UWE Bristol will host Showcase, its annual degree show, next month, offering visitors the opportunity to discover a new generation of talent from the College of Arts, Technology and Environment.
More than 1200 students from over 40 courses will exhibit their work at Bower Ashton, Arnolfini, Spike Island and the university’s Frenchay Campus from Thursday 6 until Wednesday 12 June.
An annual highlight for the university and the city of Bristol, members of the public are invited to attend the free in-person exhibitions which will include a selection of undergraduate and postgraduate work from animation, architecture, art, creative technologies, design, engineering, fashion, filmmaking, media, performance, photography, product design and writing.
Elena Marco, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Head of College of Arts, Technology and Environment said: “We are thrilled to share our students’ work publicly and give them the chance to demonstrate their ingenuity and creativity to a wider audience. This is a critical point in their careers, and they should be proud of everything they have achieved so far.”
Further information on the Showcase is listed below:
UWE Bristol Frenchay Campus:
A public opening night takes place on Thursday 6 June, with student work from architecture, product design, creative technologies and engineering on display at R Block, The Foundry and Z Block between 18:00 and 21:00. Registration is required – to book visit Eventbrite.
The Frenchay Campus Degree Show continues, featuring work from architecture, product design and engineering on:
Friday 7 to Sunday 9 June from 10:00 – 18:00
Monday 10 June – closed
Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 June from 10:00 – 20:00
UWE Bristol City Campus:
On Friday 7 June an exclusive private preview evening (by invitation only) will take place across the University’s City Campus – at Bower Ashton, Arnolfini and Spike Island – featuring the work of graduating students from art, design, animation, fashion, media, writing, performance, photography, and filmmaking.
The City Campus exhibitions open fully to the public on Saturday 8 June (no need to book). Opening times are:
Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 June from 10:00 – 18:00
Monday 12 June – closed
Tuesday 13 June to Thursday 15 June from 10:00 – 20:00
For those who can’t make it in person, a digital showcase launches on 3 June and features exciting work from hundreds of graduating students from 40 programmes. Designed to celebrate new talent and support professional practice, enterprise and employability, each graduate has curated their own portfolio with links to their own sites and social channels.
More information on the Showcase is available on the UWE Bristol website.
Shaped By, an independent B2B creative agency, proudly announces the milestone initial public offering (IPO) of its long standing client, Rubrik, on the New York Stock Exchange.
With a partnership spanning four years, Shaped By has contributed to enhancing Rubrik’s brand identity and marketing through creative collaboration across numerous projects and campaigns. Through a top-down commitment to innovation and creativity, Rubrik has invested in nurturing a trusted relationship with Shaped By as one of its strategic agency partners.
Under the leadership of Rubrik’s CEO Bipul Sinha, there’s a profound appreciation for the power of creativity in driving business success. This IPO serves as a testament to the transformative impact of creativity when seamlessly integrated into brand development and marketing initiatives.
In celebration of this historic moment, Shaped By has collaborated with Rubrik to unveil a series of captivating ads, creatively crafted by our team, that will debut following the ringing of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
These ads were featured on CNBC in the U.S, and two digital billboards in the iconic Times Square.
“We’re thrilled to celebrate the milestone achievement of Rubrik’s IPO. Our collaboration with them has been a fantastic and rewarding journey” says Nick Farrar, Founder of Shaped By. “Our partnership with the Rubrik team is underpinned by creativity, collaboration, and a shared commitment to design excellence. Together, we’ve explored innovative creative approaches and challenged conventional boundaries in the sector. It’s been a pleasure to deliver exceptional work with exceptional people. We’re looking forward to continuing our journey of innovation and success post IPO.”
Here are links to some of the work we’ve done with them. 😀
At a Bristol Creative Industries keynote event in March, we were joined by Drew Benvie, founder of global social media agency Battenhall. He shared insights from the company’s 11th annual social media trends reports. In this post, Dan Martin summarises Drew’s brilliant talk.
When it comes to social media, Drew knows his stuff. At the age of seven, he taught himself how to code on an Amstrad CPC 464, and in 2006 he was the first to coin the term ‘social media’ on Wikipedia. Drew founded Battenhall in 2013 and now employs 120 people in the UK and overseas.
