Last Wednesday, Beaver Design went to the HBI Business Expo at the Galleria, Hatfield. This is the second time Beaver Design has exhibitied at one of these Business Expos (you can read about our previous time here) and it was great to meet and talk with so many businesses from the local area.

We were pleased to see so many start-up businesses and get a chance to talk about the need for strong branding, quality marketing materials and of course, good website design. Many of the people we talked to were also interested in our digital signage services and if you would like to find out more about digital signage, as well as some video case-studies, please take a look at www.beaver-group.com.

For those of you who gave us your business card or entered it into our bowl, there was a chance to win a bottle of Taittinger champagne. We are pleased to announce that the winner of this bottle is Nicole Foulger from St John Ambulance. Congratulations! It will be finding it's way over to you in the next few days.

If you would like any more information about us or what we do (graphic design, web design & digital signage), please take a look around this website or just give us a call.

This month our article in Axis Magazine looked at the future of the web and a little bit about where it all started.

Download your copy of our July article from Axis Magazine (1MB) >

The web is constantly evolving. New technology and innovation does not come in generations, it comes as a continual drip over time. To keep ahead of the game, companies, organisations and individuals need to continually re-evaluate their web presence and update things accordingly. Just because you have a good web presence now, doesn't mean your web presence is sorted forever.

Key to success in the changing world and on the web is to watch how your customers interact with you and adapt as their needs change.

What are you talking about?

Here are some explanations of different terms and the sources which are referred to in the article:

Facebook: Statistics on the usage of Facebook >
Google Maps: Content is being added by everyday people >
YouTube: This broadcasting is even being used by the government >
Mozilla Foundation: See the quote in the article? Find out who they are >

‘RSS’: what it means and how it is used by the BBC >
Semantic Web: What is this? Watch a intro video to this concept >
Linked Data: Video of Tim Berners-Lee on his idea for ‘Linked Data’ >
Cloud Computing: Watch this very brief overview on the concept >

Predicting the future...

Here are a couple of articles which are well worth a read if you are interested in more information about the (possible) future of the web:

Sir Tim Berners-Lee: “the future web will rock the boat" >
Gordon Brown: "The internet is as vital as water" >
iPhone 3G S: A new mobile phone which is taking full of advantage of the web >

The gala award ceremony for the Federation of Small Business (FSB) Awards 2009 was held last week and Beaver Solutions, part of the Beaver Group, is proud to have won second place in the category of “best e-business”.

Beaver Solutions is the sister company to Beaver Design, both of which form the Beaver Group. The Beavers beat off a lot of difficult competition with our innovative and successful work in the field of digital signage and web development. The awards noted our continuing work in integrating digital signage with a range of different web technologies.

All the Beavers are proud to have won another award for our work and would like to congratulate all the other winners and finalists from the evening.

When Essex based South Eastern Electrical decided to create a facilities management division of the company, they contacted Beaver Design. The new venture ‘Tudor Facilities Management’ asked us to create a corporate brand image, with a new design and the print of their general stationery and a quality brochure.

After consultation with the directors we came up with the simple, clean look they required starting with the company logo (above). From this, we further designed letterheads, compliment slips and business cards. With some careful consideration, we also sourced all of the relevant images to create a company brochure which is clean, to the point and reflects Tudor’s ethos – quality.

In only a short time, Beaver Design has provided Tudor Facilities Management with everything, including delivery of all printed items, days before their deadline.

Beaver Design is now working on finalising the new website for Tudor, which will go online in a few days. Watch this space!

“The internet is as vital as water and gas”, wrote Gordon Brown today in an article for The Times. In the article, which preceded today’s Digital Britain report, the Prime Minister outlined the government’s plans for investment into the internet.

The Prime Minister stated, “Just as the bridges, roads and railways built in the 19th century were the foundations of the Industrial Revolution that helped Britain to become the workshop of the world, so investment now in the information and communications industries can underpin our emergence from recession to recovery and cement the UK's position as a global economic powerhouse.”

So, are you making the most of the web now? Talk to us about the ways your business can use the web to bring in business, lower costs and raise your profile.

To read the article by Gordon Brown, go to:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6506136.ece

To read the Digital Britain report, go to:
http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx