Charlotte Thompson - A Big Hitter on the LET

PE Creative are proud to sponsor ladies European Tour player Charlotte Thompson.

Charlotte met Jonny in Spain when she finished in second place at the Reserva Club, Sotogrande.  More recently she finished second in the Czech Open in Prague.  It's been a great season so far and with three events to go, we all hope she can go one better!!!

One of the longest hitters on the LET Charlotte is excited to be partnering with PE Creative and just "loves the logo on her bag"!

Charlotte sports the PE logo on her tour bag - we hope to help develop her website next season along with her overall branding too.

Play well Charlotte, we wish you the best!

To find out more about how we can help your branding give us a call on 01332 291141

The Wicker (Wo)Man

Who would believe that anyone could make such a fantastic wicker rocket?

Well, not us, that's for sure, becuase we know all about the creative talents that Jo Henderson possesses!

This amazing rocket has been made for the Borrowash in Bloom community event. The rocket is over 8 feet tall and incorporates real lights powered by solar energy! It helps to commemorate the Moon landings in 1969, a full 50 years ago this September.

But Jo isnt' just a dab hand with wicker, she's also an expert in metal too - having built the legendary Sims metal robot on Mansfield road - Anyone who knows Derby will know this classic landmark, which she built in 1988...and its still standing!

If you need anything slightlly 'off the wall' then you know where to come - We can help turn even the most mundane into something creative!! Just give us a call on 01332 291141 to find out more.

What a lovely way to do business

Back in the Summer we decided that the rear of our property could do with some new gates. We did exactly what anyone in Derby would do...we put in "Gates + Derby" into Google and we were fed with a number of link options. Ideally we wanted someone genuinely local and someone we could talk to about our needs...(we had a front gate that needed repairing too).

So after some diligence we opted for "The Gatemaker" making an on-line e-mail enquiry, we were quickly contacted by Jami who arranged for their representative Bernie to come out and measure up. Bernie gave us a quote there and then, along with a very reasonable leadtime. We were impressed. Good quality, good price and totally honest.

Shortly after this we had a brand new set of gates delivered for the rear car park - with a promise that the refurbished front gate would follow a week later...

Unfortunately, due to some issues with the powder coating this was slightly delayed. Which led us to a couple of days of increasingly quirky but friendly email banter and communication (involving the mention of aliens and meerkats - both of which adorn the Gatemaker vans - when you see one you'll know it!). Problem resolved, and no harm done...

The front gate duly arrived and we were all delighted, so much so that we ordered another gate for the rear, as this made the property look so much better...and finally the whole picture was complete.

About three months went by  - with no issues.

When, suddenly, quite out of the blue, we received a phone call from Bernie.

It turns out that he is actually a Director of the Gatemaker and at first we thought our BACs payment had maybe failed...however,  the call was about about something completely different...

Bernie explained that when he visited us, he was impressed with the work we do and more importantly, the attitude and approach to our correspondence (I sent them a picture of a meerkat with a machine gun at one point...!). It was our up-front and honest approach that they all liked, 'the way we dealt with a problem' is exactly how he put it.

So, a visit was arranged and we were delighted to be appointed as the creative agency for The Gatemaker and Derby Gates. It's early days yet but we are all very excited about helping this local company to expand and grow.

The pictures above show how we intend to develop the Gatemakers' corporate identity - you can see our initial concept compared to the original below. In additon there will be new sales brochures, a more comprehensive website as well as new stationery, signage and showroom. We are all very much looking forward to helping them throughout 2019 and beyond.

Quite simply, we love working with nice people - if you like working with nice people too,  then why not give us a call on 01332 291141 and we will happy to chat about your needs.

Also, if you need new gates or any metal work refurbishing, then look no further than The Gatemaker - top people, with top quality products.

Fine Dining Comes to Denmaur

Denmaur Paper have a strong reputation as a quality paper merchant and wanted to help promote a new paper brand UPM Fine as an upmarket quality stock.

We devised this on-line campaign to help them to achieve a greater awareness of the product and to help shift more tonnage.

The campaign allows winners to enjoy fine dining at some of the UK's finest gourmet restaurants. A simple idea really, the best way to your customers is through their appetites!

If you want a quirky, eyycatching and memorable campaign just give us a call on 01332 2911451 and we will be happy to discuss the opportunities...

Metal Guru, is it You?

It has been a long time coming, but when Harris RCS engaged us to look at thier new website we felt that they needed a complete update for all the branding. After all, why spend money on a website and place a poorly designed old fashioned logo on it?