Opening his talk, he said:
“There are more places than ever to commit your time and your advertising money, so it’s important you know where to invest. You could stick to a few but the average person in the UK is active on six social networks. In India, it’s 10. If you’re trying to reach your target audience, you have to do more than ever before to really stand out.”
Safety and purpose on social media
Social media is ubiquitous. Eight out of 10 people who use social media do so actively. Brits spend 75% of our working day looking at a screen of some sort, with teens spending around 5.3 hours a day on social.
But over the last year, Drew said, various things have happened, such as “the implosion of Twitter” following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform, “that has made me feel that safety on social media is an important thing”.
“Social media is now toxic to many, whether it’s the stuff that we see that should be taken down, or the actions from one user to another that are allowed unfettered on social media.”
A million posts are removed by Meta every day, Drew said, while TikTok employs 40,000 people to moderate content.
Amid all this, social media owners are appearing in front of regulators around the world, as governments look to bring in new legislation that regulates social media.
So what does this mean for brands? Drew’s advice is:
Know who’s influential and work with those who are going to help you protect your brand.
Build a community that’s supportive of what you’re doing.
Know which channels are the best for your brand.
Think global.
Be careful with spending money when it comes to advertising.
AI helps to speed up creativity”, and you should think of it as “your brainstorm buddy”, Drew advised.
You can already use AI features on social media platforms to create or improve content, but Drew said “there is an important balance between making something authentic because it is created by a human and harnessing the power of AI to speed things up when you need to”.
He continued:
“I’m an advocate of using AI to augment what you do, not replace it. Get it to do the stuff that you shouldn’t really spend time doing.”
Drew said consider AI as your “brainstorm buddy”. He recommended experimenting with AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, and see which work best for you. Remember that AI isn’t just for generating content, you can also use it for tasks like analysing data.
As an example of AI in action with creative content, Drew shared a campaign using AI that Battenhall delivered for a client.
The children of employees at General Electric were asked to draw what they thought their parents did for a job. Battenhall then used AI to create images based on the drawings that were used for social media posts.
On LinkedIn, the content delivered the top-performing post for the whole quarter, more than doubling the benchmark engagement rate for the quarter. In addition, the campaign contributed to a 12% increase in the number of new followers (month on month).
Drew warned that brands should also be aware of the ethical, regulatory and legal issues around AI such as who owns the content you produce using the technology.
Life after Twitter
The fallout from Elon Musk buying Twitter led to an exodus of users signing up for other social media platforms. Many people switched to Mastodon, the open source social network, and Meta launched Threads, an app linked to Instagram which became the fastest to reach 100 million followers.
“There are 35 social networks with over 100 million active users [see some of them on page 7 of the ‘Life after Twitter’ report] and endless niche communities. That is my biggest learning from what has happened to Twitter. Niche is now good. It’s ok to be small.”
The biggest beneficiary of “the carnage at Twitter”, Drew said, is LinkedIn. It reported a 41% increase in volume of content between 2021 and 2023.
Drew’s tips and insights for LinkedIn are:
Cultivate a good following on LinkedIn and connect with people.
Live video content is popular on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn helps to make brands more personal with many senior leaders in businesses active on the platform
Use the power of the people you work with and activate them to engage with and share your LinkedIn content.
But the most important tip for choosing where to engage on social media, is pay attention to your audience and where they hang out. There’s no one size fits all.
“Be really analytical. Figure out what your audience does, where they spend their time, what trends they follow.”
Entertainment and being unhinged on social media
“TikTok calls itself an entertainment platform, not a social network, and it’s a places other social media platform are trying to emulate.”
Drew said TikTok has shown to brands the power of being entertaining. “I think every brand in 2024 has the ability to be more entertaining.”
“Any brand can do anything on social media. People expect a brand to be a person, to have a voice. The unhinged, entertaining and educational stream of content coming through on platforms like TikTok is creating opportunities for even the most boring brands to be entertaining, informative and educational.”
Drew said the three ways brands can be entertaining are:
Getting into pop culture
Leaning into lifestyle
Being educational
One example of an entertaining brand that is “completely unhinged” is Duolingo on TikTok. “My kids want to spend their pocket money on learning languages on Duolingo beause the owl is so engaging.”
For an example of good educational content, Drew recommended Channel 4 on Threads.
“What makes social media content work is engagement, sentiment uptick, and visibility for people that are hard to reach. Entertaining content achieves on all those fronts.
“Think about how you can tell stories and answer questions. People want to learn new things. Think about the niches users might want to know about that are linked to your brand. Even with something a bit more corporate, there’s a story to tell and an audience looking for answers. Consider various different channels to reach your target audience.
“To create content that’s right for you, think about your brand personality. Place yourself in your audience’s shoes, and don’t be afraid to either stay in your lane and do one thing well, or branch out and try lots of different things. Social media is all about experimenting. Post things. Delete them. Start a channel. Let it go. That’s all fine.”
The rise of creators
Drew said that the fatigue that many people have with influencers and the creation of content about something they are paid to say is good has helped bring about a creator culture:
“There are more people creating more things with more creativity on more platforms more often. Creators provide opportunities for any brand because your niche is out there somewhere.
“A creator’s goal is to produce high quality, authentic content. For that, they want to work with brands. If you find the right ones, they are usually cheaper to work with than influencers, you can do more meaningful projects with them, and they tend to be more authentic.
“A creator might have a smaller audience than an influencer but they often can do more with less. They also might not ask for money if there’s some other type of value exchange such as early access to a new product.”
Instagram and YouTube are the most popular platforms for creators, but delve into any channel and you’ll likely find a vibrant creator culture, Drew said.
Other networks to explore include spontaneous photo sharing app BeReal, communication platform Discord and livestreaming community Twitch. Private communities, such as Facebook and WhatsApp groups, are another format worth looking at.
For Earth Day, the team at Something Familiar have taken a deep dive into sustainable website design. Looking at what it truly means, common pitfalls and how to start making more eco conscious moves – without losing sight of your brand identity.
How can digital designers make choices to minimise their environmental impact? In this blog, we explore what actions we can take to create websites that are both engaging and better for the planet.
What is sustainable or low carbon website design?
Sustainable website design is all the noise these days, and for good reason. Historically, web design practices have failed to consider the environmental consequences of maintaining a website. With an average of 1.76g of CO2 emitted per page view, the cumulative impact becomes significant. For instance, a site with 100k page views per month emits approximately 2,112kg of CO2 annually! A car travelling 8,000 miles emits roughly the same amount of CO2, which is mad. *Source
So what exactly is Sustainable web design?
It refers to the practice of creating websites with minimal negative impact on the environment, both in terms of resource consumption and emissions. This approach considers the entire lifecycle of a website, from design through to development, hosting, maintenance and user interaction.
On top of environmental impact, sustainable design also involves two other important aspects:
Social Responsibility
Practising user-friendly accessible design, paired with respectful, inclusive content ensures it’s suitable for a wide range of audiences.
Economic Sustainability
Taking this considered approach during the design phases could also streamline the development process, and minimise the page processing power. Ensuring the site is lightweight, future proof and built to last.
As cliche as it sounds we need to make a change. But how do we meet our green goals – without compromising our brand impact and website design?
It’s all about Sustainable Design Considerations
In this article we are focussing on the first phase of a website lifecycle – the initial design decisions you can implement to minimise your site’s environmental impact. This phase seems to be an area where little discussion is currently focused, but it comes hand in hand with development, so decisions made here are crucial.
We’re here to put you onto a few tips and tricks so you can get practising sustainable web design in no time. You’d be surprised what can be achieved through strategic design decisions.
Here’s are some things to consider when approaching your new sustainable website design:
Over-application of ‘best’ practice.
Yes you can remove video, and yes you can use system fonts… but should you? We don’t want to lose the soul of your brand as a result of this practice, so remain conscious about your objectives. Keep it chill.
Set your objectives Addressing what needs to be done to improve your impact at the end of a project can lead to non-optimal solutions – think first.
Do your research Design-focused resources for sustainable impact are few and far between, so when you come across design inspiration that’s also incredibly sustainable – save it and share it.
