Another month has flown by in the Studio and as always it has been non-stop! We have welcomed a new member to our Digital Marketing team (more about Michael in next month’s scrapbook) and have enjoyed sharing the studio with two Year 10 work experience students.
In this month’s edition we look at new websites, the fantastic creativity of Grace from Backwell Secondary School and the new update to WordPress.
Studio News
Work Experience
Grace spent a week in the studio for her work experience placement working alongside Ryan (our Senior Designer) and learning about the role of a Graphic Designer. We always set our students a mini project that has been specifically designed for them, which they work on all week and present the finished result to the team. Grace’s project was to design a new drink brand, coming up with a name, logo, USP, packaging and creating a colour scheme; all that met her initial brief. Not an easy task! She gave a very confident presentation of her work to some of the Fanatic team, who offered constructive feedback. We loved the finished result! Well done Grace!
At Fanatic we are proud to be a close knit team and each week different members of the studio present in our stand up to talk about changes and developments within their area of expertise. This ensures the whole team are up to date with the best practices and technologies. Sergio, from our web development team, led a stand up this month on the Gutenburg update in WordPress.
Gutenburg Update
Gutenberg blocks were officially released in December and offer a completely different way to edit posts and pages in WordPress. With big changes always comes mixed reviews and the update was met with negatively by many in the development industry. But with this set to be the only plugin support by December 2021, it is paramount that anyone working on a WordPress website gets to grip with the Gutenburg format. To find out more check out Sergio’s blog on the new update.
New 30 Pavilion Rd Website
Over the last few months we have been working with Searcys to launch a brand new website for their Knightsbridge venue, 30 Pavilion Road. The exclusive-use townhouse is presented using a clean and sophisticated UI, and an image-centred design to show off the venue space, menu, and accommodation. We were able to design and build a website which is modern and sleek, but still keeping in theme with 30 Pavilion Roads traditional decor and boutique rooms. To find out more check out the new website.
New Fanatic Website… Watch this space!
Our team have been busy in the studio on our new website design. Never ones to be left behind we have been looking at new design and development opportunities to make the Fanatic website showcase our creative nature. We don’t want to give too much away but watch this space…
What’s inspired us this month
Radiohead
We’ve been inspired this month by the release of 8 hours of Radiohead’s rehearsal/experimental/live music that was stolen by hackers. The band responded by releasing the music for £8, giving all the money to the Extinction Rebellion cause.
We bought the music and it gives a great insight into the development of OK Computer, a classic and already experimental album.
To hear the band chatting at times, and messing about developing ideas at others, into the creative process, in a similar way to designers experimenting with visuals.
What goes in the bin is always interesting to see/hear, even when you can understand why it got trashed, but to see the evolution of a design or any art adds massively to the understanding of it.
Thom York singing in private into a mic while playing on an acoustic is certainly for hardened fans, but when he hits a line and melody you recognise from a massive tune now sung headlining festivals, it really adds extra depth.
Out and About
Inspiration at the Arnolfini
We also took Grace along with us to the latest Degree show at Arnolfini from this years UWE Design graduates and with the current affairs it was no surprise to see that many of the projects were based on sexuality and politics.
Team T-shirts
After the announcement of Sam’s winning t-shirt design last month, we were really excited to receive the delivery of this summer’s Fanatic tees, which have been screen printed onto black, white and pink by Fyah Fly. Which one is your favourite? Congratulations again to Sam for a super cool design, we’re loving wearing these t-shirts in this summer sunshine.