So, we devised this new look for both the corporate branding and the new website. The combination is quite striking and has helped to give Harris a confident and impressive customer facing web presence.

To visit the site click here, or if you wish to talk to us about your brand or website, why not visit our website to find out more, or call us on 01332 291141 and we will be happy to discuss your project.

New Branding Excites the Unions

PE Creative client UnionLine provide specialist claims services for union members across the UK. Being nationally recognised the company requires a logo style which reflects both professionalism and trustworthiness. The new brand utilises the UL element of the name as a clever device that is also be used as a social media icon and as a general graphic device.

The team spent a lot of time developing the exact font style, line weights and proportions of the various elements in order to create a clean, professional and fit-for-purpose brand identity.

The logo development is now being rolled out across newly published literature, stationery, exhibition panels as well as on-line collateral.

UnionLine said "We are really pleased with the new look and believe that this will help us to continue to take our organsiation successfully into the 21st century, Jonny and his team have done a really professional job, on budget and on time"

Jonny Evans commented "it's always exciting to work with an existing brand along with its loyalties and customer expectations and to be able to successfully help them improve and expand their reach. Both in terms of brand identity and visual appeal we are delighted that the new identity has been so well received".

One of the key remits was to ensure that Scottish law be included across the identity. To this end we developed UnionLine Scotland with the same amount of care and attention. Subtlety along with a quiet confidence underpins both brands, whilst retaining a strong link between the two markets.

If your brand is looking tired and you would like to talk to the brand experts, then please give us a call on 01332 291141 and we will be happy to help and advise. Take a look at our creative portfolio here

Tigers!!!!

Jonny was pleased to join some good friends at the Leicester Tigers v Saracens game on Christmas Eve.

We enjoyed a superb meal and great company, not mention a great match. The Saras' beat the Tigers pretty convincingly in the end...but being rugby, there was no hard feelings. Just know that next time we will thrash you!

Pictured is the table guests...

If you like Rugby then why not give us a call on 01332 291141 - you may get an invite next time!

The miracle in the coffee cup

This biblical scene was discovered in Jonny's coffee cup whilst in Germany on business.

To some it may just look like some random froth marks, but to us its clearly the Three Wise Men on their quest to get to Bethlehem...

Why not contact us to see if we can work miracles with your marketing, we cannot promise a biblical event but we can promise a fresh and creative approach...call us on 01332 291141 to fidn out more.

There is no such thing as 100% uptime

Over the years we have had customers reporting an outage on their websites. Most clients would never even notice this as they occur usually in the middle of the night. However, lots of IT departments use 'pinging' software to continually monitor their sites and take great pleasure in reporting an outage to anyone who cares. (Usually the MD or or the Marketing Department/Director).

So the question of uptime is one we get a lot. And the notion is that if we work hard enough, test out the hosting companies enough, talk to enough people, and generally get smarter, we can find and recommend the right hosting partner who will deliver 100% uptime.

This is not true. And it has nothing to do with our effort, time, research, or overall intelligence.

It’s related to the nature of the internet. And no one can promise you 100% uptime (for a price you’re willing to pay). Want to test what I’m talking about?

The test for what I’m saying is simple:

Here are the steps you can take.

1. Look up any hosting provider you like (or want to use)
2. See if they have a 100% uptime guarantee.
3. Then see if they have any statements after the 100% uptime guarantee.

If they do, they don’t really guarantee 100% uptime. Right? Because why would you need to say more after the 100% uptime guarantee.

If I tell you that I won’t stab you, there are no further statements, right? Not like, “If I do stab you, I will be sure to put a bandaid on the wound,” or “If I end up stabbing you for a reason that isn’t your fault, I promise to drive you to the hospital.” Nope. If the guarantee is 100%, there are no “if” statements afterwards. An uptime guarantee is – no matter which host you look at – simply a promise of what refund the host offers customers if there’s a network outage. The reality is that many companies simply won’t offer you a 100% uptime guarantee. But if they do, they’ll likely articulate exceptions.

• Failure of systems, internet, infrastructure, network, power, facilities or connections delivered by third parties
• Applications, software, or operating system failures because of denial of service attacks, hacker activity, or other malicious events
• Acts of God (weather, etc)

Oh, and maintenance is also an exception. So trust me when I tell you that the tests are clear – you won’t get 100% anywhere.

