the collective blog

Facebook Busy

2012-01-27T06:28:00.000-08:00

Over here at the collective, we are quite hot on our social media. Massive fans of twitter, 4sq addicts and enough knowledge of Facebook to send you to sleep!

And it has been a normal busy month helping clients out with their facebook projects / campaigns. This is a few things that have gone live this month.

For more information about our social media projects, or anything else we do then please just give us a shout. Always happy to discuss.

2012 and all that

2012-01-12T01:33:00.000-08:00

The headlines scream doom and gloom as we start 2012. Going to be a tough year. High employment, high cost of living and lots of crap to deal with.

Pretty much the same as last year then. And the year before.

I always have the same answer prepared when a client asks how things are. Its ok, could be better. We are surviving. Just need to keep going, keep being positive, good customer service, keep getting the work in and all that!

And to a point, that is a bit of the truth, but not the full truth. Because actually we a doing alright.

We are winning new business, new clients are coming on board and the last few months have been some of our best. I just don't like to talk about.

Why, you ask. Be proud, be positive. There is a bit, where I don't want to say too much just in case it comes crashing down around me in 3 months time. I also don't want to take my foot of the gas. I have a very high work ethic and I am not the type to ease off, just because we have had a good few months. I also don't want others to get the impression we are showing off. I know from other people / designers / agencies that it is tough out there and we aren't the type of agency to show off.

However, I do think this year, maybe I should start being a bit more honest and promoting our success's. We have a great little agency and have all worked bloody hard of the last few years to get to this point. So, lets start talking about!

Our review of 2011

2011-12-21T07:31:00.000-08:00

Some things that made our year!!!

1. Surving… again!
2. The new Blippar app. Brilliant and the future.
3. New Linkedin app. At last a social media app that has design at its heart!
4. Winning the wowcher pitch
5. Launching An Afternoon in the pub and bloody loving it.
6. Working with and for co-deal. A great idea and are expecting big things for 2012
7. Upgrading the Macs in the office with all new shiny software and applications
8. Finding and visiting the Hospital Club. A lovely place for a beer. Should we take membership in 2012?
9. Using the icanhire website to hire a van. A great automated system
10. Flipboard for the iPad and now for the iPhone. Brilliant.
11. Winning so many new clients and making new friends. BagThat, Carol Newland, Mercer & Hole and JCA to name just a few.
12. The collective summer and christmas parties. We still know how to party!
13. Getting my thoughts on twitter published.
14. Completed the 92 challenge.
15. Welcoming Mr Lovett back in the studio.
16. The night at the museum
17. Frozen Planet - great TV
18. The DWA darts night. Only semi finals this year, but good fun none the less.
19. Launching the Private Home website
20. Launching the Mercer & Hole website
21. Launching the Celerant website
22. Writing more blogs
23. Adding to our Social Media portfolio - a big growth area for us!
24. Finally get settled in the new office
25. Politely telling a client that because she shouted at us, we will not being doing her design work again. Good luck!
26. Keeping clients happy with our lottery ticket reward programme
27. The work we did for Bright Networks.
28. Jesus Christ Fenton
29. Although one of the hardest working years in collective history, it was probably my favourite.
30. We started adding PR to one of our service offerings.
31. Scrabble on the iPad was a big part of our evenings out.
32. CardMunch for Linkedin app - Brilliant
33. The Senna film. Amazing!
34. Finally getting to watch live tennis. Wimbledon and almost Queens Club...
35. The comedy delights of Vicky Arlidge.

Blippar

2011-12-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

Right then. A blog post about Blippar. Here we go.

We first became aware of the wonderful world of Blippar a couple of months back when this introductory video was posted on twitter http://blippar.com/

After watching, everyone in the studio automatically downloaded the app and started blipping.

The idea behind Blippar is simple, augmented reality advertising. Through the magic 'lens' on the app, you can enhance the world around you with virtual, instant information and entertainment. By blipping, you are automatically connected to a web link, video, game, coupon or a special 3D product experience.

Unlike its slightly weaker and less effective little brother, the QR code, Blippar really does enhance the users experience with the advert or product, and unlike the QR code, Blippar is the first universal augmented reality platform that is aimed directly at advertisers.

Lets take the Tesco logo for an example. Find the price drop logo in a paper, in store or online and hover your magic 'lens' over it.

The first thing you notice, apart from the festive music in the background, are the animated icons floating above the advert. You then have the choice to watch their Christmas advert, find the nearest store, or shop on the online Christmas Zone. There are of course links to their available social media.

Some of the other products which have really taken advantage of Blippar are Walkers, Cadburys, Marmite, Waitrose, Heinz and one of my favourites, the new Jurassic Park poster advertising.

To really experience how Blippar works, don't just read this, download Blippar and get blipping!

Video Inforgraphic - The World of Social Media

2011-11-30T01:32:00.001-08:00

Nice video infographic

Simply, a great deal

2011-11-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

We came across co-deal one Sunday evening, when a message came through asking for helping printing and delivery business cards. It was for someone local and I thought why not. Happy to help and you never know.

And that as you say was the start of a beautiful relationship.

It was only recently that I spent the afternoon in the pub with co-deal watching a Spurs game. That is the kind of client we like.   

But back to business. co-deal is in a nutshell, a group discount website for businesses. If you are a start up or SME then you can get any number of different deals to help your company. Anything from a great website offer to a discount on accountancy costs. Deals go on each week, and there are either a limited number available, or you have a set time to purchase, and you end up saving money on things your company needs. Very simple and very easy. And I am sure someone said that all the best business ideas are just that!  

So, what started as a quick business card job has evolved into 2 different business streams. Firstly we are proud to help co-deal with any of their design and marketing requests. Whatever they throw at us, we are more than happy to assist and add their name to our client list.  

Secondly, we are equally happy and excited to be on their supplier list. We have a number of deals on the site, ranging from logo design to website development. We also have a unique deal - you can have one of our designers for a day, at a discounted rate. Happy to say we have had a few take us up on that offer. It is a great win-win situation. We can offer our design and marketing services at a discounted rate, while getting exposure to a whole new range of clients and industries. The fact that we are supporting co-deal in the early stages of their growth is an added bonus. 

If you want to know more, then please drop us a line, or for more from co-deal and the current deals on offer, check out their site - http://www.co-deal.co.uk/

Or follow them on twitter - @co_deal

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Foursquare - infographics

2011-11-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows I am a big fan of foursquare. The proof is in my profile.

However this "small" post is not about the location based social media app. This is about their infographics that they use to promote their services / usage / promotions.

Really nice, well designed pieces, which I am not sure they get credit for. We are big fans of infographics at the collective and I think these are some of the best we have come cross.

You can find most of their infographics on their blog - http://blog.foursquare.com/ but below is some examples.

Networking

2011-10-31T03:59:00.001-07:00

OK, so what would I know about networking events? Well actually nothing. I have never been to one in my life. I have never stood up in front of a room full of strangers and sold my business in 60 seconds. I have never spent money on a breakfast I didn't really want and I’ve never committed to doing this at the death of dawn every week for a year and paid a membership fee.

Now before I get a barrage of abuse. How can I comment on networking when I have never done it? It’s precisely because I haven't done it that I think I am in the right place to comment.

Can you honestly sell your business in 60 seconds? Of course you can't. And if I don't like what you do or sell, then why should I have to refer you to my client base. If I think it is shit, then so will my clients. Trust me, I know my clients.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not knocking networking events. There are people out there who love them, some people go to loads every week and they are very successful money making businesses. It’s just not for me.

With An Afternoon in the Pub I wanted to create something a bit different. I didn't want it to be a formal networking group. I wanted it to be relaxed. I wanted it to have a local community feel. I wanted to create something for people who didn't like networking events. I wanted to create a ‘business social’.

And two Afternoon's down with one next week, I think we are finally getting there. I won't use this space to go on about it so check it out here www.anafternooninthepub.co.uk

So what's next? We have a child friendly event to kick off 2012. I’m still not convinced by child friendly networking, but it has never been done before and I am willing to give it a go. And then I am thinking of expanding. I am not going to sit here and say we will have one Afternoon in the Pub in 20 towns by the end of 2013. That’s not my style. But we are going to try with one and see how we go.

A good use of twitter

2011-10-18T01:50:00.000-07:00

The other day, the photo library website we use in the studio, was not working. Not sure why? maintenance maybe, or a server error. Not really that sure and it isn't that important. Normally, I would wait a few hours and go back to the site and see if it was up and running. Or I would use an alternative service.

However, their 404 error message guided you to twitter for updates. I think this is great idea and I see more and more twitter used to inform customers of "live" updates. With any business, if you don't get your customer service right, then you are in trouble. This is a very simple, but effective way to inform customers what is happening minute by minute. Brilliant.

If you fancy following us on twitter - @mattbigg

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

What a great website

2011-10-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

I came across this site recently. Really clever, great design and of course, very simple. Always the best ideas and all that. Check it out.

http://www.drawastickman.com/

Where's the on button!

