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RAR Awards Finalist

Shortlisted in an amazing 8 catagories

I have been hounding the poor guys over at the RAR this year. I was worried they would put some kind of injuction on me at one point. Anyway, there was a good reason to call - other than liking the sound of Jo's voice - this year we had worked super hard at ensuring clients were as happy as possible so I also made the extra effort in asking all our clients to review our services for the 2012 Recommended Agency Awards. We don't enter awards often - they can be a bit of a beauty parade - but this one is great as it's from the people who matter the most to us; our clients. 

We have amazingly been shortlisted in 8 catagories including: Brand Strategy, Design, Creativity/Innovation, Strategic Thinking, Value For Money, On time, On Budget, Print production. Im really pleased with our clients taking the time to do this and my staff for working so hard and being a pleasure to employ.

Well what does this mean for Ahoy? Well I could be cliche and say that this is the stepping stone for greater things but instead I have promised to no longer moan about the kitchen being a mess. Right, where did I put those Marigolds.

Posted By: Mark
01 March 2012

Junior Web Designer Job

Website designer job for growing digital design agency in Stockport, Greater Manchester

Have you just graduated with a computing or design degree? Maybe your still studying but have more than the basics in website design and build? Maybe your a freelancer that is sick of looking at the same four walls?

We are looking for a junior website designer to join our team. You must have at least 1 years experience in creating websites and have experience of using Wordpress. You will be required to design and build basic websites from start to finish. We pride ourselves on design and although this is a junior position you will need to have solid design skills. The position is available imedietly and we can offer a full or parttime job. Low salary but huge prospects. NO AGENCIES PLEASE ON THIS ONE.

Experience needed:
Photoshop, HTML, CSS, Wordpress.

Please send your CV along with samples of your work to hello@ahoycreative.co.uk. If you don't have a cv to hand just send some good work samples over and give me a bell at the studio.

Posted By: Mark
01 March 2011

HTML5 Web Design: Shiny future, or not?

People frequently hail some of the new features coming in with HTML5 as the second coming of the internet. Something that will kill off Flash and bring a world of rich interaction and media. It's not hard to see why given some of the amazing animations and user interfaces that have come about in recent years. However the technology is still in its infancy, and whilst browsing the homepage of MSN UK recently, I had to wonder whether the future may not be as shiny as hoped once commercial interests really take hold.

MSN's website is guilty of one hideous mistake many big commercial sites do, and that's that they've abused Flash advertising to an excessive degree. On the day in question, I went on the site to be greeted by a large Mary Poppins, floating over the top of the whole site to plug something or other, rather than actually being able to get to the site I was after. Needless to say, I left the whole site quite quickly! This is no one off, as it's usually car manufacturers going overboard with their ads. At the moment such advertising is the reserve of Flash, thus it is fairly easy to block by just blocking Flash. However as the web moves forward, it's inevitable such abusive advertising will just change to use HTML5 instead.

And what happens at that point? As HTML5 is not a plugin but directly integrated into the browser's rendering, it can't just be 'disabled'. Instead exactly what happened with popup ads (you older folks may remember we used to have those) will come about. The browser vendors will have to start introducing more and more options to 'block sites from performing xyz feature' and pretty soon the shiny new HTML5 will end up crippled once more.

Posted By: Terence
16 January 2012

The Value of Time

"Mark, you're a graphic designer, you can do a logo for my new business can't you?"

If I had a piece of cheese for every time I was asked this, I'd have... well, a lot a cheese really, and as a vegan that'd be fairly useless to me - entirely irrelevant in fact, and perhaps as irrelevant to me as the question itself now I come to think of it. Unless that is, you're prepared to talk hard cash, in which case let's sit down and I'm happy to let you make me an offer.

The point here is that if you were a builder-slash-bricklayer or a painter & decorator, you wouldn't get friends asking you to knock up a quick garden wall for them or stick a few coats of gloss over their living room ceiling; so why, one has to raise the question, would you think it okay to ask your good buddy to give up his or her valuable time to spend it doing something that requires considerable skill and is potentially worth about £35 an hour on a freelance basis?

I'm guessing that this is a phenomenon that's not exclusive to designers; in fact I know it isn't and have often heard accounts from acquaintances in the auto-repair industry that they've been asked by friends to fit new exhausts or head gaskets on their weekends. I'd be pretty sure it stretches to other industries, with the common denominator between every request being the assumption that such a task would be performed as a favour and without the subject of financial reward ever being mentioned. Bizarre.

Posted By: Mark
13 January 2012

London 2012: the Marmite of Logos

When the London 2012 logo was revealed way back in June 2007, reactions to it were diverse to say the least. While many hailed it as youthful and edgy, a great many others struggled to find enough superlatives to convey their sense of disbelief and disapproval. Indeed, when the BBC set up a page on their site inviting opinions, the response was overwhelming, with comparisons made ranging from ‘a broken swastika’ to ‘a pink Larry Grayson doing the "I'm a little tea pot" dance’.

Now five years on, with the games just over 6 months away, it’s interesting to see how the logo has contributed to the development of a clearly discernible brand. Widespread acceptance and recognition, along with its successful absorption into popular culture, offer evidence of the logo’s virtues while offering a grand two-fingered salute to all the naysayers who were so quick to condemn it.

What all those knee-jerk reactions neglected to take into consideration was just how unique the 2012 design is. When placed next to the logos produced for the last 5 summer games, it’s hard to argue otherwise, regardless of whether your still loathe to accept its aesthetic properties. Moreover, in dismissing it too quickly, it’s easy to overlook the fact that the logo’s structure and proportions make it perfect for viewing on the screens of mobile phones, something that its creators, brand consultancy Wolff Olins, recognised as essential in an increasingly digital age.

With several colour variations already released and others due in the run up to the big opening ceremony on July 27^th, it’s clear that versatility can also be added to the list of the logo’s more notable qualities, further reinforcing its contribution to the success of the brand as a whole.

Posted By: Mark
13 January 2012