You could get 100% uptime…but it will cost you
Let’s talk, for just a second, about how you might go about getting 100% uptime, if you really wanted it. To do that, we need to understand what’s happening behind the simple things we do with a browser and the web. When we make a request for a website, imagine that you’re actually asking someone to send you a book, in chapters, via snail mail. (I know, who would do that??)

So let’s say I ask for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Stone". Here’s what happens in a normal network.

• I send you a note asking you for the book.
• You collect all the chapters (117 of them).
• You send me each chapter in a separate manilla envelope addressed to me.
• You take them all to the mailbox and drop them off.
• The postman sends them through the system and they arrive at my post office.
• My mailman delivers them to me.
• Only, I don’t get chapters 10, 43, 86, and 92.
• I send you a note asking for those again.
• You grab copies of those and you resend them to me.
• The same thing happens, but I still am missing 92.
• I ask again and this time your delivery reaches me.
• Then I open all the envelopes and arrange them in order and I start reading.

This is what happens every time we ask for a web page. And all those chapters are data packets. And those post offices (and mailmen) are like routers. And that chatter back and forth about getting all of what I want / need – that’s the internet protocols that send communication back and forth between my browser and your server.

It’s kind of crazy!

Where it gets even more complicated is when you imagine that those packages aren’t getting delivered using the same route. Ever order 10 things from Amazon and get them in different shipments? If you track them via UPS or Fedex, they don’t necessarily go through the same locations or hubs across the country.

That’s the same thing with routers and packet traffic.

Now why is this all important?  Because in a high availability setup, you have to mitigate issues on several fronts. This isn’t just a “use Cloudflare and everything will be ok.” That’s just not true.
One way to mitigate this is to use a different kind of protocol – anycast instead of unicast. This means that instead of me asking you for the book, I can make a request for the book and you and all your friends, spread out everywhere, could react to me individually – based on who is closer.

This translates, technically, to the notion that confuses people because we told everyone that every domain has a unique IP address (like the address of your house). And the reality of using DNS on an Anycast network, is that the IP can be registered on several servers in several locations. Crazy, I know.

That would help with the speed and performance of requests (like the need for some chapters sent again) because they could go to many different locations. Since I’m in Derby, I could hit a server in London. If you’re in New Jersey, you might make a request to a server in New York.

But that’s not the only place where you need redundancy.
You would also need to mitigate issues with the servers themselves. That means that the place that stores books (a bookstore, if you will) needs its own support if something happens there.
So you’re going to need more than DNS redundancy, you’ll need server clusters. And while you might want to pay for the cheap cold or warm failover, true high availability (100% uptime) will likely require hot failover with a heartbeat monitor.

Think of that heartbeat monitor as one of  those young interns at the bookstore that has to keep running to the back to see if a book is there. Only this time they need to run all over town because your cluster might not be located all in the same spot.

And the moment he comes back to tell you that in warehouse A the book isn’t there, you need to update your infrastructure to route all requests away from that warehouse and to another that has it. But you also need him to go run an order to get that book back in stock.

Are you starting to see why this is expensive and likely more than you want to pay?

You can’t get this for £10-100/month

I love that all sorts of hosting companies offer tremendous deals. Many are doing great things.
But none of them will reserve for you twice the servers you need, located in different places, with a heartbeat monitor, and synchronization, along with anycast DNS services all for £10 a month.
Some hosts will help you with this, but you won’t be paying a few bucks.
But there is good news.
If you really want this, or need this, you can create it yourself on Amazon Web Services. They have everything you would need, assuming you want to get into that configuration game.

In this way, all hosts are equal

What I’m telling you is this. The reality of storms, earthquakes, flooding, DDOS attacks, hackers, and more – they don’t distinguish between hosts. They don’t care about you and your specific site.
In the end, these things happen.
And unlike SimCity (the original), there is no setting to turn on that protects you from it all. And just like when you’re in the slow lane on the motorway, changing will likely just mean you’re about to get into the slowest lane now. It’s just the rule.

Swapping won’t change much, if your host is good to begin with.

So today, you either pay a lot of money for high availability systems, or you recognize that there’s no such thing as 100% uptime...

(With thanks to Chris Lima for most of this information)

Keep Calm and Clear your Cache - when web designers are trying to be helpful!

"Clear your browser cache" (CYBC) is the first response that tech people (I include ourselves in that description, even though we are primarily designers) will give when you encounter a web page problem. We'll look at why that is and how to clear the browser cache.

The browser cache appears in more answers than questions, but it often causes even more questions. Even when following instructions to empty the cache, many people aren’t clear on what this piece of magic really is, or why clearing the cache does anything at all.

