followed by online marketing tools, developed to provide ongoing communication between the sales team and dispensers, enabling them to grow their business and maximise their sales and profit as a result.

The Grow website has been developed as a tool to provide ongoing communication between the sales team and dispensers. It is integral to the growth of their business. The website acts as a resource, keeping dispensers informed of available business partnerships and keeping them up to date with their current financial points, thus enabling them to grow their business and maximise profit.

Gary Hill, GN ReSound Director commented, “The development of Grow from concept to reality directly reflects why we work with Satellite Creative so frequently – great design, seamlessly carried through brand creation to print and web solutions. Satellite Creative work in close partnership with us as clients which is so important to the success of a project. Liaising directly with the sales manager and his team meant they were part of the decision process and took complete ownership of a very powerful sales tool.”

After procuring the obligatory beer and burger, we started to walk our way around the hundreds of classical beauties that were on display. We are talking: Porsche Speedsters, the famous E-Type, most of Aston Martin’s DB models, some very unique Jaguar racing cars and yes, there was a Delorean still completely rust-free! In the vintage category, there were Rolls Royce and Bentley models, and a stunning Oldsmobile which was ever so classy, even by today’s standards.

After a couple of hours browsing Veronica concluded that the mammoth American fifties offerings were most impressive. Some of us however were convinced that size doesn’t matter (certainly not engine size) and decided that a perfectly finished sixties black Karmann Cabriolet Beetle was definitely the car of the show.

Overall it was a great night out, with lots of fun and some great photo opportunities…

Veronica has posted a few more pics on her blog

Dave kicked off the afternoon with his presentation, giving us an idea of the growth of Satellite over the past 5 years and how we can continue our steady growth (Cue some lovely graphs which go up). Dylan then took over discussing ‘How can we continue to grow?’ and using the flip chart we brainstormed the idea ‘what are we good at?’.

Out of this came Satellite’s key strengths and brand values:
Creative / Friendly / Understanding / Adaptable / Versatile / Adding Value.

Andy then closed the afternoon asking the question ‘How can we make this (growth) happen? Which ended with the thought that: “we are confident about what we do and need to start shouting about it!”.

After discussing how we can ’sharpen our tools’, the directors proposed a challenge. Each Satellite member was given an empty box frame and £20 with which to buy an item/items which answer the question: “What inspires me and makes me creative?”. These will be displayed in the studio after the end of August.

The studio set up. Interestingly enough the shoot was based around an old manual medium format camera (with a very expensive digital back).

‘Mr A Photographer’ eventually allowed us to take his photograph. On one condition…

Sadly we were not wowed by any shiny new technology or new information but there were a few companies which provided useful to talk to. We also attended a talk covering Mobile Marketing which we may dabble in, in future, and also NetBooster’s seminar dealing with ‘Synergies between Pay Per Click Campaigns and Search Engine Optimisation’. We just managed to catch the tail end of ‘The Content is King’ presentation by MediaCo which proved as a good reminder on the best codes of practice in building quality content to achieve positive search engine rankings. Oh and there was also some nice cake & tea which always goes down well!

As a ‘pro bono’ project there is always a fine line between maintaining quality and the need to keep things simple and costs down. What was achieved provided clear branding and direction, with excellent standout without the need for expensive printing. As well as the logo design, Satellite created a website and over 30 printed items from leaflets and booking forms, to steward badges and a 30 page catalogue.

Backed by a dedicated team of committee members the event was vigorously promoted – firstly to artists to book space and then to the visiting public. Both achieved notable success – with over 35 painters, photographers, potters and print makers exhibiting a wealth of talent and attracting over 500 visitors during a typically wet and windy May Bank Holiday.

From left to right – Elsa Hill, Rosie Knight, Diane Halfpenny, Mike Armson, Andy Wilkinson.

The event raised £4500 for charity – £2500 for Mentmore Church restoration fund, £1000 for the Church Hall and £1000 for the Wooden Spoon. The artists and visitors alike commented to the committee on the professionalism and uniform approach to marketing, which added to the success of the event and the undertaking to do it all over again next year, with the added attraction of a music concert!

“I have had many complimentary comments about the posters and website and would like to thank Andy and Veronica at Satellite for all their hard work.”, Sue Scott, Chairman of Mentmore Arts Festival.

Read the Mentmore Arts Festival press release PDF here >

After many months of attending a local wine course she was very pleased to have passed and received her WSET Level 2 Intermediate Certificate in Wines and Spirits. As part of the course the class went to the Alentejo region of Portugal earlier this year to taste wines for a long weekend. It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it! Well done!

This was followed by Tee’s home baking, strawberries and cream and then a game of ‘Crazy Catch’ to burn off the calories! There was even a water slide, a trampoline and cricket which kept the kids and adults entertained alike. A great afternoon enjoyed by all.

Ruth and our hostess, Tee.

Relaxing on the patio.

A hectic game of table football- kids v’s adults.

When we got there the wind was perfect with a bit of sunshine for nice pictures, so we were in our element. Quite quickly, we were racing on the beach, trying to avoid tipping over the blowkart. It is great fun and I can really recommend it for an afternoon. Be careful though!

Satellite chose to commission an illustration which would be featured in the background of the final packaging to add depth, interest and to evoke a mediterranean feel to the product.

The chosen illustrator specialises in a unique visual style involving a scraperboard. The illustrations are completely hand-made giving them a very rustic feel which suited the new brand perfectly. We are very impressed with the final result and look forward to seeing the products on the shelf shortly.

Check out the updated Satellite website here >

As our Account Manager, Charis will ensure that all our clients maximise their business opportunities by taking time to understand their business and develop new concepts and ideas.

A good website never comes alone. The key is to make all online marketing options available to you work together for the best result. At Satellite, we can help you to get your web marketing mix right.

Web Marketing

Effective ways to achieve more traffic to a website are:

• e-newsletter – set up of a subscriber list for regular news or event updates
• Web banners – distributed on other websites
• Sponsored banners – from other businesses
• Link strategy – inward and outward links
• PPC (pay per click advertising)
• Use of the site in conjunction with promotions, campaigns or events
• Promotion of URL on offline media (mail shots, advertising, magazine articles etc)

Email Marketing

One of the most effective ways to promote your products and services and encourage regular traffic to your website is to set up a regular email newsletter. Email marketing is cost effective, immediate and results are easy to track and measure.

Recent studies show that email today has a huge popularity and is a valued marketing tool. People are comfortable with being contacted by email. Current statistics state that approximately 97 billion emails are being broadcast per day, worldwide.

Benefits of email marketing:

• Keep customers up to date with latest developments within your business via alerts or news bulletins
• Promote events and offers
• Tailor your marketing to specific audiences
• Gather feedback and results quickly and cost effectively

Google Adwords Campaign

A Google Adwords campaign will greatly increase your websites visibility, as you will appear alongside Google’s SERPS, which will help generate targeted traffic to your site.

Google Adwords is a system of online Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. Companies pay to have their adverts appear on the right hand side of the Google search page, by bidding on chosen keywords and phrases related to their business. The positions of ads are determined by several factors such as relevancy of keywords, click through rates and bid amounts.

This allows advertisers to reach people at the exact moment they are looking for specific products and services, creating valuable targeted traffic to their website. Adwords is the perfect marketing tool for businesses wishing to generate leads or sales as well as create brand awareness.

Satellite are happy to assess your business needs and tailor a Google Adwords campaign specific to you. If you want to maximise your websites potential, give our interactive department a call.

In today’s business climate it is essential for those offering services or selling products to be visible online.

However it is all well and good having a great looking website to service your customers needs but what if no one can get to it? It is a common misconception that as soon as a website is submitted it will instantly be subject to heavy traffic and rank highly with search engines.

Search engine optimisation – the effective utilisation of search engines to draw traffic to a web site – is an ongoing, continually evolving process, which involves the customisation of a website to improve search engine ranking. While search engine optimisation is not a guarantee for top positioning within search engine results pages (SERPS), good rankings are more than achievable and depend on criteria such as:

Site Structure

At Satellite we make sure when a site is built, the architecture and navigation are suitable for search engines. We optimise the link structure for search engine spiders and check that the copy on the site is written with the search robots in mind and contains main descriptive keywords.

Site Optimisation

Each page is assessed in terms of meta key words and alt tags. When determining which keywords to use Satellite investigate competitor sites to establish how other businesses are promoting a particular product or service, as well as undertaking research into your own products or services. This helps to clearly determine which unique selling points (USPs) set you apart from competitors and can be focused on.

Generating Traffic

To be in good standing with search engines, it is also essential to keep a website fresh and up to date. Search engines love websites which provide useful, information-rich copy and appear used by many visitors. Satellite are more than happy to help you in generating traffic to your site using various online and offline methods. These could be a Google Adwords campaign, email newsletters, banner advertising or integrated print campaigns.

If you want to make your website work harder, give Satellites interactive department a call.

Not only was I allowed the freedom to photograph the makeup and hair activity behind the scenes, but I was also allowed to shoot the catwalk, showcasing his new range of clothes which have been recycled from other garments, in sometimes quite quirky ways.

Check out my other photographs of the event at eyecatch.co.uk/gallery

| Veronica | Web Services

Steve knew what he wanted, and had an idea of how the ‘game’ should work, but needed to know if it was something we could build in house. I’d played about with electronics projects a lot when I was younger and studied electronic engineering at college 10 years ago so we decided that we should have a go. Out came the old reference books, soldering irons, fresh new copies of the RS and Maplin catalogs and we got to work. The photo montage shown here gives an idea of what was involved – if you click to view the larger version you’ll see some image descriptions. The game is based on four separate circuits and the large seven segment display shows a count depending on the combination of leads plugged in by the player.

To finish the project off nicely we had a box produced by a cabinet maker, and a local Acrylics company cut a top to a template we provided. Using smoked transparrent Acrylic for the top – and making sure no ambient light escaped from behind – allowed us to achieve a really nice effect when the large numeric display and six smaller green LEDs were lit.

In all I reckon it was a successful project, probably my favourite to date! How often does someone get to ‘play’ for a couple of weeks and get paid for it?

| Ben | Web Services

Check out the new look TopGolf site here

We were just two of 800 women, dressed in hot-pink T-shirts, who paced along the streets of Dacorum on the 7th July raising a record £104,000 for the Hospice of St Francis. Organisers of the walk set themselves the target of raising £50,000 to go towards the £85,000 needed to open a new bed at the state-of-the-art hospice in Berkhamsted, but totals on the night were up to £104,000, and with sponsorship money still pouring in, they have far surpassed their goal.

Walking into the main hall of the sports centre when first arriving almost took my breath away. A sea of 800 women dressed in hot-pink T-shirts all ready and raring to go. It was quite a humbling moment. On the dot of midnight, after warming up with a personal trainer and a talk from the organisers, we all set off.

The atmosphere was amazing, funny at some points as it was kicking out time at the pubs. There were loads of toots and egging-on from passing cars. There was a stream of walkers going one way and drunk kebab eaters going the other!

We completed the walk in 3hrs 50 mins. and were greeted with hots drinks, bacon sarnies and a goody bag from Debenhams.

I noticed my achy back, legs and ankles for a few days after, but it was the feeling of jet-lag after missing out on a night’s sleep that was worse! Despite that, I would do it again. It was really good fun and was all for good cause.

| Lisa | Designer

The final presentation consisted of four stages:

• A login system. A direct mailing piece was sent out in advance of the presentation date, giving each audiologist a personal login number.
• A waiting area. When users landed on the site and a presentation was just about to start or was in progress they were sent to a ‘pre-presentation’ area where they could check that their computer setup had adequate video and sound capabilities. They could also access live broadcast dates and show times as well as a 360 degree interactive demo of the Azure hearing aid.
• Presentation. The presentation lasted just under one hour in which GN Resound’s Paul Harrison took audiologists through the technology of the new Azure product.
• Questionnaire. Following the presentation, viewers were prompted to complete the questionnaire to check they had picked up sufficient information about the product. On successful completion of the questionnaire, each audiologist received CPD points.

Video and audio testing area

360 degree interactive demo

Presentation

The course was held at the Euston Thistle Hotel with a fantastic group of around 15 people. Some where old experts moving over from manual SLRs, others were brushing up skills before trips to Kenya or Sri Lanka. The tutor himself had an amazing depth of knowledge as well a portfolio of stunning images from around the world.

In the eight or so hours I absorbed some very valuable knowledge about how my Canon actually ’sees’, how to use its advanced funtions, and lighting to name a few topics. It was a great day- good banter with different photographers, a jolly tutor and a three course lunch thrown it too!