2011-10-11T04:21:00.000-07:00

This blog is not about how good Apple computers or how Steve Jobs is a genius and what he has achieved in his short 56 years, will never be repeated. That of course is all very true, but there are a ton of tribute blogs out there you can read. What I really liked this week is how Apple handled the affair. If you take a look at there homepage which went live shortly after his death was announced and stayed the for many days, it is simply brilliant and very Apple.

And as someone pointed out in the studio, amazing to change their site only 24 hours after a major product launch. Forget the iPhone 4 S. Today is about Steve Jobs. Brilliant. Well done Apple.

Now where is the on button!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Now for something completely different...

2011-09-04T05:36:00.001-07:00

Over the last few months, I have had a few ideas. Some of these will work, some of these will fail. Some might not even see the light of day.

This is the first idea. Wish us luck

http://www.anafternooninthepub.co.uk/

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The night at the Museum

2011-07-22T06:54:00.000-07:00

Last night, the collective night was lucky enough to attend the 2nd Creative Review tweet up. Having spent an enjoyable evening last summer at the Design Museum, we knew we were in for a treat.

We arrived at the Tate Britain, the setting for this year's event on the back of reading some excited tweets about the night ahead. the hash tag #crtateup worked its magic. There were rumours about some free socks, but more of that later.

We spent the next 2 hours wandering the hallways and galleries, with a very nice glass of wine in hand. There was something quite nice about have the run of Tate, such an amazing venue, crowd free and full of like-minded creative individuals.

I have to say it was a great evening, so many thanks to Creative Review for your amazing hospitality. As we left we were given a very lovely goodie bag. And yes, it did contain a sock!

Normally, this is where the blog would end, but I think I will add to this post. I can only put it down to the excitement of the night (or the free wine) but one member of the team decided to under take a bit of planking. Enjoy the evidence. And sorry to the lovely people of the Tate. Hope you understand.

Twitter interview

2011-07-19T05:59:00.000-07:00

This morning I was lucky enough to be interviewed by @markshaw on my overall thoughts on twitter and how it has helped my business.

Fancy a listen, click here -

http://www.powwownow.co.uk/Recordings/recording/id/20651

Take a look and let me know what you think.

Google+ my thoughts!

2011-07-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, here goes with my take on Google+

This is Google's third attempt at launching a social media site. Anyone remember Google Wave? Or Google Buzz?

I always think, you shouldn't force social media. They have to grow and evolve organically. Facebook started like that. A few Universities at a time was there business plan and that has seemed to do the trick. Twitter started like that. I still have their viral How to You Tube video on another blog post here

But maybe this time Google+ will be different. 10m sign ups in a little over a week since launch might mean it got it right this time.

However, it needs to start working with non-google 3rd party applications. I managed to embed my twitter account, but couldn't find anywhere on how to embed facebook, flickr, foursquare etc. If they want to survive I think they need to open themselves up. Becoming more social, if you get my drift.

However, there are a few things that are quite nice about it. The Hangouts and Huddles look very interesting. I just need more than 7 people to make it worth while. I guess, at time of writing, that is the problem. I can go onto Twitter and chat with a whole host of different people from all walks of life, from all corners of the world. It is also very easy to connect to new people. When I log into google+ I have 7. It will take time, but if you need a gmail account to get in, then that might put people off. It isn't that easy to connect.

To sum up, it looks great, well designed and has some nice features. Will it be around in a few years. I am not so sure. It needs to be more open, easier and its need to connect to more additional non-google applications.

For a complete overview this is a decent users guide

And if you want to check out my google profile - http://www.gplus.to/mattbigg

A wish list, of sorts

2011-06-28T07:14:00.001-07:00

When we set out to build a website, there are some simple but required assets we need before we start. They are as follows:

1. What do you need to achieve from the site. Are you using it as a promotional tool, trying to sell through it, or just backing up what you are doing offline.

2. A site map. Nothing fancy, just an idea of the amount of pages required. A massive difference to how we approach a project. We have clients who come to us with a small website project and it has 100 pages. Other clients think 4 pages is small.

3. What do you need the site do achieve it's lifetime. If the plan is to make it multiple language in the next 12 months and not just English, then now is the time to tell us. We often get the request of "sticking on a shop function" 3 months after it's gone live.

4. Copy. Not critical, but it would be lovely if you have some. It doesn't have to be final copy either. We can amend at a later date.

5. Your domain name details. (If you have a domain) Where you brought it, where it is hosted, that kind of thing.

If you have all or any of these things, it would really help us build your site!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Always time to meet

2011-06-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

If you follow my twitter feed, it might seem that I am either on way to a meeting, in a meeting or finish a meeting and thus, on the way to the pub. Trust me, I don't spend my life in meetings, but they are a massive part of my working life and very important to our business.

Let me elaborate.

When I first started the business we were lucky enough to know someone at British Gas, who invited us over to talk about a project. As we sat and discuss the potential project in their "chill out area" people came and went and we were introduced to more and more people. In that short space of time, we gained 3 new contacts. Over the period of the next 18 months, we all worked with those people, in one way or another. 10 years on we still work with one of those people.

More recently, we went over to an existing client go talk about their single page website projects and came away with a meeting with their marketing team, a potential APP project and the task of looking at their intranet.

I think the main reason why meetings are so important to us, is our knowledge of many areas of design. We can go from helping a client with their logo, to planning their social media strategy, to managing their global print distribution. I guess this only comes across from sitting face to face with someone.

Why I follow / unfollow on Twitter

2011-04-18T09:26:00.001-07:00

After being on twitter for 2 years now, I have finally got round to writing my reasons for following and unfollowing on Twitter. Trust me, some people need to know this.

Who I follow.

1. Local people. Anyone from the St Albans area really. Good to get involved with the local community and support people from your area. And I have met some really decent local people via twitter.

2. Spurs / football fans. I love the banter and twitter is really enjoyable when the footie is on.

3. Clients. I always follow clients. Simple as that.

4. Interesting people.

5. Funny people

Why I unfollow.

1. Anyone that calls themselves a guru or an expert.

2. Anyone that uses the term lol.

3. Anyone that tweets a work or sales message after 7pm at night or at any point over the weekend. Says it all really.

4. Anyone who doesn't follow people for the reasons I have stated above.

5. Fake footballers. Why?

6. People that I wouldn't be happy having a pint with. This is the main reason really.

Showyou

2011-04-18T01:23:00.000-07:00

I came across this new app over the weekend called Showyou. It pretty much flipboard for videos. A really nice way of watching videos that are posted by you, your friend.

It looks great, I just need to get more of my mates on there posting videos etc.

For more information check out the site - http://showyou.com/

Or have a look at this video -

Let's Showyou from Showyou on Vimeo.

A case study from the design agency behind the branding can be found here

The Power of PR

2011-04-08T07:23:00.000-07:00

If I am honest, I haven't really had any involvement in Public Relations. Not that I didn't believe or understand it, it was just we had no really project that required it. However recently I decide to take on a charity challenge of aiming to hit all 92 league clubs in 92 hours. You can read about the actual challenge here - http://92grounds92hours.blogspot.com/

And at the end of the month, you will be can find out if I actually achieve it. But back to the post in hand and PR.

For the 92 challenge, we didn't have a budget. Every penny we get in will go to the charity, so we had to gain awareness via other methods.

We enrolled the services of Laura Berrill a local PR expert who not only loved our challenge, but also decided that she might be able to help. And what a brilliant job she did. What started as a wish to get in the local paper, turned into every local paper / website. We then moved on to local radio where I did a "very quick" phone interview for the BBC and then a more enjoyable and in-depth interview for Veralum Radio. And to top it off, we then appeared in 442 magazine, which was (being a football fan) amazing.

All the media coverage we got, can be found here - http://92grounds92hours.blogspot.com/p/media.html

Now, don't get me wrong everyone loves there name in lights, but this was about getting our challenge out there for all to hear. And it worked.

It opened my eyes to the power of PR. A good story, well written and placed in the right media at the right time can be so powerful. This particular "92" project was ideal and hopefully people saw the benefits in the story, rather a sales or promotion feel that might of happened if we had gone down a traditional advertising route.

A massive thanks has to go to Laura Berrill who can be found here - http://www.lauraberrill.co.uk/ - and who I can't recommend enough.

Will we be introducing PR to our list of services offered at the collective. Yes, we will.

A few new friends

2011-03-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

I have to say the last couple of months have been, even by my standards, a little busy. Maybe the best way to show this is a list of our new friends and clients that we have picked up.

1. Celerant Consulting
2. Wowcher
3. Julia Slater and Son
4. G-Code Technology
5. Shape
6. Bowden Mayes
7. Especially 4U
8. Cutherbert Toys
9. Huckleberry Finances
10. Local Stars
11. The Private Home
12. sequoia bespoke

Not a bad start to the year and a great effort by everyone involved in the collective.