Let’s review the browser cache, what it is and why it exists. Along the way, we’ll review the steps to clear it in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome and try to dream up some reasons why that sometimes helps.

The browser cache

The cache exists because of a basic assumption made by browser designers: the internet is slow. More accurately, your internet connection is slower than your computer.

What that means is that it’s faster to get something from your hard disk than it is to get it from the internet. Even with today’s faster internet speeds, that still holds very true.

Browser designers noticed that most web sites had many of the same elements on multiple pages. For example, if you look at most pages, you’ll see a logo at the top. So the thinking was, why download the same logo for every page? Why not just download it once and then keep it so we can use it again?

That’s what the browser cache is for. The cache is nothing more than a place on your hard disk where the browser keeps things that it downloaded once in case they’re needed again.

When you first visit a page on a site, the browser downloads the logo into the cache, and then displays it on the page you’re viewing. For each additional page you visit, the logo doesn’t need to be downloaded again; as long as the same logo is displayed, it’s already on your hard disk.

The cache has a size limit, which you can usually configure. When the cache gets full, the items in it that haven’t been used in a while are discarded to make more space.

Naturally, there’s a little more to it than that. For example, there are ways to update the logo on a site and have that override whatever is in your cache, so what you see is always up-to-date. But by and large, that’s all it is: a place to keep things locally so you don’t have to download the same things over and over again.

And it’s all transparent to you. Until something breaks, or more usually if you are having a site built and developed, when you are continually reviewing the pages. This is when CYBC becomes imperative, otherwise you'll never see what is really 'live' on the site until you do so.

Clearing the cache
Clearing the cache just means emptying it, so that the next time you display a web page everything must be downloaded anew.

For reasons I simply can’t explain – other than by saying “stuff happens” – the cache sometimes get confused. This seems to happen to most all browsers and at random times. What you’ll see are partially loaded or badly formatted web pages, incomplete pictures, or, in some cases, the wrong picture in the wrong place.

It’s not always a caching problem, but because it happens often enough, “clear your browser cache” is often one of the first diagnostic steps you’ll hear from people like us.

Here’s how

Simply visit www.refreshyourcache.com by clicking here and select your browser type.

I kid you not, you will get fed up to the back teeth of hearing us ask you to CYBC, especially if your site is being updated or renewed by us, however it really is the only way for you to see what are actually the live pages.

Some questions often asked:

If I have to clear my cache,  then won't my customers also have to do the same?
Most likely no. You are constantly vieiwing your demo site while the site build is in process. Your customer most likely visits your site periodically. When they visit your new site they will have never seen it before and as such ALL the pages they view will be new and will be 'forced' by their browser to download.

Does emptying my cache cause any problems?
No, it simply 'forces' your browser to reload all pages (even bookmarked ones) to reload from scratch.

Will I lose my data stored in my browser?
The only data that disappears is cookies and page data. If you are responsible then you should never really store private data in your browser cache, (I'm talking bank/SM passwords etc) what happens if your tablet or laptop gets stolen? In any case, you can choose to empty your cache and retain this data if you wish, just use the preferences when clearing the cache.

Isn't refreshing my page page clearing my cache?
No. If you click on the refresh/reload button  on your web browser, this will trigger a “soft refresh” on the web browser where it will check against the web server to see if the files are modified. If modified, the web browser will pull the latest version of the file and if not modified, the web browser will continue to use the cache version. In many cases the file name is the same so the cached file will be the one you see, and not the modified updated one with the same name.

In Conclusion

I hope that you find this information useful and trust that it helps to demystify some of the issues and questions you may have. If you'd like a more detailed discussion then please feel free to call us on 01332 291141 and we'll be happy to help and advise.

How well does your site score?

The new RSM website scores 84% for desktop and 94% for mobile on Google's dedicated site scoring engine.

Why not do the test yourown site on Google's test engine. Click here to see how well your site scores.

If you get a 'poor' rating then we can help you to achieve a better result. None of our own new sites reach less than 90% which has to be good for marketers all over the place...

Obviously sites built on third party platforms such as Wordpress, Square One, Concrete etc are not so easy to optimise. But sites built using our own EditThis CMS can achieve almost unheard of results, which has to be good for your SEO.

Why not give us a call to see how we can help on 01332 291141

LIP Service

We heard a great quote the other day...instead of Rest In Peace,
why not Live in Peace.

Manchester, we support LIP

Treetops Golf Day

Paul Ross from Mercia Printers extended an invitation to Jonny to play golf in May at the annual Treetops fundraising event at Erewash Golf Club.