Carbon calculator hype
Yes, these are helpful and insightful, but it’s important to not prioritise your score over experience or business objectives. Also at the time of writing, these calculators seem to only measure initial page-load, which is not always an accurate reflection of page size.
To summarise, and maybe over simplify this topic, having a low-impact website typically means stripping things back. So using smaller images, removing video, less content on a page, avoiding multiple fonts etc.
But how can you do this without diluting your brand? It’s a challenge that we have been facing so we created a methodology that aligns impact and expectations.
Determine how far you want to give your website a green glow-up.
At Something Familiar, we’ve adapted a tiered approach to sustainable web development – The Gold, Silver Bronze approach. By understanding your business positioning and communication priorities we can build a sustainable website, without impacting your brand presence.
We’ve sourced some excellent example websites to see where they fall on our scale. All of these websites demonstrate excellent design and brand impact, but offer varying levels of sustainable web design.
GOLD: Lean and Green
Those who have achieved sustainable website zen! Exemplary brand communication and aesthetic, whilst upholding impressively low page weight. Sacrifices are evident in the absence of motion and video, with minimal utilisation of photography, opting primarily for a typography or vector-based design approach. However, these sacrifices are executed with meticulous consideration and attention to detail.
We made it our challenge to get to A+. 94% cleaner of all web pages globally on the website carbon calculator (a real challenge when you want to show off everything achieved in the last 12 months)
Our stickers go a long way to inject personality. Light little Lottie Files to compliment each chapter, SF style.
We used a low code page builder, Bricks Builder, built with clean bloat free code.
Our use of video was minimised by looping short autoplay clips rather than playing entire video content.
First visit from Beacon – CO2: 0.131g / SIZE: 420.56 KB
SILVER: Sustainable standard
Could this be the ideal equilibrium? Introducing distinctive and captivating features that depart from typographic and flat styling, incorporating depth and distinctive Javascript interactions and animations. Meticulous attention is given to the utilisation of video and highly optimised images.
Flayks
https://flayks.com/
Portfolio site of designer/art director Félix Péault
Design notes:
The layout is incredible and highly engaging. This is partially due to super confident use of typography – it does a lot of the work in place of heavy media.
Video is used strategically, and only plays when within your viewport.
Basic in terms of sustainability, but bespoke in terms of design impact. These sites offer incredible experiences to their users and have won Awwwards for their work, but this comes at the sacrifice of page weight. Keep in mind though that these sites have different objectives and are aimed at a smaller audience.
The dynamic apple-esque landing page serves up a really enjoyable experience to scroll through.
It’s media rich and interactive in order to convert – but also helps to sell the storytelling piece about Bearbrick ‘finding its voice’.
The on scroll animations and high quality assets are necessary to reflect the price point associated with collectable culture. Also helps to reinforce the value of the Medicom/Bearbrick brands.
First visit from Beacon – CO2: 7.307g / SIZE: 19.45 MB
So what action can you take?
Here’s some simple design-focused moves you can make now to start reaching green glowup. Ideally, these should all be actioned or considered at the beginning of a project.
Variable fonts
Reduce the amount of fonts being loaded on your site. A variable font ecompasses a slew of weights within one file, vs. the old days of loading 5-6 heavy separate files.
Be strategic with media
Beyond compressing/optimising your media, think about its value and positioning. Immersive images and video assets should be saved for key parts of communication.
Make things move
Elevate your website’s storytelling with scroll stopping motion. If you haven’t already, check out our Motion Manifesto, trust.
To further this point, ramp up typography to really push how tone and messaging can be delivered without relying on heavy media.
Main character: mobile
Designing mobile first might not be your thing, but regardless of order – get your mobile design optimised. Cater to accessibility on small devices to make the experience just as beaut.
Make accessibility breezy
Get Stark (plugin) involved in your design process to eliminate any accessibility risks. It’s a lovely little plugin in Figma you can use to review typography, palettes and contrast. It’s all aligned with the WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) too.
With all this in mind, think about where your website to sit on the sustainable spectrum. Ultimately, the outcome is reaching a happy medium that meets objectives, delivers a killer experience and practises sustainability.
