Studio Scrapbook
December 2023

At the Fanatic office, our team enjoyed a shared lunch, bringing to the table our ‘signature dishes’. The array was truly global, featuring Kerala-style chicken curry, Greek Christmas honey cookies, pesto pasta, classic macaroni and cheese, and even freshly baked biscuits. Every dish was so enjoyable and led to great conversations, making us look forward to our next team lunch.

In the studio, we often discuss how to refine the details of web design, and how the small things can make a significant difference, whether it’s in conveying feedback on user input or in communicating the brand.

One of the ways we achieve this is through micro-interactions. These are trigger-based interactions with a specific function, conveyed to the user upon interaction. A basic example of this is a scroll bar, while a more complex example is a pull-down refresh animation. Both of these convey feedback to the user after an inputted trigger and serve a singular purpose.

These micro-interactions are opportunities to showcase brand personality while delivering functional feedback. The way an animation moves and feels can say a lot about a brand, and this is something we are constantly exploring.

This month, the Development team has been working on reskinning an existing client’s website to cater for a name change and rebrand. The brief was to accomplish this as cost-effectively and efficiently as possible, whilst ensuring the core functionality of the website remained the same.

Although we typically recommend a website rebuild every few years, the existing codebase was robust enough to meet the brief with minimal compromise. Technology moves fast, with new approaches emerging, search engine algorithms evolving, and security vulnerabilities being discovered. Therefore, it’s crucial to maintain your website or web application in a way that accommodates these changes.

With this in mind, the Development team performed housekeeping on the codebase, updating dependencies and ensuring the foundation was current and effective.

Our visit to Artfarm’s headquarters in Mayfair was a highlight this November. During our quarterly performance review, we showcased the impressive SEO and paid media results achieved over the past four months. We discussed upcoming projects for the new year and enjoyed a tour of the elegant Mount St. restaurant and its private rooms. This visit offered a perfect blend of reflection, planning, and inspiration.

Benny’s adventure to Portugal brought back sunny (and rainy) stories and a taste of the famous ‘Pastel de Natas’. It was the perfect blend of relaxation and cultural exploration for her!