Insights & Ideas

Why You Should Join Linkedin

We've have been using Linkedin for a while now, and it has proved itself to be a handy business-networking tool. Here are a few reasons why:

Networking
This really is the most powerful thing anyone can do in business, it gives people access to the resources they need to succeed; other people.

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Twittering Some More

Looks like the marketing folks over at Twitter had the good wisdom to hire Lee and Sachi LeFever to make a Twitter video! We're big fan's of their videos, particularly those explaining Web 2.0 technologies and thought it be a great follow on from out recent blog To Twitter Or Not To Twitter?

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Happy Christmas from AKQA

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Working With Awkward Brands

We at FHOKE create brands and enjoy working with the brands that we create.

Using a brand that you have created is easy - you have chosen the colours, fonts and imagery and come up with a style that you feel suits. It is to your taste and therefor you click with it and understand how it works.

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Winning Big With New Client

Graeme Levin is a true entrepreneur and world renowned gaming guru in every right. He has been running online gambling and casino portals from the mid 90's and was the founder and CEO of the very successful Gambling.com, one of the world's premier online gambling portals. Now developing a range of new prominent online gambling portals Graeme asked us to help complete a new brand for the first of these portals. The brief was to capture the excitement of Vegas and we are now rolling out their new logo across a new website, which builds on these logos and adds to that excitement and winning feeling.

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Promotional Sites

Promotional sites spread the word about a product or service. Some are short lived microsites that run for the duration of a campaign or a seasonal promotion. Others are larger sites that evolve over the course of time, with fresh content updated on a regular basis.

The web can be a cost effective alternative to traditional promotional mediums such as TV, print and outdoor advertising. Promotional websites are growing more popular as marketers seek less expensive ways to reach larger audiences.

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The Humble Shopping Basket

At FHOKE we have had years of experience in creating shopping baskets (carts for the US) and we are working on some great new projects at the moment for several eCommerce sites. The basket is probably the most important aspect of any eCommerce site. It functions as the checkout for an online retailer and as such, needs to be capable of displaying products in the best possible light. It can instill confidence and increase online purchases, or it can put potential customers off using a site altogether.

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To Twitter Or Not To Twitter?

For many years we at FHOKE have used MSN Messenger to drop friends and colleagues short messages and interesting links, and from examples I’ve seen of Twitter - it doesn’t seem all that different.

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A Simple Detail Often Overlooked

Providing your company's contact details is possibly the most important section of your website. It is essential that your contact information is easily found on your website with the obvious Contact link, visible at all times.

Simple, concise and easy to understand information on your contact page is vitally important, whilst some companies will go the extra mile and provide multiple language versions for foreign visitors, as well as items like travel information (by train, parking, from the airport etc.), and print friendly map of how to find you the contact form remains King of these pages.

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Information Heavy Sites A Blessing & A Curse

Creating a site that delivers a large amount of content is both a blessing and a curse. As an interface designer you must be careful not to overwhelm the layout and keep a clear path to help steer users to the information they are most interested in. Having a lot of content can be a good thing though. It gives you assets to keep the site interesting and creates that stickiness so people will repeat visit.

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Interaction Online

The interactive quality of the web is one of the main features that sets it apart from other mediums. Interaction means allowing the users to actively engage with the world you have created on your site, with text, images, sounds and animations. It can be everything from simple feedback when they move their mouse over a link, to a complex interactive story.

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Entertain With Design

Traditional methods of entertainment have always been one-way communication between writer/reader, singer/listener or actor/audience for a long time. The Internet however, is two-way communication and provides the fastest means of feedback.

Everyone still enjoys listening to music or watching a movie but channels like online gambling and creative user interfaces have created a large open playing field for all types of new entertainment.

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Communicating With Typography

As with any design project, typography plays a vital role in successfully communicating your ideas. Refer to your client's Corporate Identity or Brand Guidelines - very often a pre-selected typeface at a range of different weights and point sizes will have been defined in order to maintain the integrity of the brand.

In the case where no guidelines have been specified, a wider range of typefaces can be explored. For example, sometimes a highly stylized typeface when used in moderation can enrich and complement the elements within a sites layout.

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