Studio Snapshot
Cider tasting and team changes
We had a very exciting (and Bristolian) Fanatic social this month, as we took a trip to Myrtle Farm, the home of Thatchers cider.
We had a tour round the orchards and the mills and learned all about the cider-making process, and then got to sample some delicious Somerset ciders that had been crafted on-site. We then went to their very own Railway Inn pub for a delicious lunch. All in all, an amazing day!
In other news, we sadly said goodbye to our lovely developer Ben, who will be very missed for his skilled website building and his always-chilled presence in the office. However, we welcomed our new Digital Marketing Exec Hattie, who has settled into the team brilliantly – read her Fanatic Q&A further down.
What's new in the
Design team?
Thomas has designed a new graduate-focused site for Rockborne
The Rockborne Graduate site uses some fun design techniques that we haven’t used before. First up is the glassmorphic effect of blocks on the site. These frosty boxes give a fun visual effect of the background being blurred as if the card itself was your car windscreen on a cold December morning.
Secondly is the custom colour patterns. These “blobs” needed to be interesting on a big screen while not too busy on a small laptop screen. We used one giant image for each blob that is then cropped by the section depending on the user’s browser, a simple solution that has actually turned out very well and allows for new blobby patterns to be dropped in and out of the sections.
Annie did the illustrations for the Rockborne site
We wanted the accompanying illustrations to reflect the diverse nature of the Rockborne office, as well as the vibrancy of the new graduate website. The clean, linear style juxtaposed with the bright colourful shapes from the website design injects personality into the site. It was a great opportunity for us to collaborate and we love the outcome – our personal fave is the 404 illustration!
See what the Development
team have been up to
Our client Hyby Cig Cymru (HCC), who promote Welsh Meat across Europe and soon the rest of the world, have local representatives in many countries. Up until now each representative had their own website, which has become unwieldy and a nightmare for brand constancy – some of the websites were wildly different!
We’ve built a WordPress Multisite for them, so that all sites are running the same theme, but each representative has their own login and can only edit their own content. This is an elegant solution, and fits exactly with what HCC wanted.
But it’s not that simple! Many countries need more than one language – for example, Switzerland needs both French and German, and obviously the UK site needs both English and Welsh. We solved this with a plugin called PollyLang, which gives the representative the ability to create different language versions of each page, and also translates bits of text used throughout the theme, such as ‘blogs’ and ‘recipes’. It even translates the URLs!
Before building the site, we spent a lot of time researching different approaches, and then testing combinations of Multisite and various plugins. Eventually, we came up with a solution that works really well, but not before a wild goose chase or two! This was time well spent, as it’s better to get these details worked out before the build.
I’ve never needed to build a Multisite before, and didn’t know much about them. It’s been relatively easy to install, and works really well. A very powerful tool, albeit only in very specific circumstances.
The latest from the
Digital Marketing team
Amy and Hattie have been working on Aqua's content and SEO for their new sites
We’ve been working with Aqua Restaurant Group for a few years now, and we’re currently overseeing the creation of new websites for their various restaurants in London, Dubai and Hong Kong.
Alongside this, we’ve created a Content & SEO strategy to help boost search engine rankings, drive traffic towards the new sites and increase bookings.
The strategy incorporates existing page optimisation, new content creation (including blogs and infographics), heatmap setup and analysis and local SEO.
We’re really excited about an animated infographic for Hutong that we made in collaboration with the Design team, which showcases the key ingredients and dishes within Northern Chinese cuisine.
We've been visiting
We've been visitingStathis went back to his homeland of Greece to chase some waterfalls
Meet our new Digital Marketing Exec, Hattie!
How have you found life at Fanatic so far?
I’ve really enjoyed my time at Fanatic so far. Everyone has been so welcoming and friendly and I have already learnt so much.
What were you doing before Fanatic and what made you get into Digital Marketing?
I was studying Journalism and Publishing at University. While doing the Publishing modules, I realised that Digital Marketing was something that really interested me. I then looked into Marketing roles in depth and realised that a Digital Marketing role would be perfect for me.
What made you choose Fanatic?
I really agreed with the values that Fanatic has as a company. I had a look at some of the work they had done in previous years and loved their work. They are a modern business that offered an educational side to the job which was perfect for me as I didn’t have much knowledge of the specific processes and procedures that went into Digital Marketing.
What have you enjoyed most so far?
I have enjoyed getting to know the systems that we use in order to manage so many clients at once. Seeing how email marketing works and how social media is controlled for a business was really interesting. I also really enjoy the “work team days out” Fanatic offers and the snack pot 🙂
What are you looking forward to learning more about?
How to deal with high demands from multiple customers at once, and what processes make this easier. I’m also looking forward to seeing how my content writing skills improve over the coming months.
What’s an interesting fact about you?
Despite my size, I played for my University Women’s Rugby team.
Stathis, Senior Digital Marketing Exec