If you would like to find out about Experience Seminars go to
http://www.experience-seminars.co.uk

Here are a few images I have taken so far since the course.

| Veronica | Web Services

After the success of our green-screening experiments earlier on in the project, and the successful sign-off of our ‘pre-production preview’ the interactive team embarked on the next stage in the process: filming the final footage. We hired a professional studio set-up at a local college, and aided with technicians, ladders, gaffer tape etc we launched into two gruelling days of filming our material. Some takes took several shots and the pressure was on to meet our timeframe but all was successfully completed as planned.

Paul Harrison aka ‘Graham’ gets his make-up done

‘Another Place’ by Antony Gormley (sculptor of the ‘Angel of the North’) I found to be a strange, almost primeval experience, awakening emotions of both longing and loneliness in conjuction with a feeling of aspirational hope. Looking out along 3km of shoreline and seeing a scattering of singular, what at first appear to be androgenous figures, facing silently towards the open sea is profoundly moving on a very primitive level. And I can imagine that being there to witness the figures facing a new dawn or a fiery sunset would be incredibly haunting.

Read more about this unique piece of artistic expression, here at Wikipedia.

| Steve | Web Manager

Satellite’s web and new media team spent last week developing a pre-production preview of the main elements of the ‘cast, which will feature the speaker being placed into an icy environment accompanied by various animated elements. For this, a rudimentary ‘green screen’ was constructed on the Studio floor to produce some test footage. Using chroma keying software, we then experimented with placing ourselves into various environments, with amusing results!

Check back soon to read about how the project is progressing.

| The Web & New Media Team |

The Chalet Peillex is based in the picturesque area of Portes du Soleil, close to the Alps, offering an abundance of both winter and summer activities. Satellite met the client’s needs by building a clean and functional site split into seasonal sections.

Earlier this week we were pleased to receive the following positive feedback from Momentum:

“Thank you for all the help and support that you have given myself and Majorie. The whole project is beginning to come together now and it is a real countdown to the off! You will be pleased to hear that all this effort is working and we have already received several bookings.”
Phil Hunt, Momentum

Satellite also designed a small campaign to promote “The Momentum Max Challenge.” A specially organised week of summer activities and challenges based in teams, aimed at friends families or colleagues.
Find out more, or enquire about availability here>

While I was ‘in the area’ I also made time to see the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize at the Photographers Gallery. Four living photographers who have made the most contribution to European photography are selected annually. I was most impressed by the work of Philippe Chancel. His show provided a look into the rarely seen politically influenced life in North Korea. Philippe provides a neutral view on the subject, simply documenting the environment without passing judgment.

The images themselves impress on a large scale as their serene crispness and detail are powerful and haunting. This exhibition provided the perfect contrast to the familiar and somewhat clichéd wildlife images I viewed earlier that day, and opened my eyes to an environment I had not seen before.

View more images of the DPRK exhibition here
| Veronica | Web Services

I found the exhibition to be enthralling on three levels. Firstly, my avid interest in aviation was deepened by viewing some of our planet’s most ancient monuments, landmarks and natural features from a bird’s eye view. Secondly the history behind many of these remote locations was both fascinating and intriguing and thirdly the simple beauty of the photography revealed Georg Gerster to be a competant and imaginative photographic artist.

All in all, it was time well spent and truly a rewarding insight into our Earth and the variety of cultures that make up its diverse human family.

| Steve | Web Manager

In the past he has been famed for some pretty violent movies, but in this latest offering he has produced something on the other end of the scale. “I am a Cyborg” is a romantic comedy about a young woman in a mental hospital who thinks she is a cyborg who falls in love with a non-cyborg guy.

The website is set up as a 3D diary which the user can flick trough. The animation of the ‘pop-up book’ pages is pretty flawless and the cut out style of the objects inside is both intriguing and slightly comical. Take a look at the website: http://www.cyborg2006.co.kr

| Veronica | Web Services

As a big fan of Nicholas Crane, having read Two Degrees North several summers back, I have followed his venture into TV with Coast with great interest. His new series recently featured the refurbished De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill – a 1930 masterpiece of concrete and steel. This I had to see, and so last weekend an opportunity arose to drive 250 miles for lunch, a stroll along the promenade and tea all in the company of this amazing building. One can only assume that if this had been built in any other town on the south coast it would have been destroyed in the post war purge of our architectural heritage. It’s simplicity belies the fact that this building survives not as a relic of our glorious past but as a vibrant, living space accessible by all to enjoy for free.