Twitter book

2011-02-11T02:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, how exciting. It looks like my little story on twitter has managed to get into the final published draft of a new book - Twitter Your Business' eBook

And you can buy it here - http://www.brightwordpublishing.com/track.php?c=8

Go on, you know you want to.

Linkedin Maps

2011-01-25T03:50:00.000-08:00

Create beautiful maps via Linkedin Maps

Click here to create yours - http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com/

Or watch the video to learn more.

My pub analogy

2011-01-20T10:35:00.001-08:00

Ok, so you walk into a pub and you sit down with 2 of your mates. You share stories, talk about your school days and discuss babies. That is facebook.

Walk back in the pub and just talk to the landlord or the brewery. That is Linkedin.

While in the pub, tell the world, that you are in the pub. That is foursquare.

Try going back into the pub with the opportunity to talk to everyone on every table. And once you have met them you can talk to their friends and family. You could talk to other people in all the other pubs in the town, or the whole town itself. Maybe then talk to everyone in the neighbouring town. It goes on and on. That is Twitter!

However you could always just sit in the corner not talking to anyone. Friends reunited?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Print is not dead.

2011-01-12T09:01:00.001-08:00

I can safely say that over the last 12 months our digital work percentage has grown and grown. It does seem that my time is spent less artworking print brochures and more with uploading PDFs. Add our digital work (websites, banners, hosting) to our work within the social media sector I could see a decline in print.

I am also a big fan of the iPad and the new wave of tablet driven magazines. I could see a decline in the print trade and not in the distance future, but just around the corner.

However, I might of spoken too soon. As time of writing, only 12 days into January our print total has topped 80,000 already. This is made up of postcards, stickers, leaflets and flyers. We also have a large stationery project planned for later in the month, so maybe print is not dead after all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Blog cloud

2011-01-07T04:04:00.000-08:00

Create by wordie, this sums up what we have been saying for the last 2 years. Please click on the image to get a larger, easier to read version.

New Year Resolutions

2011-01-03T03:49:00.000-08:00

So the start of a New Year. Although I have never done any New Year Resolutions before, I thought it might be a interesting idea to set out some bits and pieces for the business. So here are my thoughts on what I would like the business to achieve in 2011.

1. Survival. Simple really. Same as the last 2 years. And although we have done very well of those years, we can't get complacement about it. The public sector cuts are starting to take effect, VAT is going up and I think things are going to be generally tough for at least the first 6 months, maybe carrying onto till late summer / early winter.

2. Add to our client base. Not exactly sure the best way forward on this, whether to out-source a new biz role, networking, referrals, advertising but I think we need a few small clients, or one big one to see us through. This is probably more important than anything else.

3. Have a summer party. We missed out on a Christmas one for various reasons, so I think it is only fair to get something good sorted.

4. Finally, maybe, ish get my clothing company off the ground. As long as it doesn't have any effect on the core business, this is something I would really like to do.

5. Increase our supplier list. We have a great "collective" of people we work with, programmers, photographers, printers etc. Just think there is a few missing gaps that need looking at.

6. Take every Friday off. Only joking, but I think I need to take a little more time out from the studio this year. Maybe work from home, if that is possible. Just need to spend time thinking about stuff on this list more than I do. I guess some people would call this strategic thinking or something. I call it taking time out.

7. Emails. Start sending out corporate emails again. Not every week, but we have about 6 ready to go, just need to create the time to get them sorted.

8. Blog more. I enjoy it, so why not.

9. Celebrate our 10th birthday in someway, shape or form.

Its the season to be jolly.

2010-12-04T00:21:00.000-08:00

I am not exactly sure why, but December has got off to a flyer. So much so, that today, Saturday, I am having to pop into the office.

Traditionally, you can look at Sept / Oct and then Feb / Mar as the busy months of the year. This is mainly because these are non-holiday months and people have got into their stride. On the flip side August and December can be seen as the quiet months. However we as a business had a great summer, and December is 'fingers crossed' is heading that way.

To give you an idea of work load, we have a 100k print job to manage, 3 websites going live before the end of the year, a 12 page brochure to get out the door and the local legends campaign to create and artwork. That alone is 100+ digital and print adverts. And that is just the work.

We also have the party season to fit in. We are lucky enough in the next few weeks to be hitting the streets of Harrogate, attending a MadMen party, lunching at Joe Allens, climbling up Tower 42 for cocktails, going to a tweet up and enjoying a beer and a curry with the St Albans crew.

As you can see it is going to be one hell of a month, but I think we get the work / fun balance just right at the collective.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Review of the year 2010

2010-11-28T02:09:00.000-08:00

Wow, it is that time of year again. Time for the collective review of the year. First up Matt's take on 2010.

Matthew Bigg

Well you know what the greatest achievement of this year is, the fact we are still here, working away. All the talk about if you got through '09, then 2010 would be fine. Well, it seemed when the new Government took over, the problem was worse than we thought. I honestly think it will be the summer of 2011 when things start to turn the corner and it might even take the Olympics in the summer of 2012 before we see things "back to normal" whatever that means.

For now I am just happy we are still busy and clients are giving us work. And we have a great loyal client base that still love what we do and love working with the collective. It was hard work, but still good fun. And if we get those 2 things right in 2011, I think we will continue to do alright. So what really happened in 2010. Here is my take on it.

1. We moved office. Closer to town, perfect for our size, cheaper, easier.
2. We lost James to a new career challenge.
3. But we gained Tom, who has embraced all things 'collective'
4. We gained some new clients, which is always good in any year.
5. We had some great nights out. Horse racing at Windsor a particular favourite.
6. We started going to design events. The V&A talks were an obvious highlight.
7. We won the DWA Darts night - Champions!!!
8. We continued our love of Social Media.
9 We did our first foursquare campaign.
10. We made lego with Creative Review.
11. MadMen took over our lives (ish)
12. We made it to 10 years... just need to sort out the party now
13. We printed more items than we thought we would.
14. We went to Coventry for the day
15. We brought an iPad
16. We love our iPad
17. We confirmed our attendence at many Xmas parties and forgot to sort our own out.
18. We had our work exhibited in the Design Museum
19. We went up the BT tower and came down very drunk.
20. We watched Morris Men dance for our summer party
21. We worked bloody hard
22. We made a few flash movies
23. We artworked a ton of adverts, both on and offline
24. We started putting stuff up for clients. Signs, exhibitions
25. We put a few websites live
26. We went to our first tweet-up
27. We had a lot of laughs

Debbie Bigg

The early part of 2010 saw some big changes take place at the collective. At the end of February, James left us after three years of great design work, interesting conversations and countless jokes, to pursue a different career path. James’ shoes were tough ones to fill, but a chance conversation with client, Anna Palmer of Cook4life, revealed that her son Tom was a Graphics Graduate and on the hunt for a job. A CV followed, Matt and I met Tom and, by the end of March, Tom was onboard.

The timing of Tom’s arrival was great as it meant we had an extra pair of hands to lug boxes, Macs and the kettle up the stairs of Arquen House, our new home, which we moved in to at the beginning of April. After three years, in the collective bungalow, we swapped downtown London Road and our fast food neighbours for uptown Spicer Street, with views of the Abbey, and an altogether better and healthier range of lunchtime options. Designers, Emma and Simon, who both rent desk space from us, came too, and the move itself went well. But then we had an ongoing saga with BT, who fowled up on our internet connection and we spent the best part of the next month on the phone getting it sorted. Urrrghhhh…

Summer was synonymous with The World Cup – the hope, the excitement…swiftly followed by disappointment, and all washed down with plenty of beer. Matt won tickets for us all to go and watch one of the semi finals at the top of the BT Tower and we had a great night, revolving above London, eating and drinking at BT’s expense. Now that’s what I call payback!

Summer continued with a work night out at the St Michaels Folk festival, drinking pints in the streets and seeing more Morris Men than you can shake a stick at (excuse the pun)!

And since those balmy days, it’s been heads down and on with the work. Throughout the year, we’ve retained our valued client base, added a few very nice ones in to the mix, and have kept the collective ship steady with a mix of hard work, good fun and careful accounting.

Matt continues to make strides with social media, and reached over a thousand followers on twitter. Tom, a twitter virgin, when he joined is now tweeting like a canary, and I try to embrace this new world but would really rather still chat in person. Still, one thing we’ve all taken to is tweetups and it’s been jolly nice getting to know some local tweeps.

Looking forward to Christmas, we’ve just realised that we don’t have space in our calendar to have our own party, so that’ll have to wait until the New Year. We’re planning to recharge our batteries over the festive period and plan to be back at our desks on 4 Jan, full of fresh ideas, new jokes and perhaps a new jumper, or two, to share.

Tom Palmer

Well after various meetings and interviews with Matt and Debbie, none of which were in the pub, they very kindly offered me a job as Graphic Designer back at the end of March. This new job position happened to coincide very well with the move of the studio to pastures new, and after only a couple of weeks at London Road we moved to the much brighter and lighter side of town at Arquen House.

After the first months ongoing battle with BT to sort out our internet, I settled into work just in time for the World Cup. Of course we did not watch any of the games and concentrated purely on working hard! There were a few great trips up to London with various clients to watch the numerous games of England playing badly. The highlight had to be watching the semi final at the top of the BT Tower at their expense. Great views, free booze and tasty food.

Since then I have been lucky enough to go on various client and work related nights out. Topping the list had to be an expensive evening losing at Windsor Races, exhibiting our work at the Design Museum and of course our victory at the DWA darts night, CHAMPIONS!

With Matt’s influence I have also been dabbling in the social media side of things, and since putting in the time with both Twitter and Foursquare I would now say I am a fully devoted tweeter and checking inner. (Matt was not happy when I stole the Mayorship off him for The Collective Design)

I must say it is not all socialising and entertaining, we have also put in the hours and done some great work for a number of interesting clients. We have our fingers crossed for a couple of new pitches coming in and getting our teeth stuck into some new projects for 2011.

The first 9 months here have been very enjoyable and I am sure they will continue way into 2011.

Good and Bad Apple

2010-11-25T08:02:00.000-08:00

In the last few weeks, there has some been some interesting developments over at Apple. Some good and some bad.

First the bad. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a massive fan of everything Apple. And I do love the hype surrounding their launches and campaigns. But this thing, about 'tomorrow is going to change your life forever', I was expecting something a little more than the Beatles being available on iTunes.

More on this can be found here

http://www.apple.com/the-beatles/

The good thing was the Free upgrade of Os4.2 for the iPhone and iPad. Mutlitasking, folders, AirPlay and the find a phone function. All very good and very welcomed. Thanks Steve Jobs.

Just a shame you are a Beatles fan.

videos that have made us go 'wow' this month

2010-11-23T07:24:00.000-08:00

Here is a selection of videos that we have enjoyed this month

Coachelletta from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Travelling just got easier

2010-11-04T01:48:00.000-07:00

Here are the two posts I produced for the blog - http://mediocremum.com/

Travelling just got easier Part 01

I can remember holidays as a child. Packed up in the back of the Volvo, with a packet of top trumps and a 6 hour journey to Cornwall. And for whatever reason, you always seemed to be sitting in traffic, hot, bored and not actually going anywhere. I think everyone has that type of travel tale to tell.

These days it is a lot different. The journey to Cornwall still might have it's moments, but the time seems to pass a lot more easier.

I have 2 boys, aged 2 and 7. As you can imagine keeping them entertained on our travels is no easy task. Car journeys seem to be ok, with pit stops etc. But airplanes, with their small spaces and no where to go. A nightmare! Or is it? Let me tell you about our last trip to Spain.

I always used to say that when travelling all you needed to remember was PMT. No wait, I am not mad. PMT. Passports, Money, Tickets.

However, I need to add in one more thing to my list. The iPad. Something I only normally use for work, is brilliant. The day before I clicked on to the App store and download a few games, movies, stories and apps. £20 was the approximate cost of my purchase, but compared to the games and books on offer at the airport shops, that seemed quite reasonable.

I will write a proper review on all the bits and pieces I brought and what was and wasn't a success, but for those 2 x 3 hours plane journeys, the iPad was just brilliant. The 7 year old, like all 7 years knows his was round technology better than some adults and had no problems flicking between 'Angry Birds' and watching 500 best Premiership goals.

For the 2 year old, a little assistance was required. However, he loved looking at the shapes and colours as there appeared on the screen and enjoyed the 123 counting game. And even when the novelty of those educational games wore off, we still had an episode of Peppa of Pig up our sleeve.

And I know using technology is not everyone's cup of tea. But when you are packing up your carry on bag for the airplane, with the mountain of books, games and the DVD player, think if that could all be condensed down into one easy to update, easy to use, easy to carry iPad.

Travelling just got easier Part 02

Following on from my first blog post - Travelling just got easier Part 01 – I thought I would follow up, as promised, with a more detailed iPad review of what exactly my boys like and what works and does work.

Lets start with the oldest, a 7 year old. I am not the kind of parent that throws technology at my kids and let them get on with it, while I sit back with a beer and the newspaper. Although, as I type that it does sound nice doesn’t it. The iPad adds to the experience.

However, there are times, especially when travelling that it comes in very handy. Sometimes traffic or a delayed flight, you need something to take away the boredom. And here are the top 3 things that save the day with a 7 year old.

1. Angry birds. It is brilliant, fun and very addictive. I have known parents to get hooked. It is also being constantly updated, with recently a “Halloween” edition being launched. If you have an iPad and even an iPhone / iPod you need to get this.

2. Lets Golf. Now there are 2 additions to this game, but both work great and if your kids are into sport type games, then they will love it. Very easier to play, very colourful and has great features to improve and challenge your golf skills.

3. Now something to keep the teachers happy. And educational App - Mathsboard. My boy loves this and makes me feel good as a Dad. It looks like a blackboard in design and you go through a series of Maths problems and puzzles to test your skills. You can change the settings, to make it harder and easier, so it grows as the children’s knowledge and confidence grows.

And now on to the 2 year old, which is a different thing altogether. We mainly use the iPad as a replacement for the suitcase full of stuff you normally need to carry as hand luggage. So here are 3 things that will keep the 2 year old from going crazy on holiday.

1. Game cards. We use ‘Flashcards’or 123 counting. Very simply a series of pictures or images that come up on the screen and you learn to explain colours, sounds, animals, and letters. Pretty much everything. Flashcards has everything. From Sharks to Cars, from the colour orange to the letter G. The added benefit to flashcards is that it comes in other languages. Although we are trying with English first before moving on to Spanish. One downside to these types of Apps is the noise. Remember to turn the volume button down. You have been warned.

2. ColourPlay Lite is a great App. The Lite version is Free and maybe a little limited. However you can upgrade to the full version for £1.19 once you have exhausted all the drawings. To start with, you get a series of animal’s pictures, pigs, horses and a colour palette. With the touch of the finger you get to paint in the picture. Simple, but my boy loves it.

3. Videos. The iPad is great for showing movies and TV shows. In the library we have Thomas, Peppa and an assortment of Disney classics. Brilliant. No discs, no DVD boxes. Simple and very useful. We also have a good selection of older stuff for the 7 year old. Football, Top Gear etc.

I hope that helps. I think with the introduction of iPad type technology, Travelling with children just got easier.

Matt Bigg
@mattbigg
matt@thecollectivedesign.co.uk

The new i

2010-10-26T12:27:00.001-07:00

I am a sucker for first edition newspapers. I think I still have the first copy of Today, sitting somewhere in my loft. So today, I was keen to get my hands of a copy of i, the new tabloid paper from the independent. The launch issue is smaller in size, smaller in price (20p) and smaller in content.

Not sure if there aim is to give something smaller and quicker to read to independent readers, or to give sun / mirror readers something different to read. I think the latter.

Overall I like it. The navigation is clear and colourful. Although the menu structure does appear quite a few times - there is a lot of it. The font and content is trustworthy and short, but not in a Metro kind of way. You still feel you are getting knowledge and not trivia back. If that makes sense.

Also, the master head is at the side, not on the traditional top. I like this.

The thing I wasn't so impressed with, is no sport on the back pages, just an advert for a Hyundai. Call me a traditionalist, but the back pages should have a story about sport on them. I guess it is a money making thing. Makes sense.

Also, the sub sections could be done in a better, more consistent way. For example, the Views and Business section play graphically on the i of the brand name, but this doesn't quite work for news or sport. This maybe could of been thought about in a different way.

Overall, I like it. I am now going to pack it up in a secure box and stick up in the loft for someone to unwrap in 20 years time.

Will there still be newspapers in 20 years, that is another question, for another time!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Twitter, better than google

2010-10-25T07:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, I am not saying for a second, that google has lost it's control as the No. 1 search engine. And it really is the place to go if you need to find an exact thing. For example, you know the name of the pub, you just need directions or the telephone number. You know the name of the product, you just need to find the best, cheapest, closest shop to get it. For these situations, Google is the place to go.

However, there are now alternatives. Next time you are about to visit a new city or country, type a question of advice into Twitter. The feedback you get is brilliant. Just honest advice, no sales message and it comes to you by people you 'trust' And it is a useful tool. I have used Twitter on many an occasion, to get advice on places to visit or feedback on places I am about to go explore. One thing to remember is you need to follow the right people.

Reviews sites are also a great source of information. I use the Guardian site - I Have Been There - to pick up real travel advice, by real travellers. And for businesses or services, there is a ton of review based sites out there. Qype, Yelp to name just 2. Reviews seem to be a very good way of gaining information.

One of the other things that has recently come into play is Foursquare. I was on the south coast town of Bournemouth recently. I had 30 mins to kill before my friends turned up, so I logged on to foursquare, worked out my location and then by reading tips and checkins, I found a great local bar, to position myself with a paper and a pint until my mate turned up. And how long would it take me to find that bar using goggle. Just for the record if you type 'bars in bournemouth' into google you get over 600,000 results. Seems a bit crazy way to find something, doesn't it.

