There's an excitement in the air when both the client and agency can feel the passion and anticipation of a project launch.

Well, we were lucky enough to find such a client in Red Plum Automotive. 

Red Plum Automotive aims to bridge the gap in automotive brokering by focusing on the buyer experience, providing a new level of professional, efficient customer focused service saving the buyer both time and money. In other words you suggest the car you want, they search high and low for the best deal to save you the most money, and all this without charging you a fee. Brilliant! 

To get this simple message across, Red Plum approached us to build a single page website that helped tell their brand story and effectively explain what car brokering is and why it's such a good idea.

To help explain the simple process of a customer contacting Red Plum to them saving money, we developed a 3 step animation which takes you through these simple steps. Utilising CSS animation magic and a few SVG elements, we enable the users to while away their time firing arrows off into the target and all for the cause of saving money. 

Curious? Go have a play for yourself.

It’s been nine years since the birth of our Rob’s baby, SoundLounge, and to celebrate, the go-to venue for good music is undergoing a makeover.

Word on the street is it’ll be bigger, taller and groovier than ever, with heightened ceilings, an expanded capacity, and all sorts of special fittings for optimum aural enjoyment.

Closed for this exciting refurbishment, we thought it only fitting that we do a little refurbishing ourselves. So we’re giving The SoundLounge a brand refresh.

We’re in the process of crafting a new logo, colour palette and a heap of other cool brand stuff, set to launch this August.

We don’t want to give too much away before then, but our SoundLounge holding page should tickle your fancy in the meantime.

Seven Skies are a luxury travel company offering hand-crafted experiences in exotic locations around the world.

We found Seven Skies Founder Nathan Wedding's and fellow Director Clare's passion for travel and the thrill of exploration absolutely contagious. This passion is what informs and shapes every Seven Skies experience, and we wanted to share it with everyone who comes into contact with the Seven Skies brand.

With this in mind we worked with Seven Skies to assess their brand values, tone of voice and brand elements before bringing it all to life through a 3 minute video, allowing Nathan to share the Seven Skies point of difference and some of his own travel experiences.

Next we were able to design and build a new website that reflects these values and shows off the amazing experiences awaiting a Seven Skies traveller.

With stunning large scale photographs taking centre stage, the site design is open and inviting, with text and imagery working together to paint a complete picture of the beauty and adventure of travel. Smooth transitions take users on a journey through the sights and sounds of destinations such as Vietnam, Iceland and Morocco.

As well as making us all want to strap on our backpacks and take off on adventures to these beautiful corners of the world, this website demonstrates the power of design that is tightly aligned with a brand message. Check it out here, and start booking that annual leave now!

Soario came to us looking to create a brand identity that was professional, friendly and reliable. As a young company they needed the brand to be adaptable and to grow as they broaden their technical scope. 

Soario is a company set up for Symphony users (the content management framework we use to power all of our web projects) to provide enterprise level support and products.

During the idea stages of our design process the art of origami was something which struck a chord with us, and the mark of a soaring bird began to emerge in the design. Origami as an art form takes years of dedication and specialist knowledge to master, something that resonated with the Soario brand story.

It was important that this concept translated into a strong visual aesthetic that could be rolled out across the brand. We used bespoke cuts in the logotype and an illustrative style designed from the original folds in a sheet of paper. An orange and turquoise colour palette was chosen to set Soario apart from their competitors. 

To see the brand in action, check out their website.

With 16 stores around Australia offering genuine branded makeup, skincare and perfume at discounted prices, Cosmetics Fragrance Direct were after a sophisticated online presence where customers could buy their products and explore their range.

As an office full of online shoppers, we also knew the most important aspect of such a large site had to be usability. One of the main features of the site is the flexible and intuitive search function, making it easy to find your favourite products using various search terms - even the ability to find a new fragrance based on your favourite smells!

As well as an extensive range of women's and men's fragrances, the site also offers gift sets, skincare, cosmetics, beauty accessories and products for the home.

We placed a lot of importance on customers being kept in the loop at all stages of the shopping experience, with no nasty surprises at the end of the checkout when it comes to how much their order will cost.

The site design is super simple, clean and easy to use, with the products taking centre stage. As the brand already had a strong retail presence with 16 stores all around Australia, the design needed to complement this and reflect the company values of transparency, great customer service and their dedication to offering authentic products.

It was a huge project for us and we're very proud to see it come to life. We'd like to send a shout out to Desiree, Victoria, Linda, Matt and Jeff for being awesome clients and to thank them for all of their hard work. Building an eCommerce store (especially one which integrates seamlessly with CFD's internal systems) from the ground up is no easy feat and we definitely wouldn't have had the same great outcome without such dedicated clients.

Check it out for yourself (and feel free to purchase a fragrance or two!) at cfdirect.com.au.

When we came on board to create a new website for Saint Stephen’s College, getting to the heart of what makes this school and its students so special was the first step.

