Clear Signal - Clear Signal is a multi-disciplinary design agency based outside Basingstoke in Hampshire. Our creative work has informed and inspired numerous organisations by developing outstanding and memorable brand identities, corporate literature, web solutions and multimedia projects. Call us on 01256 370910 for further information.

30-01-2012

Over the last few years we have identified a need to offer compact web solutions for start ups and small business, who most often don't need the scale and cost of a full blown content management system.

WordPress is the obvious answer - it's established, scaleable (an enormous amount of plug-ins are available), based on an open source framework and has little cost of initial ownership. Other than agreed amounts of bespoke modification (adding image sliders or integrating a Twitter feed, for example) and design input, it's extremely quick to rollout and and an effective, powerful tool to establish a speedy, search friendly web presence where budgets are limited.

Our new WordPress offering is already generating lots of interest - we're currently in the process of branding and rolling out two WordPress sites for a family owned business in Alton. Call us on 01256 370910 or email us to find out how we could help build a cost effective web presence for your business or start up.

17-01-2012

Bit of a late update for the new year, but the frost hasn't stopped us getting out and about and filling the studio with lots of new work... It's a healthy and vibrant mix of work and clients, just the way we like it.

So what's on? Well, lots of print work and publications for the Thomas Miller Group, new season designs for Flower Innovations, visual brand creation and roll out for a recently established Nigerian investment fund, a lovely compact WordPress website for a local start up, several e-Newsletter campaigns, GUI design for Autocue broadcast software, and lots of interest in Social Media integration, search engine optimisation and strategy for many of our clients. 

It's definitely going to be the byword this year in terms of fresh web development (along with HTML 5) - is your organisation engaging effectively and widely enough online with your audience? Are you utilising Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and Tumblr, etc.? If not, there should be serious consideration given to budgeting for a rapidly evolving priority for many organisations, large and small.

If you would like to know more about our social media work and capabilities, please call us on 01256 370910.

14-06-2011

Check out our regularly updated blog: clear-signal.tumblr.com which showcases our latest studio work and photography, with the occasional great piece of design or ephemera that takes our fancy. Join us! 

Our Twitter page can be found at twitter.com/clear_signal. Follow us and get the latest Clear Signal project news, ideas and general design chat... all with the aim of building a strong network of friends / clients / partners and anyone with an interest in graphic design and the business of graphic design.

15-03-2011

Social media is really presenting a challenge that some companies have jumped right on top of and some others seem yet to decide how to play.

That’s the trick; finding your way round a maze of options that can be either opportunities or just dead ends.

One thing’s for sure; everybody’s on or in a network somewhere. LinkedIn, for example, now has an estimated 75 million users and around 3 million tweets are posted every day.

The thing you have to decide, from a brand and a corporate view, is whether to let the whole social media thing run its course, or whether to treat it as a communication area in which you need a planned and co-ordinated presence.

Here’s the other thing - you already have a presence in it; if you’re not managing that, then you could be missing out.

Worse still, you could be going backwards.

Brands need control and companies need online brand management systems to give them that control. 
Are you sure your logo is always, absolutely and positively, correctly reproduced? 
When your employees talk about who they work for, are they expressing corporate values or diluting them with their own interpretations, their own version?
 Have you started to appreciate what a powerful tool for thought leadership the employee blog can be?

Above all...

Are you aware that potential employees, customers, investors, shareholders and even journalists all get their first impression from your website, but their inside view from what the buzz about you is in the digital world?

Are you in control of that?

Clear Signal have been charting a course for brands in the digital world ever since there was one; give us a call and we’ll show you how easy it can be.

20-10-2010

The prevalence of high end mobile devices has meant websites having to work a lot harder by delivering an engaging experience across multiple platforms. iPhones, iPods, iPads, HTC etc, etc. This of course creates a problem if your site employs plenty of Javascript, JQuery plugins, Flash animations, or drop down menus to navigate around the site. It will work sluggishly, unpredictably or perhaps not at all (all depending on Wi-Fi access, download speeds etc - too many variables to mention).

We have been working on this discrepancy for a while and have endeavoured to develop our own code which automatically translates our websites to mobile devices in a structured, optimised way. It does this by 'sniffing' for the device or platform which requests the web address and translates the site accordingly. Many large organisations already utilise this capability (The BBC, The Guardian, to name two) and it will certainly be commonplace in the not too distant future. 

Want to know more? If you think your site would benefit from a mobile version, call us on 01256 37010 to find out more.