As I said at the top of this post, Google is good. but it isn't the only such solution.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Creative Review Tweet Up

2010-09-27T10:02:00.001-07:00

Ok, so there we were looking at our work 'hanging' in the design museum. As a designer, the ultimate accolade. I guess it felt the same as a footballer scoring the winning goal in the FA cup.

I might of overplayed that first para, but at was one of the many lovely things that happened last Thursday.

Greeted with wine and sent home with Lego, it was a great evening of fun and frolics. We exchanged Twitter names, cigarettes and stories with fellow designers and was lucky enough to be able to 'exhibit' our work.

Thanks again to @creativereview for a great evening and I look forward to the next #crtweetup

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My 10 favourite iPad apps.

2010-09-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have had my iPad for a few months now and it is getting better and better. And it is only going to improve, the more it is developed and the more applications that get added to it. I will try and write a blog review on what I think the future of the device is, but for now, here are my top 10 apps, that I think are a must for any iPad user.

1. Flipboard - Amazing use of social media to create your own personal magazine.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/flipboard/id358801284?mt=8

Link to their website - http://www.flipboard.com/

2. Twitter - My iPad application of choice for tweeting, which I seem to do a lot.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8

Link to their website - https://twitter.com/

3. FlickStack - A great way of displaying your flickr account. Slick.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/flickstackr/id364895358?mt=8

Link to their website - http://ipont.jubilo.ca/ip/stackr/

4. BlogPress - A great tool to write, edit and amend our blog on the move. Something I find very handy.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/blogpress/id317799861?mt=8

Link to their website - http://blogpress.coollittlethings.com/

5. AngryBirds -The most addictive thing on my iPad. If you are busy, don't load this on.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/angry-birds-hd/id364234221?mt=8

Link to their website - http://www.angrybirds.com/

6. Dash Four - If you are into foursquare, then this is a great app to view your account. Some nice little touches, like the maps.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id364871748?mt=8

Link to their website - http://projectzebra.com/dashfour/

7. Wired Magazine - A brilliant digital version of a printed product that works so well on an iPad.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/wired-magazine/id373903654?mt=8

Link to their website - http://www.wired.com/magazine/

8. WeatherHDPro - A great way to view that it is raining outside.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/weather-pro-for-ipad/id373515261?mt=8

Link to their website - http://www.weatherpro.eu/home.html

9. iBooks - Simple, download and read books. The first app I downloaded.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8

Link to their website - http://www.apple.com/

10. SkySports News - A great app for keeping up to date with the world of football. I have also teamed it with my sky account, so I can watch my sky sports package while out and about. Brilliant.

Link to app - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-sports-news/id387177089?mt=8

Link to their website - http://www.skysports.com/

Any apps I have missed or you think I should have included, then please let me know.

My Flavors website

2010-09-07T05:11:00.000-07:00

I love this little site builder at the moment.

MattBigg

10 years old...

2010-08-23T05:34:00.000-07:00

... but what do we do?

That is the question going around the studio this week. This autumn our little old design agency will be 10 years old. Something we are very proud of and something we are determined to celebrate.

But how? That is the tricky question to answer. Is it a gift which we send out, is it a brochure we produce or is it just one big party! As an agency of creative talent, we just can't work out the direction to go in.

As soon as we decide, we will let you know. And of course any suggestions would be very welcomed.

Still can't relax

2010-08-20T00:25:00.001-07:00

As I sit here in my holiday cottage, with the sound of boats and water nearby, I still can't relax. And here is why.

Firstly, when I say I can't relax. That is not exactly as it seems. I do like my travel and my holidays. And I can unwind.

What with boat trips, golf games and the odd visit to the pub, you don't really have time for thoughts or worries. Although the business is still in the back of my mind.

As a design agency, we have had an unexpected busy summer. It has been great. Loyal clients, good projects and some very decent people in which we work with and for. However, in this "current climate" I just can't switch off.

I am thinking of things we can improve, things we can do differently or better. I am also thinking of new ideas, new strands to the business and even on a stroll around a Norfolk fishing village, a total new business.

The collective have survived so far, and I am still very determined to make sure it continues to do so. Although it will be with balance. We have just extended this holiday by a couple of days and have another trip to Ireland planned in a 3 weeks. That is great. I will be checking emails and talking to clients as we go. That is just life.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Meeting behaviour

2010-08-19T10:22:00.001-07:00

This is what I believe is the correct way to behave in a meeting.

1. Turn up on time. Normally 5 mins early. Not 5 mins late and never 15 mins early. That is actually worse.

2. Dress in the right way. But always smart. You might work in the creative industry and trainers are ok. But make sure they are smart trainers.

3. Switch your bloody phone off. The world will not stop if you are not contactable for 40mins. No one is that important.

4. If you are not interested in what people have to say, hide it.

5. Always address people using their name. A favourite of mine.

6. Take notes. You can't remember everything.

7. Don't leave the meeting until everyone is finished and everyone is happy with the outcome. Unless there is a small emergency of course.

8. If you say you will do something, then do it. No excuses.

9. Don't yawn. Ever.

10. Or swear.

11. And finally, turning up with cakes is not such a bad idea.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Enter the Dragon

2010-07-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I download the Dragon Dictation for iPhone. I did this just to see what the fuss was about. Not one to use any previous forms of Dictation gadget or application, it was done out of pure curiosity.

The Dragon Dictation app is very simple to use and free. You tap, talk and then you have your text. And it is actually very accurate. If the odd word is wrong, you can edit / delete / add text as you would with any message on the iPhone.

Then you have the option to post your message to Twitter or Facebook, send as a text or an email. From downloading to seeing my message on my twitter feed, took less than 5 mins. It is very easy and in a word, brilliant.

I can see the real benefits of this, especially for me as a designer. Everyday I see things while I am out and about. And at the end of the day, I end up with a ton of notes on a ton of paper. Great to put it on email with all my thoughts clearly typed out, ready to go.

I can see this being a main feature of the next generation of iPhones / iOS - Watch this space.

To download the app, just click here

Our plans for the summer

2010-07-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Every year, I set out a list of plans for August. And this August is no different. So here is the list.

1. We need to update our website, with copy and images.
2. We need to up the SEO of our site. We are getting some help with this from our friends at e-mphasis
3. We are all doing some networking. Not something we have ever done before. But something we are going to give a go. Every member has to attend a different networking event.
4. Updating our profiles on pretty much everything. Google, linkedin etc etc.
5. Get some more recommendations / references.
6. Start up our email newsletter again to send to friends and clients.
7. Think about our 10 year birthday. Think how we could celebrate.
8. Update our news.
9. Learn more about facebook
10. Maybe guest blog on some other sites. Maybe.

Fingers crossed we get a few hours this summer, to at least try and complete this.

Flipboard

2010-07-21T01:11:00.000-07:00

This looks great.

To download it for your iPad - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/flipboard/id358801284?mt=8

And here is a link to their website - http://www.flipboard.com/

The collective scores a new client

2010-07-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Whilst the pre-season talk might be post World Cup gossip, multi-million pound transfers and new managers, we’ve got some football news of our own. We are proud to announce that we are supporting our home team, St Albans City Football Club, by designing their fixture posters for the new 2010 / 11 season.

After seeing an advert on the club website, we volunteered our design services and our application was successful.

To read their take on this local partnership and to view the first poster click here

We hope this leads to future work and advertising opportunities with the club.

C’mon you Saints and all the best for the 2010 / 11 season.

It all started as a pub game...

2010-06-30T01:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, one thing I would say before I start is I have been using twitter for well over a year now and I have never really known how many followers I have. Of course I have an odd glance to the right to view the numbers, but as I have said before, it is who you follow, not the other way round. However to have so many people interested in my thoughts on football, my journey across Britain's pubs and my links into the world of design, is a great feeling. If you fancy having a look at my world - follow here

One of the things I have gained from twitter is a great "network" of friends in St Albans. Having relocated here 8 years ago, after meeting my wife, (It always involves a women doesn't it) I didn't know anyone. So it has been nice to meet a few people. I guess that is the main point of twitter, a social network.

And that led me to meet up with @i_is_sam for a pint after work. We were discussing the weeks events, our music careers, badgers and then we got on to twitter. It soon developed into how many followers we had. And to be honest neither of us had a clue. On closer inspection we discovered Sam was at about 950 and I was slightly behind on 910. We then very casually said the first to hit the 1000 follower mark, will have to buy the other one a pint. A single pint. Nothing more, nothing less. So the campaign #thereisapintatstake started.

Now I thought, it would be great way to spend a summer. Chatting to people, a bit of social marketing, discussing campaign ideas with people in the studio. Even letting clients know what we were up to. However I didn't factor in the fighting spirit and competive nature of @i_is_sam - 48 hours later and he was done. The winner. To be honest, he did have a head start. Well that is my reason he won and I am sticking with it.