After our first visit to Saint Stephen’s College, we were amazed at the spirit and enthusiasm the students displayed. We wanted a device which would encapsulate this and also be used to tie all of the Saint Stephen's materials together across all mediums. The orange ribbon was born as the ideal representation of this ever-evolving and dynamic spirit. We also undertook two photo shoots for beautiful imagery to complement the content-heavy site.

Saint Stephen’s College host a number of international students each year, so multi-lingual access was a priority. The international section of the site is available in 6 languages, with browser detection automatically providing translated content based on a user’s location.

Other exciting features of the site include an interactive map of the College grounds and a dynamic hero area, where the ribbon winds in and around images of students and text, bringing the home page to life and connecting each section through the animated imagery.

The finished product is a reflection of the College and the people who make it the special place it is, as well as a helpful point of contact for future students and current students and parents.

Also thanks to Rebecca Madsen at Becca Marketing for her work on the strategy and website content.

On Friday we found out the Saint Stephen’s College website has won Best Education Website 2012, an award run by national education organisation Educate Plus. The highly regarded institution promotes the development of marketing skills in education institutions, and we are honoured that our website and Becca’s marketing strategy has been recognised!

Check out the finished product at www.saintstephenscollege.net.au

Podsocs.com offers free weekly podcasts on a range of topical social issues such as inter-country adoption, community development and surrogacy.

We worked with Patricia Fronek, Senior Lecturer of Social Work at Griffith University, to develop the Podsocs logotype and to build the website.

The site aims to engage international audiences in constructive debate on some of the hottest social issues. Each week focuses on a particular topic and features a 30 minute interview with an expert in that field. For social workers operating in the industry and interested members of the public, Podsocs provides an opportunity to engage with the academic community and each other.

The serious nature of the content required a design that communicated integrity and authority which we did through the choice of type, while remaining accessible to a wide audience, achieved through a vibrant colour palette and use of shapes.

Since the site launched 4 weeks ago, it’s had an average of 400 unique visitors per week and is attracting traffic from NZ, Europe, Canada, the US and the UK.

You can find podsocs on iTunes and at podsocs.com, go have a listen!

The BBC have recently launched Global iPlayer, an app that gives access to over 3000 hours worth of BBC programming like sporting events, TV shows and documentaries - all especially tailored for an international audience like us!

We have been working closely with the iPlayer team in these early stages to launch a website on desktop and mobile that will accompany the new global app. The first stage of the website has just gone live, with plenty more to come down the track as the iPlayer brand continues to grow around the world.

Check it out at www.iplayer.bbcworldwide.com

Today we launched BBC Brazil, a website dedicated to the BBC’s first channel in Brazil.

The new HD channel will feature popular series such as Top Gear and Sherlock, as well as global events such as the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The launch of this new channel in Brazil is an exciting move for the BBC in Latin America, where they currently run 3 channels across 17 countries. Jana Bennett, president of worldwide networks at BBC Worldwide, is excited about the launch.

"I am thrilled that our channels will now reach audiences in Brazil with the BBC's amazing output,” she said. “We will deliver the very best of British and the best of British talent, all in glorious HD.”

Commissioned by BBC Worldwide and designed and built by our team, brasil.bbchd.com is the home of BBC channels in Brazil and features highlights, schedule and programme details, as well as quizzes and other interactive features.

Deployed across both desktop and a dedicated mobile site, our design reflects the channel’s commitment to delivering high quality exclusive programming in high definition.

“We are delighted to be involved with this exciting expansion of BBC into Brazil,” said R&B founder Rob. “This is the 9th regional site we have created for the BBC and the need to deliver this site entirely in Portuguese saw our custom-built ‘hubs’ system really come into its own.”

Obrigado, Brasil!

The London Calling website has taken us to the other side of the world and back again and we are proud to announce it has launched!

Created to support and promote the BBC’s special themed ‘London Calling’ season of programming in the lead up to it being the 'City of 2012', the map-based website is a bit of a love letter to the Brit capital.

The concept behind the site was to offer a unique window on all things London, with a dynamic map that will evolve throughout the 6-week campaign.

Showcasing the city that will soon be on the world centre-stage, the site features a fully zoomable and scrollable map where the various faces, personalities and stories of London are revealed by exploring the map at different levels.

By encouraging a spirit of discovery and exploration, the London Calling map takes users on a journey through different districts, with ‘Hotspots’ revealing random facts and surprise quizzes which allow users to gain entry codes to enter the main prize draw.

With prizes from travel vouchers to iPad 3s and home theatre systems, there is plenty of motivation to get exploring - as well as finding out new and interesting tidbits about London town along the way.

As users move across the map and up and down through the different levels, visitors create their own path through the city and can find themselves anywhere from a famous landmark to a dingy pub.

The site has been deployed on desktop and mobile across nine regions and three languages, accompanied by an impressive international television, print and social media campaign.

It’s been a massive project involving collaboration with teams across the world to produce a campaign which will be on the global stage as the world counts down to London 2012.

Start exploring for yourself!