This article was written by Kenz Meadows, Lead Editor of Squarely Magazine. Squarely is The Square Club’s lifestyle magazine; as a member of Bristol’s Best Co-working space, you are able to pick up a complimentary copy! Find out more here.
Best known for the annual Oktoberfest bacchanal, Munich is a patchwork of old and new. The neon signs for gambling halls above an independent Birkenstock shop, monastic breweries and a world famous Glockenspiel just round the corner from the H&M make knowing where to look a bit of a headspin. But knowing where to go is a much easier task to manage. The rich tradition of monastic brewing and the beerhalls Oktoberfest celebrates are just as delightful an experience without the nearly six million international tourists the festival reliably draws each year.
Of course, the guidebooks will tout the most renowned beer halls like the Hofbrauhaus, that are sure to be on everyone’s list. While the beer halls still largely employ table sharing, seating multiple parties at the same table, walk-ins are not typically something this particular hall accommodates–not even in the off season. So, reserve your steins well in advance.
I spoke with Membership Manager, Pelin Yüksel, at our reciprocal Famtain Club, in the heart of the Altstadt–or Old City. A native to Turkey, she had an outsider’s perspective on Munich and how the club fits in to the city’s social scene. “Munich is very business-oriented — I think people have a hard time turning off and having fun. In response, Famtain focuses on being a social club–presenting opportunities for our members to relax, enjoy themselves, and socialize outside of an office environment.” And if you’re foregoing your office watercooler for social engagement, you could do worse than the Famtain. It drips with lush colours, delicate hand-painted wallpaper and extremely inviting furnishings. I could have easily overstayed my welcome. The restaurant has a revolving menu of seasonally appropriate dishes, offering fusion cuisine with effortless expertise.
As regards to Oktoberfest, Yüksel is pleased to offer our members all the same access to amenities their own members receive. However, if the beer halls are hard to get into during the off-season, they’re impossible to reserve for the festival. Book now. Better yet, book yesterday. And be sure to reach out to the Famtain Club when you do, it doesn’t hurt to have an in when arranging your own autumnal jaunt.
If, like I did, you feel compelled to brush up on your high school German speaking skills, I would recommend really committing to it. Nearly everyone in the city spoke enough English to reveal my German for the exercise in futility that it is. While plenty of nations embrace and admire tourists making the effort to speak the local language, I did not get the impression this was one. I would absolutely recommend getting out of the city for an afternoon. I took the train out to Hoehenschwangau, grabbing fresh pretzels and bottles of beer at a stop along the way. Watching the countryside roll by you, warm salty baked good in-hand, is enough to make anyone seriously consider a rural Bavarian lifestyle change.
While the castle was impressive, I was disappointed by the tour at Neuschwanstein Schloss. The quark donuts from a stand down the hill from the castle were ample consolation after the expensive English audio tour though. Back in Munich, the museum I enjoyed most was the Alte Pinakothek. The expansive collection was home to more than a few masters even I, a novice in fine art, was surprised to see in person. My highlight from the trip was absolutely the food, but specifically the food purchased off the cornucopia of vendors in the Viktualienmarkt. Don’t miss the pickles. Seriously.
Since 2019, Square Works has become the byword for luxurious serviced offices and co-working in Bristol. We started with the aim of building a community where professionals could work, network, relax and socialise in an environment that offered the very best – from an exciting events calendar to a light and airy workspace that members can truly enjoy.
Situated on the beautiful Berkeley Square, a ten-minute walk from the city centre, Square Works is spacious, airy and filled with contemporary art and natural light. This unique workspace is spread across three elegant Georgian townhouses, with a range of conference and meeting rooms, communal spaces, kitchens and a fitness suite.
As a BCI member you can get 10% off memberships and meeting rooms at Square Works, contact our reception at [email protected] to take advantage of this offer.
Save the date – Thursday May 9, 2024!
Mark your calendars because something exciting is coming your way! If you’re between the ages of 16 and 30, we’ve got an event tailor-made for you. Get ready to dive deep into the pressing issues of climate change and sustainability at our dynamic and engaging gathering.
Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in store:
Interactive Workshops: Prepare to roll up your sleeves and get involved in hands-on workshops where you’ll learn practical skills like upcycling to make a positive impact on the environment.
Open Discussions: Your voice matters! Join in on open discussions where you can share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns about climate change in a welcoming and inclusive environment.
But wait, there’s more! This event isn’t just about sharing information; it’s about empowerment. We’re committed to making climate action accessible to everyone, especially young people from lower-income and marginalised communities.
Get ready to be inspired, connect with like-minded individuals, and take meaningful steps toward a sustainable future. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!
Together, let’s make a difference.
For ways to support and get involved, you can get in contact via email [email protected]
They decide what we see online, they dictate what search engines show us and the content we receive.
They’ve certainly changed the way the world does business and if you’ve spent any period of time online, you’re likely to have seen the term ‘beat the algorithm’ get thrown around. There is a notion, particularly in content terms, that beating the algorithm is what you need to do to get seen.
But how much of this sentiment is actually true?
Exactly what is ‘the algorithm’
It’s a somewhat ominous term. The notion of a central intelligence pushing Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok feeds. A machine that decides what Mob recipe you’ll see on Instagram this evening, what witty social media meme LinkedIn will feed you on your lunchtime scroll.
It’s not quite Skynet. But it is a set of rules and parameters to decide on the following:
1) What content to show to each individual user in their feed
2) How to rank and order that content in the feed
3) When to display that content to the user
Now ‘the algorithm’ looks at a lot of different factors and variables when making these decisions. It looks at users previous interactions, the types of content you’ve been engaging with, post time, engagement signals and the ‘perceived quality’ of the content itself.
So it’s doing quite a lot before it serves you your content.
The goal of the algorithm is to keep each user engaged and satisfied by showing them more of what they want to see… in theory.
But we all use social media and we all know that theory and practice are two very different things. This is why content creators cannot simply rely on techniques that “beat the algorithm” in any particular moment… it’s a mercurial, constantly shifting beast.
Lessons from a 25-year old Youtuber
Speaking of beasts…. Mr Beast aka Jimmy Donaldson. It might be a name that you’ve heard.
If you haven’t MrBeast is the world’s most successful YouTuber. Over 116,000,000 subscribers and a net worth of around £500million. It’s safe to say he is making the most out of content creation.
Some might say MrBeast is ‘beating the algorithm’ but is he really?
Search for MrBeast and what you’ll find alongside his insanely well-performing content, is adjacent content titled something along the lines of “We’ve stolen the secret to MrBeast content.”
The irony is, that these videos don’t have anywhere near the levels of reach and engagement that MrBeast does. Despite them claiming to have unlocked the cheat codes to the internet and here’s how you can be the next YouTube multi-millionaire.
If it worked, why isn’t everyone doing it?
To actually game the system and ‘beat the algorithm’ would require you to do nothing other than live in the trends section of every social channel, 24 hours a day, reacting and making content totally on the fly.
Now Jimmy Donaldson has the capacity and the resources to do this. But he’s also spent years honing his craft and getting himself into the position he is now. What Jimmy does, isn’t hacking or beating the algorithm, he makes content that he knows people are going to watch.
Jimmy didn’t ‘beat the algorithm’ Jimmy spent years studying virality and learning what content his audiences liked to consume. He put in the hard yards and now it’s paying off.
And that’s the real crux of the algorithm argument… you can’t cheat a content strategy.
Building consistency over time
Successful content is a skill that is built over years… it simply does not happen overnight.
Of course, you may find the odd piece outperforms or maybe even goes viral – which might happen once in a blue moon. But to build any level of consistency will take time… and patience.
So rather than put your focus into ‘overcoming the algorithm’ focus instead on what your audiences want to see and hear. Play the algorithm and you might have a bigger audience, but is it the right audience?
Build it and they will come, right?
Focus on posting quality, relevant content!
By focusing on creating engaging content that is relevant and valuable to your audience, you will put yourself in the best possible position to build a loyal following.
By using data analytics and algorithmic information, you can make conscious decisions as to what formats and types of content are performing best at any given time. Leveraging data can help you create more effective content.
