Technology Archives | Page 6 of 12 | Bristol Creative Industries

While website development used to be the domain of software engineers and technical whizz-kids, the latest low-code/no-code solutions allow a much broader range of people to produce eye-catching, modern web applications. Heck, they’re even responsive too.

You no longer need to hire a developer to create a website, tools such as Bubble.io, Adalo, and Webflow (we’re a partner by the way) give you all the tools to create first-class websites and applications without the need to write any code. So it’s a great hit for marketers with tight budgets. Simply upload this image. Move that one. Drag this copy over there. Click publish and – BOOM. Website.

More often than not, today’s websites are more than just copy, image and text.

So what happens if you need to integrate your site with something else – say a payment platform, or a web API? What if you need to bring in a data source from a back-office system?

Some of these low-code/no-code solutions include e-commerce options (Webflow is one example), and you can do a fair bit with Zapier. But truly, these features won’t always meet all your requirements.

If in the future you think you’ll need more complex data APIs, tracking or marketing integrations on your site, you may want to look for something more structured…

Traditionally, Drupal CMS has been rigid. It had fixed templates and allowed little-to-no flexibility for content editors. But this has all changed with Drupal 9.

Drupal 9 has been built with flexibility in mind, and when combined with specific modules (for example Layout Builder and Paragraphs) it allows a much greater degree of freedom for you to create the pages you need.

Although, you may well still need some help from a development team or a site builder, depending exactly on your requirements. Once you have it set up, the flexible-layout-world is your oyster!

Layout Builder is included out-of-the-box with Drupal and can be used to create dynamic templates for any given content type.

By using Layout Builder, a content editor can build up a page using any number of defined components, e.g. images, text, and banners, and arrange them in any number of section configurations – for example, in either single or multiple columns.

Almost anything within Drupal can be positioned into a layout. You can drag things around and change a page’s blueprint completely from one page to another.

And if you have a list of documents you need to include on-site, site builders can define a document list block which you can then embed on any page. And, this can all be closely linked to the design using pattern libraries, where individual components, made up of atoms and molecules, can be tied to the components that are added through the layout builder.

More and more of our clients need flexible layouts. And that’s why, at P+S, we’ve combined several different modules into a Drupal ‘profile’.

This profile includes all the modules required to create a low-code/no-code site using Drupal, which can be rolled out for a comparable cost to Webflow.

The benefits of using a system like Drupal is that once you have it in place, you then have many more options for integrations with other web services due to its framework and server-side code flexibility, and your website can grow and evolve to meet your future requirements.

Acquia, who provide enterprise products, services, and support for Drupal, are also addressing the demand for low-code/no-code by developing the Site Studio project.

This enterprise level tool, included with their Cloud Solutions offering, allows you to build a Drupal site and theme it with no developer involvement at all. So developers can concentrate on more complex technical tasks, such as integrations and APIs.

Site Studio allows you to define and build a theme and components all entirely from Drupal’s interface. Once complete, your content editors have the freedom to create their pages using the drag-and-drop interface of the layout canvas.

When choosing your next platform for your marketing requirements, it’s important to think long-term and consider how they might change.

So, while low-code/no-code solutions are excellent for crafting websites in short timescales, if you need your website to grow beyond hosting more simple content, Drupal may be a better fit long term. And it may not necessarily cost you much more.

As Webflow and Acquia partners, and an experienced Drupal agency, P+S are in a unique position, and can help you decide which solution is the best option for your business.

Talk to us about your next project today, email [email protected] to arrange a no-obligation chat.

Having worked closely with the Epilepsy Society for the past few months, we’re delighted to announce the launch of unFlash, an AI-powered tool that detects and helps prevent the spread of flashing images on social media that in turn could trigger seizures.

