All posts in Our Work

BLOG: Firsts

by Wayne Stuart

This piece was meant to be written just after Christmas 2015, but with the weight of work and pace of life, here it is two months late, not too bad.

It’s fortunate that this piece is late because it was based on two ‘firsts’ for us, which turned into three. The first of the firsts was an installation at the fabulous Our Lady Immaculate Primary School. We were asked to create designs for a stained glass window for their new chapel at the school, something inspirational for the children, something calming and thought provoking. A unique and absorbing challenge! They didn’t want anything overtly religious but it had to have a religious feeling. We immediately thought of the stunning windows at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. When a couple of designs were rejected we finally took inspiration from an act that takes place, shapes our everyday lives and can be called miraculous… daybreak. That early morning sunrise that is referred to as ‘heavenly glory’. The finish was created with a permanent vinyl which can be enjoyed inside and out. The effect when it captures the light is truly inspirational and thanks to the vision of OLI is something we are immensely proud of.

The second of the firsts was our first Christmas campaign for Merseyrail. Winning a competitive pitch is always a huge boost, but when the client has the same vision you have when faced with a simple sketch and a head full of ideas. It tells you that they have faith and trust in the agency. This was a true team effort, and thanks to the fantastic CGI work from Justin Metz, a simple sketch became quite magical and life like. We wanted to bring an old fashioned charm and Disney-esq magic back to Christmas and thanks to everyone involved we think it really worked.

Our third first was the creation and production of a child’s activity book. A simple yet effective piece of design that communicates important safety messages about the Merseyrail network. Colouring in, spot the difference and bespoke nursery rhymes are brought together with original illustrations and characters created to engage and inform a young audience, and with the added bonus of giving the Accounts team something challenging to do in their lunch hour!

 

February 29, 2016 / Category: Clarity Creation, Clients, Communications, Design, Marketing, Merseyrail, Our Lady Immaculate, Our Work

What we have been up to in 2016

Here are some examples of our most recent work…

February 25, 2016 / Category: Clients, Creative, Design, Downing, Handley Law, Marketing, Merseyrail, Our Lady Immaculate, Our Work, Responsive Web Design, Social Interest Group, University of Liverpool, Viva Protect, Web Design

Not quite the Young Ones

If you are of a certain age you will, no doubt, fondly remember The Young Ones TV programme. Rick (with a silent ‘P’), Vyvyan, Neil and Mike who were all studying at Scumbag College and who lived together in squalid conditions. Their landlord, Jerzei Balowski, did little more than turn up to collect the rent. These days, students are a little bit more demanding (in the main) in terms of their overall student experience and especially with respect to where they live during their time at university.

Our work with a number of student accommodation companies, Downing Students, Yara Students and Axo Student Living, has given us a huge amount of experience developing marketing material (leaflets, signage, adverts, site hoardings, promotional items, etc) and websites specifically aimed at those looking for student accommodation. We have a clear understanding of the student recruitment cycle (from application through to their first day at college) and we know when money should and should not be spent on trying to get students into accommodation. Not only ‘when’ but how – we bring a whole range of techniques and tactics to bear when trying to get tenants into our client’s student accommodation including pay per click campaigns, email marketing (direct and via third parties) and traditional paper-based mailshots. Different tactics work at different times of the year, largely depending on whether it is term time or not.

The most exciting development of the past couple of years is the student accommodation system that we have developed. This system, quite simply, manages the students relationship with their landlord from initial enquiry through to the day they check out of their room. Our system makes it very easy for students to find and apply for accommodation, receive their tenancy agreement immediately, as well as making payment of deposits, rent and sundry items a very simple and seamless process. On the administration side, the student accommodation system makes it easy for the building owner or manager to control the relationship with their tenants and ensure tenants are up to date with all of their payments. The system we have developed works seamlessly with our websites and we are certain it will save landlords and tenants time and money.

So, if you manage 20+ student beds (across one or many buildings), then why not give us a call and see how we can help you fill and manage your accommodation more effectively.

July 6, 2015 / Category: Clarity Creation, Communications, Marketing, Our Work, Web Design

Get your website redevelopment back on track

Over the past year or two, more and more, we have had new clients come to us to redevelop their website having had a bad experience with other website developers. Bad advice, bad design, bad customer service and bad application of technology are just some of the reasons sited for seeking us out to help. Often as not, the need to get the website redevelopment back on track is combined with a tight deadline that must be met. When faced with this for the first time, being honest, we were more than a little nervous about how we might tidy up someone else’s mess. Now, many months and many websites down the line, we have a clear process that is applied for all of these types of web jobs.

It helps that the web development team at Clarity Creation have, between them, delivered in excess of 200 websites and also that, on a number of occasions, we have never actually met our clients face to face but, instead, delivered them a website based upon email and telephone communication (particularly the case with many of our London clients). The fact is, that most websites are very much alike in terms of site sections, navigation and features and it is largely the design that differentiates one client from another.

Having said this, part of the problem is that a lot of web developers make the process more complex than it has to be and they try to justify their over inflated project management fee by asking irrelevant questions or undertaking pointless activity. Many fail by forgetting that, ultimately, they are their to serve the needs of the client and the best interests of their client’s target audience rather than proving their own intelligence.

So, there you have it, if you want to work with straightforward, honest and skilled web developers who really want your website to succeed then give us a call on 0151 293 0505.

July 1, 2015 / Category: Clarity Creation, Design, Marketing, Our Work, Responsive Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Web Design, Web Domains

Our Latest Work

Take a look at what we have been getting up to recently!

Below you will find examples of our latest work including signage we have designed and installed, flyers we have designed and printed, events we have managed and responsive websites we have created:

For a more detailed look at each individual job featured have a browse through our portfolio.

June 4, 2015 / Category: Clarity Creation, Clients, Creative, Design, Our Work, Print, Responsive Web Design, Signage, Web Design

Person Centred Care Tools & Resources

As part of South East CSU’s extensive communications and engagement offer to put patients and the public at the heart of commissioning, an online solution was required to host a number of resources to help Clinical Commissioning Groups and Area Teams embed the patient voice in health service planning and delivery.

View our portfolio piece on how we helped South East CSU achieve this.

April 15, 2015 / Category: Clients, NHS, Our Work, Responsive Web Design, South East SCU, Web Design