It was great fun, a huge tweet weekend and a "dip my toe in" moment of social media campaigns etc. Something we have started to talk to clients more and more about. So I guess everyone is a winner!

And when does Sam get his pint. Friday the 16th July at the Garibaldi in St Albans. And of course you are all welcome to join us.

iPad Blog posting

2010-06-25T07:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, a blog app, so I can write on the move. Lets see if this works!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:St Albans,United Kingdom

2010 World Cup adverts

2010-05-21T03:10:00.000-07:00

Nike - Write the Future advert

Carlsberg Team Talk advert

The Sun - Terry Venables advert

Pepsi World Cup 2010 advert

Nationwide Advert

Coca Cola Celebration advert

Sony World Cup advert

And one of the best football adverts of all time

Tom goes to the printers

2010-05-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

On May 6th I took a trip with the collectives good friend, Eaveswood Colour, up to their printing factory in Northampton. The idea behind the trip was to get a detailed view of what happens once we send our clients designs off to print, and in turn, seeing the design process through from start to finish.

Whilst at the printers, I gained a great insight to the vast options available when it comes to deciding on how best to print our clients work. This is a choice that is best made with the knowledge of the printers. From Litho to Digital and leaflets to brochures, the choice is endless. Some of the new facilities that impressed me included some rather aesthetically pleasing print styles. The options of a fifth print colour, combined with both matt and gloss ‘drip off’ finishes allows us designers great flexibility and choice when taking on new briefs.

I would also like to touch on some of the environmental policies that Eaveswood have put in place. In these modern times, it is not only designers and printers that need to take responsibility on minimising our impacts on the environment, but also the clients.

This insight to the true costs of print and design were a real eye opener for me, and will definitely have a positive impact on future design campaigns that we put together. The brief glimpse into the world of print was a brilliant, and I believe necessary learning curve that will have strong influences on future projects.

mFlow - what is it all about!

2010-04-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Recently, after a trial, invite only period, mFlow finally launch to all. Described as a cross between iTunes and Twitter, it is set to revolutionise the way we purchase new music.

The way it works is very clever, mFlow has over 2 million tracks from many artists and labels (Universal, Sony, Skint Records, etc etc). and allows you to purchase new music for 79p. Like Twitter, you can follow other artists and labels, blogs or friends. Their song choices then appear in your 'inbox' for you to listen to.

If you then recommend songs which are then brought by a fellow flower, then you will receive 20% of the value of the track as credit in your account. You can then use your 'earnings' to purchase new music.

And don't worry about buying music through mFlow. You can export any tracks you have brought straight to iTunes

And finally another trick they have just launched, is Twitter / Facebook intergration. So if you reflow / flow a song, you can let your twitter followers know directly.

All in all, a great new music tool for our studio.

My username is mattbigg - http://my.mflow.com/mattbigg - why not follow us.

Check out and sign up for a Free account here - http://www.mflow.com/

Quarter one 2010

2010-04-28T06:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a busy start to 2010

And not just finding a new designer to join our team, or moving the studio to Spicer street. We have actually been producing some work too!

First up is a series of websites for our friends at Northcliffe. We are very proud to be involved in the design of their suite of 'thisis' websites.

Eventually the design will be rolled out over 150+ sites, but for now have a look at - http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/ or http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/

We also turned our hands at movie producing and created this for Juniper.

http://www.thecollectivetesting.co.uk/juniper/

And it didn't stop there. We also produced an ebook for them as well.

http://thecollectivetesting.co.uk/juniperstaffing/

Add in the launch of the trainline careers site - http://thetrainlinejobs.com/ - and things are looking good for the start of 2010.

We also produced an outdoor and press advertising campaign for localpeople, a stationery suite for dwa media, a sales campaign for RM, a new website design for OME, branding design for G-Unique and Chilworth. And things keeping us busy at the moment and about to launch is the application system for Game, A music website and the new ITopia website.

To have a look at this and other work we have produced, check out our portfolio section - http://thecollectivedesign.co.uk/portfolio.html

The trials of moving and running a small business

2010-04-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

As any small business will know, moving office is a big deal. From finding a new studio, to decorating the old one, to packing boxes, to a whole lot of shredding, to reading meters, and to lugging Macs, furniture and files up the stairs, it’s hard work. And that’s on top of the day job.

Of course we wanted the transition to be a seamless one for our clients. And it would have been, if not for BT. For someone employed by the telecoms giant, it appears that pressing send on our order to set up our phones and internet was one task too many. And so the promise of such necessities on the 9 April, materialised on 19 April. Two days later, phones, but no internet…BT have connected us to a Foreign Exchange and switched our internet off. Oooh la la… And now, at the time of writing, although we have been given a (5 day) OpenReach account, we still don't officially have our internet!

Running a small business is like dodging bullets on an arcade game; first we were up against the state of the economy, then the snow blanketed, followed by a springtime flurry of volcanic ash clouds, and now BT. Surely if we survive this, we’re on to the next level?!

But hey, the sun is shining, we’re getting on with life’s trivia and are fully up and running. And hopefully you’re getting the service you’ve come to expect from us, albeit it’s coming from our lovely new studio.

Come and visit us. Good to know our kettle is always working.

New office details - http://thecollectivedesign.co.uk/contactus.html

All change, all change

2010-04-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, we have a new home for our design studio. After three 3 years hiding under the "old cinema" the collective design have upped sticks and moved closer to the centre of St Albans.

Our official address is Suite 11, Arquen House, 4-6 Spicer Street St Albans, Herts AL3 4PQ

And this is what our new home looks like:

View Larger Map

My take on foursquare

2010-02-25T01:04:00.001-08:00

Ok, firstly lets get the big brother thing out the way. People say that if you use foursquare then people will know exactly what you are up to and where you are. True, but that is the clever thing - more on that later. It also means that if they know you are out and about then they can pop round and turn over your house over. I am not so sure about that. And neither are these people - http://tinyurl.com/yks7b3n

So what is foursquare all about. There are three main elements to it.

1. Points. If you check-in to a location, you get points. Simple as that. And it depends on whether you are returning to that location, hitting it for the first time or adding it for the first time on what points you get. And these points can be seen as a chart with all your friends. e.g like a fantasy footie league table. Everything starts again ever Monday.

2. Badges. Depending on what you do and when you get badges. I seemed to of collected a 'bender' badge recently for being out four nights in a row. Something a few years back I would of been very proud of. Now, I just worry about my health.

A list of all badges you can get are listed here - http://lalawag.com/2009/09/22/foursquare-badge-roundup/

You can also go to the main foursquare site and suggest badges for the future.

3. Mayor-ships. If you check-in to a place more than anyone else, you become mayor. I have noticed that of time of writing I am mayor of my office, home, 3 pubs, a sports bar in Barcelona and my son's football club.

Now all of the above points might seem a bit of a game, a passing fad, a novelty that will soon be forgotton. But you can turn these things off. You don't have to post your location to twitter or facebook. You can ignore the mayor thing if you want. And to be honest aren't the things that are listed above are really for the tech crazy youth of today?

However there are some clever things about foursquare. What do you get if you check-in to a place, what happens when you do become Mayor of somewhere.

Recently on a football jolly to Barcelona, I checked-in to a few places and it instantly told me who was close by using twitter and tips on what the best places to go, best pubs to visits and tapas bars to eat in. Brilliant and very useful. Having not been to the city for a few years, it was very handy to find out what was good and bad, once I had literally, checked-in.

And in terms of the Mayor thing, I can see a few signs that it will be a big talking point in the next few years. Here are a couple of early signs.

Debenhams announced recently that anyone who become major of one of their shops would get a free cup of coffee. Now that is a good and cheap way of getting people into their department store.

I also know that Dominos Pizza is doing something very similiar and offering free weekly pizza to their 'mayor's'

As I said, I can only see this growing and become vital to retail and leisure companies in getting punters through the door!

Finally the best thing for me, is the most simple thing. You now don't have to pre-arrange where you are going to meet people for drinks. Just check their foursquare and work out where they are. Easy!

Our website gets noticed

2010-02-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, just as I was locking up, an email pinged into my inbox. One quick check, in case it was something that couldn't wait until after the weekend. And to my surprise our website had won an award (of sorts!) The actually wording read as follows:

YOUR WEB SITE HAS BEEN ADDED TO COOLHOMEPAGES.COM as an example of remarkable web site design. CoolHomepages.com is the oldest and largest "Best Web Site Designs" gallery online.

To see our site checkout this link - http://tinyurl.com/yevynbo

Or go to - http://www.coolhomepages.com - and search under thecollectivedesign.

It has been recognised under the following categories

All Categories
Layouts
Nav Bars
Non-Flash
Very Clean

I have been using coolhomepages for ideas and up to date inspiration for the last 10 years, so it felt good that our site was sitting there amongst the others!

Ok, so its not a Brit award, not even a BAGA gymnastic badge, but we are happy with our little website prize. And it was a great way to start the weekend.