What a great day - if only the scoring could have matched the fun we all had!

After the golf we sat down to a delicious dinner - which we had to queue up for (just like school!) it was quirky but very tasty and good fun.

Top pic show's the 'Dream Team' - Mark, Paul (our host), Jonny and Jane (our hostess)  plus below shows the queue for dinner!!!

If you have a golf day or event that you' like Jonny to attend, just give us a call on 01332 291141 and he will be happy to consider it!

Who likes Top Tens?

If like me, you are a top ten addict, then you may enjoy this post...just when you thought the internet couldn't get much worse here we go with a run down of the top ten most HATED people on the planet...(according to a poll on one website).

Please note that these are not opinions necessarily shared by us at PE - we are merely reporting!

10 - Coming in at a strong number ten is George W Bush. "GW didn't create the mess we're in today; he just exacerbated it..." Surely, you say there are worse people than him. Well, yes. There are...apparently.

9 - Miley Cyrus - "She is so annoying and nobody actually thinks that she is a good singer. She tries to raise her fame by making out with pretty much everyone she finds available!" Annoying maybe but hated?

8 - Kim Kardashian - and I quote: "I hate her and really do not see why the media likes her so much. she is just a daughter of a rich guy who made a porn tape?" You really gotta love these points of view!

7 - Kanye West - again, how can this chap be so disliked: Comments include "He has little to no talent yet has the confidence to call his latest album 'the best album ever made". How can an entertainer be so disliked?

6 - Barack Obama - "Obama is not the end of America, he is the beginning of the end"  - really?

5 - Marian Rivera - no idea who she is - but presumably someone from the US of A.

4 - Joseph Stalin - "his red terror campaign, great purge and the infamous gulag death camps have killed millions of people" - Now this is understandable and I can see why he is on the list.

3 - Osama Bin Laden - predictably makes the top three.

2 - Adolf Hitler - "This man was the most terribly evil person ever in history. And probably will be for hundreds if not thousands of years" Enough said...

and in the number one place - would you believe its none other than the one and only:-

1 - Justin Bieber - One commenter says: ""I just keep on laughing every time I see Justin Bieber as no. 1 on the "worst" and "most hated" lists. He is REALLY BAD, LoL."

Tragic and funny though this list is, it really does tell you all a lot about people and polls - we have seen some bizarre results from recent polls. For example who'd have believed a year ago that Donald Trump would be President elect and that the UK would no longer be part of the European Union?

In essence, can we ever really believe a POLL. Just because someone has written it on a web page does not make it so, but its human nature to believe what we read when it appears 'official'. And did you know that cats can actually smell colour?

To see the actual top ten visit here

Old School - the web world in 1995

It is really amazing how the internet has changed all our lives. How we buy, how we research, how we market ourselves, how we communicate. Truly a revolution in our own lifetimes.

We cannot believe how quickly time has passed since we built our first "Parkhouse Evans" website. It was in 1995. Twenty one years ago.

Think about that for a moment. We have been successfully providing websites to customer for over twenty years. You'd think we'd know what we are doing by now!

So here is a list of things from 21 years ago which would have influenced our lives:

Biggest Selling UK Record: Robson and Jerome - Unchained Melody
Biggest Film of the year: Toy Story
Album of the Year: Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
Top TV Show: ER
Jennifer Aniston is a hit on Friends and influences hairstyles
Blue M&Ms are introduced to the other colors
John Major becomes Prime Minister
OJ Simpson Trail ends in Not Guilty verdict
Javascript was released by Sun Microsystems
PHP was launced officially (if you use Wordpress your DB is 20 years old!)
Larry Page and Sergey Brin begin developing a search engine called BackRub with PageRank, an important technology that becomes an important part of Google.
Microsoft Windows 95 is launched (obviously)
EBay is founded by Pierre Omidyar on September 3, 1995.
Masters Tournament  was won by Ben Crenshaw
U.S. Open by Corey Pavin
British Open by John Daly (it was the last time the official record of scores was written by hand - I have the actual record sheet form the Open in 1995 - offers in writing please!)
PGA Championship by Steve Elkington

Some seem like only yesterday whilst others seem like distant memories. One thing is constant, quality always wins...its a maxim we have lived by at PE Creative. It has served us well.

To see the original PE Creative website in all its glory (and also testament to the longevity of the code) please click here.

If you'd like to reminisce about any of the above, why not give us a call on 01332 291141 and we will be happy to indulge you!