The first-of-its-kind plug-in allows specific users to report examples of flashing images that appear on their Twitter feed, which are then captured as part of a dataset used to train a Machine Learning model.

unFlash’s aim is to eventually teach the AI how to effectively detect and block media that falls within the photosensitive range. This would prevent harmful imagery with the potential of triggering a seizure in people with photosensitive epilepsy from being shared online.

“Social media is a global platform, and the only true way to protect people from seizure-triggering content is to turn off the tap at its source. That’s why we are so grateful to the team at Gravitywell for their commitment to developing unFlash. We are hopeful for what the AI can contribute to the protection of people with epilepsy online.

However, small companies such as Gravitywell who have donated their time to protect people should not burden the responsibility of protecting Twitter’s users; the social media giants must be held accountable for protecting vulnerable people with disabilities on their platforms.” — Epilepsy Society

Atomic Smash is a WordPress VIP Silver Agency Partner

Atomic Smash is a WordPress and WooCommerce specialist agency run by Piers Tincknell and David Darke. Based in Bristol, we’re a growing team of 17 who help businesses to improve and evolve their digital platforms through long-term partnerships.

We’ve been working with WordPress for over a decade and we’re experts at what we do. Not only do we help our clients achieve their commercial goals through constant evolution and improvement of their WordPress and WooCommerce platforms, but we’re also deeply integrated within the local WordPress and creative communities.

Offering peace of mind that your site can scale for billions of site visitors instantly, WordPress VIP is a powerful platform for enterprise. Working with WordPress VIP means our team of developers can build flexible websites with security and reliability that meets enterprise needs at scale.

At Atomic Smash, we help our clients improve their WordPress and WooCommerce sites over time so their websites are always performing at their best. This comes to life through our Always Evolving model and the WordPress VIP platform aligns perfectly with this philosophy by offering an infrastructure that can grow with your business.

With the WordPress VIP platform, we can continue to enhance our clients’ sites while:

Through our partnership with WordPress VIP, our clients will be able to create even more impactful digital experiences for their customers while driving better results for their businesses.

Are you interested in knowing how we could support your business by making your website work harder? Let’s talk.

You are invited to join the Department For International Trade’s CreaTech Mission to Mumbai 21 to 25 February 2022.

This UK Government supported mission to India is delivered in partnership between the Department for International Trade in the UK and in India and the UK Creative Industries Council. The mission aims to open export opportunities in India for 12 selected UK companies which are demonstrating cutting edge innovation and proven commercial success where creativity meets technology.

UK CreaTech Companies – who are they?

CreaTech businesses are those applying technology solutions to music, advertising, film & TV, experiential, gaming, e-sports – and sports (fan engagement) or any combination of the above.

The mission description:

In Mumbai, the focus will be on technology in those sectors of the creative industries where there is the greatest synergy between UK and Indian businesses and markets.

It’s anticipated that the event will be made up of:

Thought leadership panels (UK and Indian businesses will participate in these sessions)
Showcasing opportunities for the UK companies
Networking sessions
Promotion of a wider range of UK and Indian CreaTech businesses through the ‘UK & India CreatTech Ones to Watch’ list

Additionally, visits will be scheduled to leading Indian businesses, locations and hubs which represent both CreaTech and commissioners of CreaTech, and meet with potential partners, influencers and experts in helping to build an export business with India.

Createch Ones to Watch:

Opportunities to enhance UK and Indian collaboration in the CreaTech space will be underpinned by the publication of a ‘UK & India CreaTech Ones to Watch’ listing – a version of the proven ‘CreaTech Ones to Watch’ developed by the UK Creative Industries Council – which will highlight and promote the most innovative SMES at the intersection of creativity and technology in the UK and in India.

Who should apply?

We want CreaTech businesses that have a genuine interest in doing business in India, will be competitive in the Indian market and have the resources to develop and sustain an export strategy for India. These businesses may be from anywhere around the UK.

Costs

There are no fees for selected businesses to take part in this CreaTech mission. Delegates are responsible for their travel, hotel and subsistence costs. Delegates will be supported to apply for grant funds to contribute towards their costs of participating and developing their business in India. Availability is not guaranteed and will depend on multiple factors which could include business location, timing, previous grant history and company financials.