Graphic Designers wanted!

2010-01-30T02:18:00.000-08:00

Graphic Designers wanted. St Albans, Herts

Due to new client wins and an increase in workload, the collective is recruiting again.

A bit about us.
We are a St Albans-based design agency (www.thecollectivedesign.co.uk), with a loyal and varied client base giving us both print and web work. Currently a team of three, sharing our studio with two other creatives, we like our nights out, topical chats and sport-related gossip. Our summer and Christmas parties, our flexible working practice and our fun and honest outlook add to our makeup. But we do work hard and like any studio we are known to be at our desks past 6.00pm. Not all the time, but occasionally.

What we need.
Trustworthy and honest to start with. Great creative skills is a given, along with good attention to detail and artworking skills. And if you have any html in your locker, that would be worth a mention. If you have a portfolio that you are passionate and proud of then, apply. If not, don't! Good presentation skills are also on our list. You will be talking and meeting with clients, not hiding in the corner of the studio.

What next
Send through your CV and some work examples to Matt - matt@thecollectivedesign.co.uk - and we will be in touch.

p.s. We also have a great bank of freelance talent and are always looking to add to that, so don't be scared to send through your details for that, if a full time job doesn't suit.

My take on the iPad

2010-01-28T01:38:00.000-08:00

A few quick overview on my take on the ipad. I am yet to read full reviews and even hold the thing, but here is my quick 5 mins take on it.

Good things and why I will buy one

1. It looks bloody good.
2. It is an Apple product.
3. The ideal travel companion.
4. 10 hour battery life. Battery Life has always a frustation on previous i products.
5. The scope - what can it possible do in 12 months time when developers get their mits on it.
6. It is cheap. My last Mac book Pro cost just shy of £2k for example.
7. I can see I would use it. Alot.

Bad things, but I will probably still end up buying one

1. Never buy the first draft of a new product, it always has bugs in it. V. 2 will be amazing. However, I can't wait for 2011.
2. I actually can't do any work on it (yet!) Hence why I have owned 3 Apple laptops.
3. Not exactly sure I will read a book on it, although that feature does look great. I woke up this morning and felt really sorry for the Amazon Kindle.
4. Is the size really practical.
5. I can see my kids would use it. Alot.
6. No Camera - Is that important.
7. However no USB. Can't plug anything into it.

St Albans office solutions - help needed!

2010-01-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

Does anyone have any advice on office space / solutions in St Albans. I need to find a place to set up camp from April this year. We need anything from 2 to 5 desks (whether that is one office or a corner in a shared office, we are easy!). Would love to stay in central St Albans (Been AL1 for the last 10 years and too lazy to walk far!). Would be great to stay in or share a creative environment (We are a design agency) but maybe I am just being greedy!

Any advice, offers, good commercial estate agents, thoughts or tips would be very grateful received.

Thanks

Matthew Bigg

the collective review of the year!

2009-12-09T07:27:00.000-08:00

To give you a complete insight into 2009, everyone at the collective has contributed to the following post.

First up Matt will kick us off.

So, I am still here typing away. Must mean we made it through the year and survived. And what a year. Thinking back 12 months ago, it was all doom and gloom and I thought we would end up living in caves, eating grain. Well it didn't really work out that way did it?

Looking back, I have to say it was the hardest year I have ever had to work, especially the first quarter. I put in more hours that in any other year, made some tough business decisions and kept in communication with all our clients. We embraced new technology, fired off emails, came up with new ideas and re-designed and re-launched our website. And although hard and at times very stressful, I bloody loved it. I like a challenge and I was determined to make sure we would still be here, come 2010.

And there was some very tough and sad moments. We had to reduce our costs, which meant letting one of our designers go. Although everything worked out in the end with our good friend Dan, that was the worst business call I have ever had to make. We lost a few clients to the credit crunch. Some that had been with us a few years and we felt their pain. We also got hit by a few bad debts, which is never nice in any year. But all in all, I think we did alright. We are still here and I am very proud that I can say that.

In terms of the team, what can I say. A really collective effort. Trust me, I wasn't the only one putting in the hours. Everyone really did raised their game and worked its arse off when it was needed.

And also, a few new clients joined the party. At times we were almost embarassed to talk about it, but during the summer / autumn months we picked up some wins and some new projects. It was good to bring some happy and positive news into the studio after such a tough start to the year. And what with those new clients, our exisiting loyal client base, we enter the new year with a smile on our faces, in a healthy position and contemplating a good 2010.

Just need England to bring home the World Cup in 2010 and I might even forget about 2009!

And now the thoughts of Debbie

2009 - what a year! To be honest, I started off the year, with an underlying feeling of dread, my glass was most definitely half-empty. The news headlines were all about recession, depression, job losses, failing banks, and politicians having emergency meetings to try and wade our way out of the global economic crisis. Confidence was at a low ebb and clients were understandably cautious about spending. It didn’t feel good to be at the financial helm of a small business, responsible for four people’s livelihoods.

We went into the year, knowing we had come to the end of a contract for a public sector organisation. They had contributed significantly to our turnover and workload for the previous 3 years so we knew we had some tough business decisions to make.

January, February and March were quiet. We endeavoured to manage our costs as efficiently as possible and take a pro-active approach to marketing, keeping up a constant dialogue with clients. We used this time to learn about new forms of media which might help our cause; LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. We tried to keep the ship steady. We knew our cost base and our aim was to break even – it doesn’t sound ambitious but we knew we had to get our heads down and battle the storm. We had lengthy discussions, lost sleep, enlisted the help of ACAS, Business Link and the like to make our toughest business decision yet – we had to let Dan go. The tough reality was, if we buried our heads and kept our collective family together, we might all go under. The thought of it still makes me feel sick to the pit of my stomach, brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat. But it wasn’t all bad. Dan, the remarkable young man that he is, was mature, gracious and appreciative. And, he hasn’t stopped being part of the family. A regular visitor, he now freelances for us on a regular basis.

That was the low. From there, it got better, month-by-month. There’s no irony, we still know we made the right decision in reducing our costs. But, the pressure was off a little. Matt did a stirling job keeping us in the face and minds of clients. James was amazing in keeping the studio under control, taking on an increased workload, never failing to laugh at Matt’s jokes and contribute his own. And I emerged from the cloud that is business year-end. New clients came onboard, old ones gave us new projects. We cautiously felt that there was a little more optimism around.

We’ve won a lot of new clients this year, which is fantastic at any time but especially good when it’s in the face of recession. We’ve met some great people. Most of our clients have been very loyal. You always get the odd one whose not and we’re not alone in the design community in knowing that some have taken advantage of the climate.

Free pitching, sad to say, came back to the fore. Desperate times, make people do things they wouldn’t normally. My view, it’s not ethical practice. You don’t ask your Accountant to do your tax return for free to see if he’s up to it. A meeting, written proposal and your portfolio should be enough to ascertain whether you’re up to the job and right for it. Rant over.

Our suppliers have been great in helping us deliver the required, on time, on budget. We work with some really good people. In return, we’ve paid them promptly – we know how important cashflow has been to sole traders and small businesses in 2009.

On reflection, 2009 has been a good year. Good in that we got through it. Good in that we’ve got new clients. Good in that we’re in the black. Good in that we’re still laughing. Good in that we we’re excited about the new year, new projects, new opportunities…

…my glass is now half-full. And I look forward to it brimming over in 2010!

And finally this is what James thinks

2009, the year of peaks and troughs.

Although the year got off to a quiet start, it definitley didn't end that way. I guess the major low point of the year was saying goodbye (more of a see you soon) to Dan. I think we all felt in 2008 we had a good thing going, a dynamic team and lots of laughs, so it was a huge shame when The Collective had to let him go. So it was all hands to the deck, and no time to dwell. Debbie and Matt put in the hours, setting up meetings, putting in tenders and looking for new work. I think I did my bit, keeping things ticking over in the office when they were out and about sealing deals!

So as the year went on, work started picking up, but still, one week we would find our selves manic, the next very quiet, it just seemed to be the nature of things. Northcliffe gave us plenty of work, and we worked on there very exciting new project, which for a while was code named TLP! The Local People websites launched, and we had plenty of work to crack on with. To celebrate we went to the horses with them, I won nothing, and they cleaned up. Ah well!

A couple of my personal highlights have been working on projects for Distinctly Doyles, and cook4life. Both very different clients to the rest. And great fun to work on, a couple of pieces of work I'm really proud of.

So looking forward to 2010, I think it will be an exciting one. Technology in the creative industry seems to be moving along an increasingly fast pace. With a lot of emphasis online. And I'll be dabbling in the world of Flash (that's a program, and not something I'll be doing on public transport in my spare time with a trench coat on!)

Bring on 2010!

The true world in which we work!

2009-10-08T02:04:00.000-07:00

Client v Designer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfprIxNfCjk

Social Media Guru

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKCdexz5RQ8

Summer loving

2009-09-21T02:06:00.000-07:00

Well, what a summer that was. Here is a few things we got up over the last few months.

