The Saturday Telegraph
Wednesday, January 21, 2008

When not designing websites, Finn Beales (Design guy at SS Towers) likes to take pictures. He likes it even more when they get published in Broadsheet weekend colour supplements.

Last January Finn was commissioned by the Telegraph Magazine to cover an article about Carribean food by the author Michael Jacobs. He was dispatched to Cartagena, Colombia and survived searing temperatures, kidnap, cartels and far to many Gin and Tonics (ask him about that one!) and last Saturday the article, accompanied by Finn's pictures, was published.

If you need some quality shots for your website or brochure, you needn't look any further. Check out Finn's website for more from his portfolio.

Loads of web projects in the bag for the first half of 2008, ecommerce outings, a web app and of course some nice brochureware websites promoting anything from broadcasting companies through to Zen! More as they are lanched over the next few weeks.

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

Email Delivery for the Ideas Factory and Eco Friendly Hay
Wednesday, December 3, 2007

We've been appointed by London's Ideas Factory to handle the design and delivery of a monthly email campaign sent to selected partner firms and interested parties. The Ideas Factory were looking for a firm who could give them "a full delivery report with details of failed addresses so these can be checked or deleted". Surestate's Email Newsletter System does all of this and more in a hands free fashion. The Ideas Factory need not wait for us to prepare delivery reports as they can view them live once the newsletter has been sent out. Same goes with details of failed addresses. These are automatically removed from the subscriber list allowing you to concentrate on recipients that count.

"It's fantastic! So easy to use... we love it and would like to proceed"
Francessca Newman on using the demo

The End of Plastic Bags
Another website to leave the stable this month is an eco-friendly number for the End of Plastic Bag's campaign that was launched in Hay-on-Wye on the first of December. It's a simple campaign site but that doesn't mean we paid any less attention to it's design than we would a large corporate website. Particular attention was given to the typeface. The clean and open PMN Caecilia totally suited the subject matter creating a fresh and open feel.

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

Tom Moggach - Journalist & Photographer
Wednesday, November 13, 2007

A new website for Food Journalist Tom Moggach.

Our role as a web firm when designing your site is the communication of information in a clear and simple fashion. I think this website for Tom is a perfect example of the "job well done".

Leading with a large distinct top section containing the USP or main message immediately communicates the purpose of the website. Following on from this are three large chunky buttons that lead into the ditinct skillsets; Writing, Radio and Photpgraphy. The page reads in a straightforward way from top to bottom, and you don't find your eye skipping around trying to work out what to look at. This creates a much calmer and more solid browsing experience.

Good web design focuses on designing the content itself as opposed to simply decorating the page.

"Thankyou, it looks amazing!"
Tom Moggach

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

Banyak Films - Documentaries and Video Production
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

A redesign and rebuild for Banyak Films. We converted the site from a search engine un-friendly (invisible) flash based website to an W3C Valid XHTML/CSS design. The result is an easier to use, easier to maintain website. Better for the customer and better for Banyak.

We specialise in this sort of accessible, search engine friendly website, and can make an immediate difference to the effectiveness of your presence online. Useability is a key consideration for us. When designing products that have a communication function, usable design is simply better design, because it makes a product better at its job.

"Its great... you were totally right in the layout design... we've already received two enquiries about our services!"
Anson Hartford - Company Director

A Banyak film directed by Anson Hartford about the Devon photographer James Ravilious will be broadcast on BBC 4 on Thursday 15th November at 10pm; it is part of their 'Genius of Photography' season.

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

A flaming rework for Hay-on-Fire
Friday, September 21, 2007

A redesign for Hay-on-Wye's Autumn Fire Festival: Hay-on-Fire.

Surestate is proud to be a sponsor of this superb event. In 2006, after a gap of 10 years, the traditional Autumnal celebration of Hay-on-Fire returned, bigger and better than ever. It's a great community week of events focussing around fire and haloween.

The revived event is now in its second year and is supported by Tourism Grants and other sources of Funding, so we needed to give the site a bit of a wow factor in order for the funders to feel as though they have backed a winner.