Ongoing benefits

Delegates will be invited to participate in follow-up Commonwealth Games Business Programme events in the UK. In particular Indian corporate buyers of CreaTech services and technology will be invited to come to our UK-India business event in Birmingham around the time of the Commonwealth Games.

How to apply

If your understanding of the startup world is based on the series produced by (and starring) mid-noughties nerdy heartthrob, Adam Brody, it might surprise you to learn that most tech ventures aren’t funded by dubious dosh from the criminal underworld. That isn’t to say that StartUp isn’t an entertaining show, by the way, but it’s not exactly an accurate representation of how startup founders might seek investment.

While there are some great examples of companies that have ‘bootstrapped’ their way to billions, most successful tech businesses will raise equity finance at some stage in their scale-up journey — usually over several funding rounds. The right investment not only unlocks the cash you need to accelerate growth but also provides you with a new business partner who is aligned with your goals, brings business acumen and an invaluable network of industry contacts.

Knowing how to turn your venture into an investment magnet is key to getting the attention of the right type of investor while never feeling pressured to settle for a bad fit. So, how do you as a startup founder attract that perfect investor? Here are 6 qualities investors will be looking for in your tech startup.

1. Passionate founder(s)

As a startup founder, being passionate about your project should be a prerequisite. If not, then it’s probably the wrong venture for you. You need to truly believe in the product/service you want to provide and be confident that it’s either an improvement on what’s available on the market or an entirely new take on addressing an old problem.

Beyond your bright idea, you should also be mindful that investors are investing in you as much as they are in your business. Are you able to distil and describe the journey you’ve been on thus far? Can you showcase your passion, skill-set and creativity?

However, while passion per se is great, would you put your money where your mouth is? Most investors are looking for founders who are willing to invest their own capital — hypothetically, at the very least. After all, why should someone part with their hard-earned cash for your project if you’re unwilling to do the same? The same applies to investing your time. If you’re unwilling to work hard on your own project, then it’s unrealistic to expect anyone else to.

To get your business off the ground, you’ll have to — or will have had to — raise the initial capital yourself. This can come from your own savings, borrowings, or even friends and family. Either way, this is a concrete example of demonstrating that you believe in your product/service, so much so that you’re willing to invest money into it.

2. Traction

To be worthy of investment, any new product/service needs to have a proven market and be appealing to that market. Ideally, your venture will have begun operations and demonstrated an ability to sell that product or service — essentially, you need to have a robust ‘proof of concept’ to show investors. Investors will look for the following:

For a tech startup, the proof of concept is often an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) — a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide adequate feedback for future product development. Through our experiences building brilliant launchpad apps for businesses, we’ve come up with a checklist to help you get started with your MVP ASAP.

3. Growth potential

Most investors are looking for business opportunities that have potential — primarily, for growth. This is all relative, of course, based on the size of your market, but ideally, you need to have a market with significant reach — regionally at least — depending on the nature of your product or service.

Not every product/service is going to have a worldwide market, of course, but a large enough market to increase scale and margins within your operations is typically a requirement for investors.

If your startup is a would-be disruptor in an existing, saturated market then the same rules apply. However, your growth potential is likely to be deeply scrutinised because any market share gained is being taken directly from a competitor, therefore your competitive advantage needs to be demonstrable.

4. Competitive advantage

Which leads us on nicely…

No matter what the product — whether it’s clothing, music or a new software platform — the same question always applies: what makes your product unique? To be worthy of investment, there has to be something that sets you apart.

If your product or service is genuinely the first of its kind (something that many founders wrongly convince themselves is the case), then that’s your competitive advantage. What’s more likely, however, is that your startup will be entering an existing market. This is where having a real differentiator is crucial for success.