I highly recommend a visit – here are a few photos to whet your appetite – also the £10 lunch menu! For more info go to delawarrpavilion.com

| Andy | Creative Director

More about the documentary can be read at:
http://www.dfi.dk/tidsskriftetfilm/32/boyscout.htm

| Steve | Web Manager

Satellite’s thinking and design process worked brilliantly with the buzz that the task created in the studio being carried through to the presentation. We certainly all enjoyed the research – a night out at Ortega’s Leadenhall restaurant!

“We chose Satellite Creative for our new Spanish brand, Ortega, because their pitch demonstrated a good understanding of the brand values and casual dining industry from a broad brief. Their approach to the pitch was exciting and fresh and a wide variety of media was presented. This coupled with realistic prices and enthusiastic presenters secured the pitch.”
Helen Thompson – Ortega Brand Manager

Winning the three way pitch was extremely satisfying and we have now produced a complete New Openings package as well as restyling all their menus. The whole range of marketing materials, were used to launch Ortega’s latest new restaurant which opened earlier this month in Northampton.

http://www.cgsphere.com/

| Steve | Web Manager

Last week the banners were all successfully approved and we wait to see them in action on the web. My personal favourite of the set is the banner titled ‘Fishing for a great deal?’. View the banner

| Veronica | Web Services

Metrix Mini – Size matters… GN ReSound have just made their Metrix Mini 33% smaller.

ReSound Pulse – The world’s first rechargeable hearing aid… This was a three part teaser mailing. Audiologists built a model of the charger prior to the launch of this product.

Metrix Power – Spot the difference…
Could audiologist identify the difference between two same sized hearing instruments?

Ever mindful of their status within the hearing aid industry as being innovative, our direct mail pieces to audiologists and dispensers were anything but ordinary.

]]> http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?feed=rss2&p=135 0 http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?p=9 http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?p=9#comments Fri, 15 Dec 2006 14:12:42 +0000 Veronica Smolka http://blog.satellitecreative.info/?p=9 I found this site a while ago and I think it definitely needs some recognition. ‘C Ville’ is a strange little entertaining world full of characters and oddities to explore.

“Own Your C” is a media campaign aimed at informing young people about tobacco. The site is based around the idea of ‘choice’ and the user can collect points depending on which choices he or she makes. These point’s can then be cashed in for downloads. A really entertaining and unusual way of promoting a serious topic. I really like the mix of styles and the use of little video-clip characters which perform different actions on rollover.

‘C’ the website for yourself

| Veronica | Web Services

This week we have picked the quirky Sketch Restaurant website. Having sampled their amazingly bizzare food we found they have a pretty cool website too! Visit the Sketch website and check out it’s bizzare world for yourself

| Veronica | Web Services

Hitting the shelves of UK aquarium centres are Tropical Marine Centre’s new packaging for their pellet dispensers and frozen tablets of fish food. Satellite created a bold and friendly identity which clearly brand the suitability of each product to specific fish types. This was then applied to their new dispensers and onto their more traditional flat packs.

When Rand and Robyn Miller began work on the original MYST game in 1991, I doubt they had any idea that it would become the iconic milestone in the fantasy/sci fi genre that it has. Since it’s release in 1993, there have been five ‘chapters’ in the unfolding story and one spin-off title – not to mention fan literature, fan games, online communities, real-world meets, an MMO, a trilogy of novels and even music CD’s.

What stands out more than anything with the MYST series is it’s powerful imagery and original visual style of beautiful worlds filled with intricate machinery and mind-bending puzzles. This evocative style has often been a source of personal inspiration for me and has set a standard of design throughout the gaming industry and illustration community that is now referred to as ‘MYST-like’. The distinctive look and feel that the series created has often be replicated, but in my opinion, never bettered and perhaps is epitomised in the stunning, and at the time groundbreaking, visuals of ‘Riven: The Sequel to Myst’

| Steve | Web Manager

I’ve had an old 1967 GT6 [pictured above at John O'Groats] for a while and thought it would be a laugh… although it has to be said that some wondered whether it would get 20 miles, let alone 2000! We started the event along with 94 other Triumphs at 7pm on Friday the 6th, and finished 48 hours and 11 minutes later on the Sunday evening, the 7th car to return. We’d ‘checked in’ at 14 stops along the route, and besides the odd fuel crisis, didn’t have any mechanical problems which was great. [My Blog]

“ye of little faith” I say to the doubters!
(oh and thanks again to Satellite for the sponsorship!)

| Ben | Web Services

About Google Adwords

Google Adwords is a system of online Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. Companies pay to have their adverts appear on the right hand side of the Google search page, by bidding on chosen keywords and phrases related to their business. The positions of ads are determined by several factors such as relevancy of keywords, clickthrough rates and bid amounts.