Photographs taken at last years event by Surestate's Creative Director has also been chosen to represent the event by Time Out Guides.

"Totally in a class by itself... looking really great"
Michael Eccles - Event Producer

Other sites completed over the past few weeks include the British Association of Equine Dental Tecnicians now there's a mouthful... sorry that's terrible. We've also updated The Country Pad with some great photography and have also taken on work for a well known food journalist, a stand up comedian and a Documentary Film company who's offices are on the HMS President currently moored on the Thames!

"The website looks brilliant... you guys always do a fantastic job."
Toby Lee - BAEDT Secretary

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

A very Web 2.0 design for a talented film and TV actor
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

We've completely overhauled Ben Crystal's website. A fresh new design using the friendly but professional Volkswagen typeface. It mirrors Ben's personality and approach to his work.

The site is, in essence, an interactive CV allowing producers and casting directors to view and hear Ben's past work using an attractive, intuative interface.

Ben tells me he has already landed work due to the website. You can't ask for more than that.... it's obviously doing the job!

"That all looks amazing and it already works! just had a call from Spotlight, from someone who saw the site and emailed them! Never had that happen before! Success!!!"
Ben Crystal

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

Introducing Surestate's new email marketing tool...
Wedneday, July 25, 2007

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

Introducing Surestate's new email marketing tool...
Wedneday, June 13, 2007

Based on research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing is predicted to return an incredible £25.52 for every pound spent in 2007. To put this in perspective, that's more than double the average return for other forms of online marketing and more than 6 times the return from print catalogs.

If you’ve tried email marketing in the past, you may have been overwhelmed by unsubscribe requests, or bounced emails coming back. Or you might have tried a system that was just not fun to use.

We can offer something better - automated processes that handle all the tedious subscribing, make sure people can get off the list when they want to, and keep track of emails that bounce. Combine this with attractive easy to understand reports and you won’t look back.

We offer two packages, a Hands Free and a Hands On version. The Hands On option allows you to build the newsletter yourself using our brilliant online tool. Try out the demo below:

Try out our Hands On demo

The Hand Free service is for those that wish to send out professionally designed newsletters with the minimum of fuss. You still have access to the delivery reports via your own control panel, but with regards to the newsletter build and delivery, you hand us the content in a word doc or similar, and we do the rest. See the link below for an example of a Surestate designed newsletter using the Hand Free service:

An example Hands Free newsletter.

Download more details in this .pdf

posted by Surestate at 4:10 PM      

Scotsman Article
Sunday, April 01, 2007

A journalist from the Scotsman rang the office last week asking all sorts of questions about the Hay Festival Archive we developed last summer. David Brown seemed genuinely interested in our involvemnet in this pioneering project and whilst searching the net today I came across his article about the Hay Festival Podcasts. A small mention of us, well me (Finn Beales) and some interesting stats about podcasts from the Scotsman website - 25,000 downloads of one talk by Alexander McCall Smith... now that's a target to aim for!

posted by Surestate at 6:35 PM      

New Team Members = New Services
Friday, March 30, 2007

A new team member at Surestate has brought some new skills to the company. Chris has been a flash developer and photographer for over 10 years and is now our first port of call for anything... well... flashy!

360 degree panoramic tours seem to be his speciality and are presently the best way to show customers your business location on the Internet. They enable the viewer to look around a location with a 360 degree perspective and is the closest you can get to being there!

Now available with Flash technology so users no longer require the Java or Quicktime plug-ins to be able to view your tours.

They are a lot better than you might remember them...

Other News

New websites in the pipeline include a Horse Whisperer from Argentina, an event management company from London and a De-Mining Charity that specialise in landmine clearing operations in the Middle East and West Africa.

posted by Surestate at 2:27 PM      

Are you a Junior Web Designer?
Friday, March 02, 2007

We have an immediate requirement for a Junior Web Designer to join the team in our Hay-on-Wye office, UK.