Khristmas at Karlson

When the team at Karlson wanted a Christmas card I suggested that we do an on-line video 'jingle' instead. They were not sure, but when I showed them this they loved it...

The animation is quirky and shows just how far graphics have come in the last decade.

If you would like an animated card or ident then just let us know - 01332 291141 - we can help!

Amazing what a difference a nice menu makes...

We were asked by rapidly growing US based PSS to develop their new website (opposite top)

Working closely alongside the PSS marketing team we quickly recognised the key weakness in their old site, which had served them well but was well in need of refreshing.

Main issues of the old site (shown opposite below)
Tired looking
Deep drop down menus (often so deep they drop off the page!)
Responsive to a degree but not easy to navigate.
Key messages a little overcrowded

The new site which launches in October 2015 will have a much cleaner look and feel. It will underpin PSS's next stage of growth into the late teens.

The thing that is immediately apparent is the way we now handle the menus. Large volumes of information can be displayed in an easy to see and navigate format which easily responds to mobile and pad versions. The site is also touch screen friendly too.

Both sites have been built in Wordpress, which whilst slow and rather unwieldy to develop within does deliver a content managed solution which clients seem to love.

Visit the live site here

If your current website is looking tired or if you don't have a website (surely not) then why not give us a call on 01332 29114 and we can have a chat about how we can help you.

If you love your dog...

If you, like millions of other people love your dog, then you won't be surprised to know that the growth of 'pet sitting' has been building steadily in the UK.

A pioneer of this form of 'holiday's for dogs' concept is Spoiled Rotten Pets. Set up over a decade ago before the idea of pet sitting was barely in its infancy, Carolyn Griffiths developed the idea of exclusive holidays for dogs. She and her team have built an enviable service aimed at high net worth pet owners in the South of London.

At Parkhouse, we are proud to have been involved with Spoiled Rotten since its inception. We created the original brand and also its first website. Plus all the support collateral, such as stationery, cards, flyers and brochures.

But time does not stand still and whilst the original website was a pioneer in its field, it was time to move forward again. With history in mind, we created the latest website to be a natural development
of the original, with the added value of being responsive and much more customer friendly for pads mobiles and desktop. The site is also optimised for social media and search engines. The site is due to be launched in September 2015 and can be viewed here

The images show the old and new sites by comparison.

In addition to this we also developed a short movie which outlines the services offered by Spoiled Rotten Pets. The movie is part of an ongoing commitment we have to our valued clients to help them to grow and was offered as a complete surprise - and just part of the service we offer. View the HD movie here

It's time to prepare for the next phase of growth for Spoiled Rotten Pets as they continue to offer quite simply the best holidays for dogs to be found anywhere. Simply put, why would you put your dog in a kennel when your dog can enjoy a holiday too...?

To find out how we can make a big difference to your business please call us on 01332 291141 and we can discuss your next project. Be that big or small we aim to offer you a bespoke service second to none.

and the Oscar goes to....

Parkhouse Evans Ltd...well, we wish...!

Have you ever wondered who makes the gold envelopes used for the Oscar ceremony?

No, well neither have we. But on a recent visit to a wedding in Germany, I had the opportunity to visit the Gmund paper mill and factory shop.

It was amazing to see just how much care and attention goes into producing these hand made papers. On display was the genuine Oscars stationery. Each envelope is 'watermarked' with the Oscars logo and the paper contains real gold leaf. The gold leaf is ground into fine strands and added to the paper making process using a secret method.

If you are a bit of a paper nerd like me then you'll find all this fascinating, but if not then at the very least you'll appreciate just how important choosing the right paper can be. It is often the first impression that someone gets about you (ie our business card or letter).

I love quality paper and the paper produced by Gmund is second to none...

If you'd like a chat about paper then why not give us a call on 01332 291141 and we can discuss your next project and the paper choices you have?

He/She Pepper does the Logo-motion

I couldn't resist that pun in the headline...

I am one of a lucky handful of people to have met Pepper the robot up close. You can expect to see a lot more of Pepper as he/she travels the World on his/her whistle-stop promotional tour.

At around £4000 just imagine what Pepper can do for your event or promotion. Pepper can be programmed to guide your clients to virtually any location in your shop, office, factory or workplace. He/she can even provide detailed information about your products too.

I am thinking of ways my clients could use Pepper during the short window of opportunity that will exist before he/she becomes passe.

By the way, I use the phrase he/she because in Japan, Pepper is a boy, but in the rest of the World, she is a girl!

If you would like to know more, give us a call on 01332 291141