Take German neobank, N26, for example. Voted ‘Best Bank in the World 2021’, N26 is by no means the only player in the online-only banking market — competitors include the likes of Monzo and Revolut. However, by taking a service that people have to consume and generally dislike (banking), and turning it into an enjoyable process by focusing 100% of its efforts on user experience, N26 has confidently positioned itself as ‘the bank you’ll love’.

5. Key team members

To save on cost, most startups will have very limited staffing (at the start of their journey, at least), usually consisting of one or two founders. Whether it’s a team of two or ten, the number of staff isn’t an issue so long as the key areas of the business are covered. For example, if your business is centred around AI technology, do you have someone in the team who is a specialist in this area? It’s extremely important that you have an expert in the tech or market you’re entering.

Operating control is another area investors will be looking at before taking a punt on your startup. They’ll expect you as the founder to have developed (or be in the process of developing) policies and procedures to control the business and ensure their investment doesn’t go to waste.

It’s also important that as a founder, you’re able to ‘let go’ and delegate authority across your team. We get it, your startup is your baby, but over time, you need to trust someone else to take care of the proverbial nappies. Or bedtime story. You get the gist. Investors will take comfort in seeing expertise and autonomy spread across a fully engaged team.

6. Exit strategy

The coldness with which investors approach this topic can be a bit of a shock, but getting into their mindset — ie. looking for a return, can keep you focused on what’s important for your startup. It’s important to know that from a financial perspective, investors will have two primary questions when looking at a project:

How much do I need to invest and when do I have to invest it?
How much will I get back and when will I get it?

These questions can be answered by a thorough financial projection which you can do yourself, but if you’re struggling, there are people you can hire to help out.

Essentially, investors want to know what their ROI (return on investment) will be and when they’ll begin to see it, so including a full ROI analysis in any pitch to an investor is highly advised.

At Gravitywell, we love working with enthusiastic startups and help with prototypes, pitch decks, MVPs and conceptual work. If you’d like to discuss how we can take your idea to the next level, get in touch.

We’re all doing our best to meet the ever-growing demand for organisations to ‘go digital’.

Whether we’re trying to reach more customers, more effectively market our products and services, minimise our carbon footprint or deliver more cost-effective business solutions, finding a digital – and in many ways more accessible – solution is pretty much today’s standard course of action.

The opportunities when we meet a new audience in a new space are obvious. But what about the pitfalls?

The potential for being misunderstood, taken out of context, or having your brand diluted across multiple platforms becomes more likely – especially when considering the speed at which online content is delivered.

And it’s for this reason that our brand identity becomes even more important.

‍
Your brand guidelines are the rules which determine how your brand is presented to the world. It usually contains information about your brand name and how it’s used, your corporate logo, brand colours, fonts, tone of voice etc.

Your brand guidelines should clearly illustrate how your brand identity is portrayed and communicated to consumers, providing a reference point for employees and clients alike.

And we need them, because when your brand remains consistent, it remains recognisable.

Research has shown 86% of consumers say that authenticity is a key factor when deciding what brands they like and support. And when we think about it, it makes complete sense.

Imagine you nip into your local corner shop to buy a bottle of Coca Cola. Only, the label on the bottle looks strange. In fact, it’s not the typical Coca Cola red at all – it’s bright orange.

And, come to think of it, the font looks different too: It’s narrower than you remember. And not as cursive. Plus, the bottle’s neck is slightly longer. But the drink is still claiming to be authentic, traditional Coca Cola – what’s the likelihood this is a fake?

Maybe you risk it. Or maybe you pick the more familiar-looking bottle of Pepsi, instead.

According to PwC’s consumer insights survey, customers selected trust as their number one reason for choosing a retailer. And how can you expect customers to trust your brand if you don’t remain consistent?

The need for maintaining brand consistency across platforms is critical, because it promotes authenticity and trust. In fact, ensuring a consistent representation of your brand can increase revenue by as much as 33%.