Responsibilities would include:

- Designing digital media - primarily websites, HTML emails and online advertising.
- Building HTML pages and templates from existing visuals.
- Updating existing websites and HTML emails.
- On occasion, answering the telephone.

Experience of the following is required:

- Photoshop, Dreamweaver.
- HTML and CSS authoring with an awareness of W3C guidelines.

To apply:

Please send your CV to finn AT surestate.net, including any relevant URLs or portfolio material and salary expectations.

ABSOLUTELY NO AGENCIES PLEASE!

posted by Surestate at 10:55 PM      

2007 and all is well...
Thursday, January 18, 2007

News from the Surestate camp is that we are expanding the team again!

We are currently on the look out for a talented web designer. You should be able to juggle and switch between many projects at once. You must be able to make creative decisions on the fly and to work independently. You will be required to work in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and ASP. You'll need good skills and attention to detail. You'll be responsible for taking mock-ups and specs and building the front-end then working with a back-end developer to wire it all together.

If that sounds like you or someone you know, give us a call on: 01497 822 620 or email finn@surestate.net
NO AGENCIES PLEASE!

Other news
We have developed some more Flash banners for the Rotterdam School of Management for placement on the Business Week website. They have continued to use Van Gogh's artwork as a house style. Re-enforcing their Dutch heritage. We were asked to modernise his images through the use of Flash. I personally thought it sacrilage to alter such artwork, so suggested they use a modern transition to cut between his paintings which should be used as a backdrop.

We're soon to begin work on a re-build of the Traveller's website in time for the release of their 2007 brochure and also a rather secretive project for a group of Hollywood's finest scriptwriters - watch this space...

Oooh yes almost forgot... Surestate's creative director (me) is off to Colombia on monday, working for a sister festival of the Hay Festival in Cartagena. How pleasant a start to a new year can you get. Unless I get kidnapped by a bunch of FARC guerillas that is ; )

Happy New Year!

posted by Surestate at 12:09 PM      

StreamUK Website and Showreel
Thursday, December 14, 2006

Our latest project has been the complete overhaul of the StreamUK website. Our aim from the outset was to rework the site using a tableless layout implementing xhtml and css to create a more flexible, accessible website. This layout can easily accommodate various text sizes and amounts of content. It's a design that expands or contracts along with whatever is placed within it. In addition, by separating the core content from the design, we have improved the ease with which content is edited and code updated and maintained, while at the same time not hindering the design.

We were subsequently comissioned to produce a showreel for the home page encapsulating StreamUK's core services. We spent a long time developing the concept - that televison is now being sidelined in favour of online broadcasting - and storyboarded this idea before we opened any animation packages. After tweaking the straplines with invaluable help from the client we developed a punchy, modern showreel which sells their services and entertains at the same time.

Thanks Finn, it looks great. So good it made me smile.
Duncan Burbidge - CEO StreamUK

posted by Surestate at 10:07 AM      

Latest E-Commerce Project Goes Live: Online Book Store
Friday, December 01, 2006

Our latest e-commerce website has just gone live. Hay on Wye Booksellers is one of the UK's largest second hand book retailers. They carry a vast stock of around 30,000 book titles, many of which are as good as new.

They commissioned SureState to redesign their site and build a new online shop. Like many second hand book dealers, they use the AbeBooks Homebase system to manage their inventory. SureState built a unique administration system that allows Hay on Wye Booksellers to maintain their online shop by simply uploading and importing a file from AbeBooks Homebase.

In addition, this site has some great additional features: it is run off a SQL Server database, which allowed us to exploit SQL Server's great text searching capabilities. It also uses Protx's blazing fast and cost-effective payment gateway that ensures that the customer never has to leave the merchant's site. Lastly, we built a powerful administration system that allows Hay on Wye Booksellers to manage their special offers, wholesale book sales and the processing of their online orders.

Works great! Very pleased with it. Thanks Very Much.
Oli Greenow, Hay on Wye Booksellers.

posted by Surestate at 4:01 PM