1. Worked. Very hard. All summer. A real team effort.
2. Worked on some branding projects - check out the portfolio section on the collective design website.
3. Went to the Banksy exhibition.
4. Didn't play any golf.
5. Launched an online ashes game for clients.
6. Watched England qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
7. Went to the New Designers show to check out the new talent.
8. Watched Jenson 'almost' throw it away. Belgium was amazing by the way.
9. Worked on the launch material for local people.
10. Went to the best book shop in the world - Mr B’s.
11. Never found enough time to update website - http://www.thecollectivedesign.co.uk/
12. Went racing with clients in Windsor.
13. Lost a very good client / friend to the 'credit crunch'
14. Enjoyed the St Micheals folk festive as part of our summer party.
15. Produced a lot of digital marketing creative for our friends at Northcliffe. Banners galore.
16. Won some new clients, which we are very happy and proud of.
17. Took on a work experience placement.
18. Went to Cork, Bristol, Southampton, London, Bath, Woking, Leeds, Weybridge and Oxford.
19. Used Twitter alot - http://twitter.com/mattbigg
20. Won a few competitions.
21. Didn't get Swine flu.
22. Enjoyed some great evenings at Wembley.
23. Completed the London to Brighton Bike ride.
24. Gave out lottery tickets with every invoice, which went down very well with our clients.
25. Launched a refer a designer scheme.
26. Thought about finally starting up the clothing company. Again.
27. Set up a delicious account - http://delicious.com/mattbigg
28. Worked on a facebook campaign.
29. We launched a few websites. Check our website for more details
30. Watched Freddie in action at Lords. Brilliant.
31. Produced more print work, than we throught we would.
32. Worked on the layout of a footie programme.
33. Never forgot our high standards of customer service.
34. Wore shorts to work... but only a couple of times. Never got quite hot enough.
35. Upgraded our Macs.
36. Oasis, Killers, Jay-Z, Lilly Allen, Friendly Fires. Enjoyed some good live music.
37. Continued to grow our network - http://www.linkedin.com/in/thecollectivedesign

An interesting way to pitch for work!

2009-09-02T07:32:00.001-07:00

Here at the collective, we tend to pitch for work in a fairly 'normal' way.

1. Brief comes in
2. Put together costs / timings / creative / delivery team
3. Put on a shirt (sometimes a tie) and present the proposal
4. Have an after pitch beverage and work out exactly how long I talked about footie, weather and the state of the nation and more importantly was this more than the work?
5. Sit back and wait for the result.

I am sure you appreciate there is a little more work involved, than listed above, but I am sure you get the idea.

This week we have been following Moving Brands and their attempt to pitch for the London brand project. And I have to say, it has been interesting.

They have created a twitter campaign, (@we_are_london) asking people to publish thoughts and comments and even designs.

They have also published all there development work on a blog, which for me is a great idea and maybe something we might think about looking at in the future.

I liked the interaction throughout the design process and how you communicated this with the world.

And they have got a few people talking.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/gla-hit-by-backlash-over-london-identity-tender/3003991.article

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23739111-details/Londoners+asked+to+Twitter+ideas+for+a+logo+to+promote+the+capital/article.do

http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Articlex/d241b8045faf4cd3af6886b1b5bf6b7e/Agency-asks-public-to-help-brand-London.html

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/agency-asks-public-to-help-brand-london/3004054.article

All in all, a very interesting concept. A logo for London, should be created by London.

Good luck with the pitch

Matt

p.s. Whatever size and shape of design agency you are, you still rushing about working on a pitch with minutes to spare. Why is that?

Sunny England, Rainy Cork

2009-08-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

This week I was lucky enough to find myself in the offices and factory of the Southern Star newspaper, in West Cork. This trip sums up, what I love about my business and my job.

1. It involved a client, who like many, I class as a friend. Always a good way to do business this way.

2. It involved travelling and experiencing an area of the world I was not familiar with.

3. It involved some very interesting and creative conversations, that made me think about his business, and also mine.

4. It involved laying some solid foundations about a future working partnership.

5. It involved the odd beer or two.

6. It involved my blackberry... alot.

Just a massive shame, that it rained from the moment I got off the plane to the moment I got back on it, 24 hours later.

Summer loving!

2009-07-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

This summer, the collective has been involved in a very exiciting project with our friends at Northcliffe Media. And as mentioned in the news section of our main site, on the 2nd July local people was launched.

Video of Media briefing / launch

Our involvment was on the creative side, providing both online and offline advertising solutions as well as helping with the roll-out of support material and the main website - www.localpeople.co.uk.

To view some of this work, please have a browse around our gallery section.

However, what was really nice about this project, was it was a complete collective process involving all members of the team and giving us something to get our teeth into this summer.

Don't get me wrong, this year we are very grateful for any and all work that comes our way. It is just very rewarding that we can get everyone involved and excited about a creative led project. It was great to work with a variety of different people. And it was great be in on the project from day 1 and see it through to its launch and beyond. We continue to provide support for the local people team, as new regions are launching every day!

I also got to drink at the longest champagne bar in Europe.

Some new crazy ideas...

2009-07-06T05:47:00.001-07:00

Here at the collective we are trying some new things. Firstly, applying to become a plinther.

And up next, we became a film producer.

http://www.buyacredit.com/

Add that to our football club ownership

http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/

twitter?

2009-05-14T04:55:00.000-07:00

During the last 2 months or so, we have been using twitter. Although very unsure at the start, we (@mattbigg) have grown to love it. Giving out daily information and passing on cool and interesting stuff. It also provides an on-line diary for a recent trip to America and has kept a track of Matt's lack of training for his charity bike ride. It also has given us a more informal platform to show how we run our Graphic design business and what we get up to.

We like many, are unsure where twitter will end up... will it overtake Facebook? Will it be another FriendsReunited. For now we are happy to enjoy the ride.

Over the last few weeks, a few friends and clients have asked about twitter, what it is about, how can it help there business, what is the difference between blogging and twittering etc? So in the first instance we have put together a series of links that might help ease you in.

Everything you need to know - 23 twitter links

1. Follow Matt Bigg - http://twitter.com/mattbigg

2. A simple online video to see what it is all about

3. Find out what people are talking about now - http://www.tinker.com/

4. Join or create your own twitter group - http://www.twibes.com/

5. Get a constant stream of tips and tricks - http://twitter.com/Twitter_Tips

6. Find out what everyone’s first ever tweet was - http://www.tweet1.com/

7. An alternative place to find people on twitter - http://www.tweepz.com/

8. Change your twitter page design - http://twitpaper.com/

9. A great online guide to everything you need to know - http://mashable.com/tag/twitter/

10. They are also worth following - http://twitter.com/mashable

11. Why your business should join Twitter - http://tinyurl.com/p6e7za

12. Search on Google and Twitter at the same time - http://twootles.com/

13. A collection of tweets from designers - http://www.tweeeeet.com/

14. The most popular links on Twitter - http://tweetmeme.com/

15. More popular links on Twitter - http://www.dailyrt.com/

16. 27 ways to help you find people to follow - http://tinyurl.com/q5qz6f

17. Back up your Twitter account - http://tweetake.com/

18. Graph your own Twitter stats - http://tweetstats.com/

19. Slick real-time Tweets - http://twistori.com/

20. TwitPic - Share photos, using your twitter account - http://twitpic.com/

21. The Twitter Applications database - http://twitdom.com/

22. A great way to follow a selection of topics - http://tweetgrid.com/

23. Find that celeb - http://celebsthattwitter.com/Welcome.html

If you want to discuss more either follow us http://twitter.com/mattbigg or use the alternative method of email - matt@thecollectivedesign.co.uk

Things we like...

2009-04-20T06:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick list of things we liked this month.

2012
Check out the latest Olympic developments with this 'flythrough"
http://www.london2012.com/blog/2009/04/20/olympic-park-flythrough.php

Popbitch
We just love this weekly newsletter
http://www.popbitch.com/home/category/latest-issue/

TopShoptoGo
The best party idea...
http://tinyurl.com/5v43el

Crazy Bear
The best hotel chain in the world
http://www.crazybeargroup.co.uk/

Honda
Saw this advert is America. Brilliant. Search YouTube for the making of it.

Twitter
Letting people know what you are up. Something that I thought I would hate, but actually love. Check out http://www.twitter.com/mattbigg to find out what we are up to.

Want to know what it is all about. Watch this:

BAA
A bit of farming fun:

you always remember your first...

2009-03-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go. The very first posting from the collective.
After a 'good, not great' start to 2009, the last few weeks have been getting a little quiet on the work front. So we have decide to spend this time wisely, with a new website, new marketing ideas and of course this blog. Not sure exactly what we will use this for, but hopefully the projects will start flying in again and this will be the last time I use this. Or I might enjoy telling our story and it will become a regular way to inform the world what the collective does and thinks.

Either way, hopefully you will enjoy and keep coming back for more.

Talk soon