All roads lead back to making the kinds of content that your audiences want…
Be entertaining
People don’t want to watch boring content. It sounds harsh, but it’s true.
They’re too time-poor and bombarded with content from every possible angle. Your content might have the best call to action, but if it’s too dull or not engaging from the outset, the viewers are never going to make it to the stuff you really want them to see.
Engage
Don’t be a monolith, engage with your audience.
Don’t disable the comments and don’t leave clear questions and engagements unanswered.
Content strategy is much about creating a community than it is actually creating the content itself. Engaging with your audiences will heighten the likelihood of them remaining engaged with you moving forward.
This is probably one of the few areas where the notion of ‘gaming the algorithm’ is actually applicable. Replying to comments and creating engagements in the chat will actually boost your ratings in the algorithm. If it sees comments, it thinks ‘people like this, I’m going to show it to some more people.’
You might be able to ride the crest of a wave now and then. Jump on a trend, see a spike in engagement. You might, if you’re really lucky, go viral.
But these are temporary. They’re fleeting moments,
Ultimately there is no hack, there are no algorithmic cheats. There is no quick fix. You just have to put in the hard yards.
Navigating a new content strategy can be a daunting task and getting an experienced agency on board can help guide you to create a new content plan that will see success for your brand, so get in touch now
NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY SET TO ENHANCE UNESCO CITY OF FILM STATUS
Award-winning visual content production company Distortion Studios has acquired and fitted out brand new studios in Brislington. The (200m2) studios will enable producers across all disciplines – television, film, advertising, music, corporate and events – to create original IP utilising the cutting-edge technology of Virtual Production and the power of Unreal Engine.
This initiative, supported by funding from Creative UK and in partnership with iMAG Displays, will see the first permanent Virtual Production studio in Bristol. At the forefront of creative and technological development, the new studio was set up by the team at Studio Giggle, a multiple award-winning creative team, including a group of highly experienced Unreal Engine experts and specialists in immersive digital arts.
Distortion Studios are decked out with state-of-the art equipment including 11x4m curved LED Volume, ROE Black Pearl 2 V2 LED panels, 2x2x3m wild wall mobile led panels, 2x Stype RedSpy tracking system, Stage Precision, Pixera Media Servers and Brompton processing.
Later this month, Distortion Studios will open its doors with a series of launch events. They will be hosting two full days of demos on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th April and a drinks reception on the evening of the 25th. The demo sessions will allow visitors to learn more about virtual production, interact with the LED screen, and speak to the Distortion Studios team.
Distortion Studios would like to invite the Bristol Creative Industries members to the launch in April. To attend, please email [email protected] .
Jonathan Brigden, Managing Director of Distortion Studios comments, “We’re thrilled to have set up our studios in this great City in the South West. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, the benefits of VP are simply infinite. We’re proud to be cementing Bristol’s status as a UNESCO City of Film.”
Hannah Long, Portfolio Manager at Creative UK adds “We are absolutely thrilled to have been a part of this journey with Studio Giggle and see the development of their brand new state of the art Virtual Production studio, Distortion Studios, in the vibrant City of Bristol. Jonathan, Steve and their team are such a talented and friendly bunch and a delight to work with. We are proud to have them in the Creative Growth Finance portfolio and as their Portfolio Manager, I cannot wait to see the exciting projects that lay ahead.”
Press contact: Debbie Lawrence at The Lippin Company Ltd : [email protected]
About Distortion Studios
Distortion Studios is a specialist virtual production studio based in Bristol. Blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, Distortion Studios is run by an in-house team of specialists in immersive digital arts. Using cutting-edge equipment, our experts in virtual production are able to create stunning visual effects and captivating environments for film, television, music, events and other media in the most cost-effective way possible.
Our team of award-winning live and film production innovators with more than 20 years’ experience includes masters in Unreal Engine as well as a global network of talent and resources to achieve every creative vision.
Creative UK believes in the power of creativity to change lives. We unite the creative industries and generate opportunities for innovation to thrive by investing in creative people and businesses. And we harness the power of the creative sector to build a stronger, fairer, and more prosperous future.