With 80% of consumers agreeing that a signature colour increases brand association and recognition, the importance of sticking to your guidelines – is hard to overstate.

There’s nothing wrong with intentionally refreshing your brand. In fact, updating your branding every few years ensures you stay modern, and reflects your company’s ability to evolve with the times.

Many organisations keep their brand guidelines in a PDF or printed format, meaning you’ll need to factor in time-consuming tasks: updating your documents, checking and proofing them, making amends, artworking them and having them signed off – all this on top of your rebranding process.

Digitising your brand guidelines allows for quick and resource-light updates to guidelines, that are quick to roll out and distribute to all relevant stakeholders.

A digital brand guideline ‘book’ can be accessed from anywhere, at any time, and on any device – without the trouble of having to locate a physical copy, or share a long-lost PDF that’s buried on your desktop. Simply share the link, and go.

At Proctors, we use Webflow to create and update our clients’ digital brand guidelines. Whether they’re used by your colleagues, your customers, media or external business partners, making your guidelines accessible on Webflow gives everyone clear direction on presenting your brand consistently.

Even better, with Webflow, elements such as your logos, fonts and colours can be downloaded by anyone you share the link with. So in today’s digital first world, your media partners or social media managers can remain responsive when it comes to pushing out branded content.

Plus, with digital-first increasingly the norm, companies who use motion graphics in their brand elements can demonstrate real, live examples in their digital brand guidelines book too – something which isn’t possible in other formats.

Even large organisations with lots of different sub-brands can benefit from Webflow’s flexibility. It’s a quick and efficient process to create and update your guidelines, whether you need to edit just one page or to build and deploy several branding ‘chapters’. Plus, any changes or updates can be highlighted on the landing page, so all employees are made aware of them.

With Webflow’s no-code format, any brand refresh updates can be easily executed by your marketing team, meaning you’ll save masses of time on updates. Not to mention avoiding the need to print – and that’s one big environmental benefit.

If you want your brand to remain trusted in the digital era, you need to practice consistency.

With easily accessible guidelines, you’ll be able to ensure you’re presenting an authentic brand. So you can reach more customers, and more effectively market your businesses.

If you’d like to find out more about our digital brand guideline services, or any of the other services we offer, talk to us today at [email protected].

One recent study* found that companies who oriented their services and operations around customers, employees, and partners experienced 6.5 times the profit growth compared to those that didn’t.

Despite this evidence for the power of customer centricity, we know that far too many companies are under-investing in customer experience.

That’s because being customer-centric is easy to say, but hard to put into practice, and even harder to know if you’re on the right track!

As a User-Centred Design company, we’re on a mission to help organisations thrive through employing better customer-centric practices.

That’s why we’re inviting companies that run scaled services for customers to join a study that we’re conducting in collaboration with Google, into how companies orient around their customers.

In exchange for contributing to the study, they will receive a benchmark of their customer-centricity score against the rest of the market, plus some unique insights into how to put together a programme of low-cost improvements, free of charge. All we ask is that companies commit to completing a survey by mid-November.

We’d love YOU to be part of the study because companies that deploy good user experiences that meet human needs know that improvements in loyalty, revenue and market share follow.

We work every day with organisations to execute programmes that embed User-Centred design into their operations. This takes time and care, but the results are not only impactful in the short term, but set organisations up for sustainable success, and an ability to ride-out storms that may occur in the future.

We’re working with Google to solve this. Through this unique study and campaign that we’ve devised, we’re looking to support organisations in investing in the initiatives that will help them become more customer-centric – and thrive.

By participating in this study as a contributor, you will be joining Europe’s top 200 brands including Farfetch, Europcar, Toolstation, giffgaff and Burberry.

Bristol-based digital design and development agency, Unfold celebrated success on 14th October 2021, taking home the title of “Best Digital Design” at The SPARKies 2021. This was awarded for the transformational work they completed for their clients Sherpr.