This allows advertisers to reach people at the exact moment they are looking for specific products and services, creating valuable targeted traffic to their website. Adwords is the perfect marketing tool for businesses wishing to generate leads or sales as well as create brand awareness.

Contact us to find out how we can use Google Adwords to assist your business.

Satellite Gets Professional

During August, Satellite’s very own Veronica passed the examination for becoming a Qualified Google Advertising Professional. After undertaking a challenging learning process lasting several weeks, she was more than pleased to pass with flying colours!

Having a Qualified Google Advertising Professional in-house, allows Satellite to offer a more advanced and efficient Google Adwords service to all of our clients. Qualified status additionally offers benefits such as greater control over client accounts and campaigns, along with the use of expanded analytical tools and a more in-depth knowledge of the Adwords system as a whole.

[Click to view details of our Qualified Google Advertising Professional status ]

Founded in 1979, the Hospice of St Francis provides care to people across North West Hertfordshire and the Chiltern area of Buckinghamshire. Over the years it has grown in size and is in much need of new premises. The Big Brick Buy appeal is expected to raise around £1.5 million for the construction of the new hospice building based in Berkhamsted.

From left to right: Liz Richards, Ian Absolon, Peter Rennison, Tracey McInnes, Andy Wilkinson, Sarah Thompson, Ian Philips

For more information about the appeal and the Hospice of St Francis, please read: this article

We are pleased to announce that we have now expanded the extensive list of design and media services we offer with the addition of Podcasting

During July, Omicron Communications approached Satellite with a requirement to add podcast media to their new website for Uttlesford District Council, a local authority who’s constituency includes BAA Stansted. The new site, http://www.stanstedexplained.info was launched at the beginning of July and seeks to widen public awareness of the issues surrounding a proposed expansion of the increasingly busy international airport.

In order to meet the short lead times that are associated with this type of media, Satellite performed a complete solution that included on-site voice recording, post-process editing and voiceover services to produce downloadable and portable audio versions of the written weblog entries of two key Counsellors.

You can listen to the podcasts online, at:
http://www.stanstedexplained.info/podcasts/index.asp

About Podcasting

Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term podcast, like ‘radio’, can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Podcasters’ web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their files; a podcast however is distinguished by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading RSS or Atom feeds. - (Source: Wikipedia.org)

If you would like to know more about how podcasting, audio recording or web broadcasting can help your business, or would like to talk to us about any of the design and media services we offer, why not give us a call on 01442 879712

Although product development is not our speciality, WGS trusted our understanding of their company in helping them to create TopPutt – a fantastic new golf game. From our crude beginnings of two large sheets of hand-painted cardboard laid out on the studio floor, through to rigorous refinement using 3D modeling and illustration, WGS was helped to go on to create the exciting new game launched in April at the London Golf Show.

We are proud to have played a contributing role in something we know is going to revolutionise the sport of golf and wish WGS the very best success with this fantastic new venture.

It’s all summed up in Satellite’s philosophy – Total Design.

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For more information and to watch a video of the TopPutt product in action at the London Golf Show, visit: http://www.topgolf.com

TopPutt™ and TopGolf™ are trademarks of World Golf Systems Limited. All rights reserved

| Veronica | Web Services

Why Are We Starting a Blog?
Well, we’re always keen to improve our website and investigate new ways of communication with both existing and potential clients and therefore felt that a webblog, focused around the things that make us tick, would provide an informal introduction to the way we think about design. Like an online extension of the sketchpads on our desks, it’s a freestyle opportunity for us to talk more in detail about some of the things that affect our thought processes and influence our creativity.

With postings by all members of the team, we also aim to bring a well rounded-out flavour of the different skills and abilities we have on offer and how they are being used for both clients and personal development alike.

Naturally, like any good blog, we welcome everyone’s comments and thoughts on what we post and hope that what you read here will, like us, both interest and inspire you.

| Steve |