We are the UK’s leading Creative Industries investor and a strategic investment partner for growth-minded creative businesses. Creative Growth Finance is a landmark fund providing vital scale up finance to the UK’s most promising creative businesses, partnering with Triodos Bank to offer loans of £100,000 to £1m.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered the government’s 2024 Spring Budget on 6 March. Here’s a round-up of measures and announcements relevant to businesses in the creative industries.
Spring Budget 2024 measures for creative industries
During his Budget speech, Jeremy Hunt referenced the creative industries. He said:
“We have become Europe’s largest film and TV production centre with Idris Elba, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom all filming their latest productions here.
“Studio space in the UK has doubled in the last three years. At the current rate of expansion, we will be second only to Hollywood globally by the end of 2025.”
“…committed to the success of creative industries, a sector that contributed £125 billion in gross value added (GVA) in 2022 and employs 2.4 million people across the UK.
The Budget included several announcements specific to the creative industries:
Audio-visual expenditure credit for UK independent films
A new UK independent film tax credit (IFTC) will be introduced at a rate of 53% on qualifying film production expenditure. It will be available for films with budgets under £15m that meet the requirements of a new British Film Institute (BFI) test.
Films will need to meet at least one of the following conditions:
Have a UK writer.
Have a UK director.
Be certified as an official UK co-production.
Productions will be able to make claims from 1 April 2025 if the film started principal photography from 1 April 2024.
“The government’s new tax credit is a game changer for UK filmmakers, creating jobs and ensuring great Britsh stories continue to be told. By introducing the uplifted rate, the prime minister and the chancellor are fuelling the growth of the wider screen sector that contributes billions to the UK economy.”
Ben Roberts, BFI chief executive, added:
“This is a dramatic moment for UK film, and the most significant policy intervention since the 1990s. The positive impact will be felt across our industry, and through all the new films that audiences will get to enjoy.
The films we make are vital to our culture expression and creativity – they reflect a diverse and global Britain, and build careers – and we’re grateful to government, the DCMS, the industry and our friends at Pact for working together to realise this historic initiative.”
Audio-visual expenditure credit
Following a consultation at Autumn Statement 2023, the credit rate for visual effects costs in film and high-end TV will be rise by 5% to 39% from April 2025. The 80% cap will be removed for qualifying expenditure for visual effects costs.
Film studios business rates relief
A 40% reduction on gross business rates will be provided to eligible film studios in England until 2034. The government said the relief will be implemented “as soon as possible” with bills backdated to 1 April 2024.
Tax relief for theatres, orchestras, museums, galleries and exhibitions
From 1 April 2025, the rates of theatre tax relief (TTR), orchestra tax relief (OTR) and museums and galleries exhibitions tax relief (MGETR) will be permanently set at 40% (for non-touring productions) and 45% for touring productions.
From 6 April 2024, the main rate of Class 4 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for the self-employed will be reduced from 9% to 6%.
The government claimed that combined with the abolition of the requirement to pay Class 2 NICs announced in the 2023 Autumn Statement, the measure will save an average self-employed person on £28,000 around £650 a year.
National insurance cut for employees
From 6 April 2024, the main rate of employee NICs will be cut by 2p from 10% to 8%.
The government claimed that combined with the 2p cut announced at Autumn Statement 2023, the measure will save the average worker on £35,400 over £900 a year.
VAT threshold increase
The level at which businesses must register for valued added tax (VAT) will increase from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April 2024. The government said around 28,000 businesses will benefit in 2024-25 from no longer being VAT registered.
The deregistration threshold, at which businesses can deregister from VAT, will increase from £83,000 to £88,000.
Recovery Loan Scheme extended
The government’s Recovery Loan Scheme, which launched in 2021 to support businesses to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be extended to 31 March 2026. It will be renamed the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
The government guarantees to the lender up of 70% of funding provided to businesses through the scheme. Loans of up to £2m are available for businesses in Great Britain turning over up to £45m. For Northern Ireland businesses, the maximum loan is £1m.
Full expensing
Full expensing allows companies to claim 100% capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments. In the 2024 Budget, the government said it will publish draft legislation and seek to extend the scheme to assets for leasing “when fiscal conditions allow”.
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