The SPARKies is one of the year’s most hotly anticipated tech awards ceremonies in the South West. Since Managing Director, Harry Cobbold won ‘FutureSPARK’ back in 2019, Unfold has been nominated for several other categories (including ‘Tech Leader of the Year’ this year). The ceremony was held at The Showroom on Bath Road and was joint hosted by the TechSpark team and comedian Stephen Bailey (who had everyone in stitches).

Unfold built a custom web app, admin portal and marketing site for Sherpr in just 10 weeks. This completely transformed their business. As well as automating all of the time-intensive back office tasks, Unfold also created an editable CMS through which the Sherpr team could update and manage their products without constant developer support.

As well as immediate savings in overheads, Sherpr were also able to process far more clients with their new reliable and automated booking system.

Following the work Unfold completed for them, Sherpr achieved their first ever 6-figure month and hit an annual run-rate of £1.2m.

“From beginning to end, the team at Unfold have been great to work with. Communication has been easy and any changes we needed to make during the build process were welcomed and perfectly executed.” – Andy Watson, CEO of Sherpr

Read more in-depth info on exactly how Unfold helped Sherpr achieve this remarkable step-change in their full case study.

If you have a project or digital platform you’d like advice on, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Unfold team.

Starting a new job can be a nerve-wracking process, especially when it’s your first opportunity after being at uni. Luckily, I’m here to share my experience of starting at Proctors and gaining my first real industry exposure.

Here are some of the questions I found myself asking, the challenges I faced – and some of the lessons I learnt.

In any new job, a fear of failure is perfectly normal. Luckily, the Proctors people went out of their way to ensure I felt comfortable in the office, had sufficient training/inductions and the resources to get on with my projects, setting me up for success.

It’s important companies give you ample time to find your feet on your first day. So, if you don’t know what to do next, just ask how you can help. Remember, you were hired – you’ve already made it past the stressful interview part! Treat your first day as a fun celebration. Everyone is excited to meet you!

Joining the Tech team at P+S straight after leaving university showed me the differences between education and real-life industry work really quickly.

In uni, I was constantly shifting my focus to find a speciality. This meant that almost each semester I would be creating a new project with a different focus and practicing a different coding language. However, at P+S I was able to focus on my strengths first, with support from seasoned (and friendly) developers, and begin specialising in the areas that I am most interested in.

Over my first few weeks, as I was introduced to all of the developers around me and all of the teams that I would be interacting with, all of the nervousness of a new role left as I settled in to my first full development role and focused on my workload.

Meeting everyone on your first day can be overwhelming, sometimes it can feel like you’re crashing a private party. Forming relationships takes time, and a supportive workplace recognises this.

At P+S, I was introduced to all the departments I would be working with, encouraged to reach out to anyone if I had any questions, and met with a multitude of messages from co-workers welcoming me to the company. Wednesday quiz nights and Friday night socials allowed me to meet people in a non-work environment. And as time went on more new employees joined, we all easily bonded over being new to the company.

Don’t forget, you’re not expected to remember everyone you meet immediately, but making the effort to get to know your co-workers over lunches and socials will help you feel at ease in your new job.

Sometimes work may be slow whilst you’re being given time to settle in, and you may feel guilty for not tapping away at the keyboard for all 8 hours of the workday. Just remember, people are giving you time to relax into the job and no one wants you to be overwhelmed. Take your time with tasks, regularly check in with co-workers to make sure you’re doing the right thing and focus on the small wins.

When working in a marketing agency, time management is incredibly important and often we are working to strict deadlines. At P+S, I was given access to a plethora of training resources for when I had a moment of downtime, to develop my industry skills.

The most important thing to remember is to stay open-minded and treat your first job as a fresh start, a learning opportunity, and a chance to meet cool, like-minded people that can help you build an exciting career.

At P+S, we are always looking for talent to join our team across Creative, Strategy and Technology. Click here to find out more about our current vacancies or send your CV to [email protected].