Bungalow Blog

An Empowering Business Makeover

Fri, 25 May 2012 08:39:00 GMT

Getting Connected

With our move now behind us, we were keen to start doing business locally, participating and contributing to Whitstable's thriving entrepreneurial vibe. With so many independent businesses here, we wanted to put our skills to good use locally, broaden our network, and enjoy a balance in having more face-to-face clients. The challenge: to find our first local client for a Bungalow-style business makeover!

With that in mind, we headed off to our first tweetup at Whitstable's Hotel Continental. No sooner had we walked through the door than we were approached, arms-wide, by the rather wonderful Kerry Hales, who we had already struck up conversation with over coffee some months earlier, Christmas shopping in Whitstable. A well-connected, much-liked and social-media-savvy businesswoman with great energy – and accomplished track record, she admitted she felt held back by not having a professional brand image, identity and website (other than her existing stock-template, unbranded blog). As a Strictly Come Dancing fan, she had already seen our work and was only too thrilled to let us take a look at her business. Early discussions made it clear that she would benefit from a Bungalow makeover... and that we too would benefit from her infectious and inspirational manner. The fit was good — we clicked!

An initial consultancy session followed where we got to grips with her current business, before turning the tables and becoming coaches to draw out her longer term vision. We then began to plot out a strategy for her new brand, its positioning and roll-out.

A New Image

We wanted Kerry's brand and materials to be a true reflection of her personality, strengths, energy and capability. We turned the spotlight on Kerry, literally, when she visited us at our studio. Upon arriving, she instantly took a shine to our iconic Egg chair; glasses on, pen and journal at hand, Kerry looked right at home. The shutter began to click, and to our delight, a newly confident, empowered professional woman emerged. We shot a series of images that would become an intrinsic part of her new business identity and help direct the look and feel of her website.

A New Identity

With super new portrait photographs to work with, we focused on her visual identity and combined a friendly, positive mark and typeface with energising, corporate swatches, balanced carefully to appeal to both female and male demographics. We also advised she evolve from 'the communications coach' to 'Kerry Hales, the complete coach' to position her as the figurehead of her business and to connect more directly with her audience.

With brand visuals in place, Kerry was keen to present her new business identity at her networking events across Kent: we designed business cards with a QR code for quick mobile access, vital for such a busy networker.

The New Website

We then turned our attention to her website. Kerry's old site was no more than a stock-template WordPress blog. We took her site apart and turned it on its head. We redesigned it from the ground up, reorganising and rewriting the content, replacing what was effectively a personal journal with an engaging, business-based, service-focused website. We asked Kerry to write clear definitions of her core services, telling her to think of them as 'products', for which we created new pages, individual identities and site-wide promo-spots to make them feel accessible, tangible, professionally packaged – and purchasable.

Already up to speed with social media, we brought all her channels on-brand and incorporated them and their feeds into her site; we also introduced her to Pinterest to give an additional visual dimension and resource. Given Kerry's great presence in front of a lens, and wanting clients to be able to get to know, form a bond, and feel comfortable with her, we tried our hands at video-blogging... something we'll be focusing on over the coming months. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, email newsletter, and YouTube - all integrated into her site for maximum exposure and engagement.

Designed to Engage and Connect

Kerry's new website enables her to keep her existing network – and potential clients alike – updated with her news, blogs, inspirations, products, activities... even video-blogs to maintain that crucial personal connection.

Video blog
social media shares
newsletter sign-up
calls to action
pinterest
twitter feed
blog snippets
branded sign-off & contact details

Over to Kerry...

With the website now handed over, its WordPress engine gives Kerry full control over all content, management and updates. She now has all the tools available to enable her to do what she does best: work on her business – her products, services and marketing – rather than 'blog, blog blog'. She has a professional, confident image, and a thoroughly modern, first class website that not only means business – it clearly demonstrates that Kerry means business too.

We've thoroughly enjoyed working with Kerry and are thrilled with the results, as is she...

I'm truly staggered by the Bungalow boys' talent and abilities… they wear so many hats! Not content with being top notch designers, they are business strategists, consultants, social media gurus, copywriters, and website experts – is there nothing they can't do? I am so grateful to have worked with them and can't express what they have done for my business and for me!

If you're serious about business – and shouldn't we all be? – then call them. David & Scott are personable, have the highest integrity I have come across in business and they will over deliver on 'everything'. They get right to the core of your business, they need no direction… they just do it, they get it, they are on another level!!

www.kerryhales.com

Publications with Impact

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:21:00 GMT

Having originated the Society brand identity in 2009 and subsequently their inaugural corporate literature and website homepage, we were called in once again when the socially-aware recruitment firm required tailored publications for its growing reach and specialist services.

As per their tagline, 'make an impact', their two new corporate booklets had to be on-brand, striking and impactful. Providing us with the straight copy, Society allow us creative license to interpret their content in layout, visuals and image-sourcing to best convey their message and ethos.

We're delighted to report that Society are thrilled with their new booklets – as are we!

It's always exciting to work with a brand that 'thinks outside the box', and we're sure the resulting materials will continue to set Society apart as a leader in the world of recruitment and executive search.

Click the preview spreads above to view the full publications on ISSUU, and visit their website here.

The Bungalow Journal

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:24:00 GMT

Settling in after our big move has been no small feat, but Whitstable is a fantastic place – we've already met lots of fantastic people, it's by the sea, packed with independent shops… and the house is a midcentury marvel. All in all, it's right up our street!

Embracing this vibe, we've been working on a new Blog: the Bungalow Journal — a place for us to post our architecture, design and style inspirations (all with a midcentury slant, of course!) There's much that we're eager to blog about that really doesn't quite fit with this, our business blog, and so the Journal was conceived, designed and built… and has just gone live!

Starting with entries about our midcentury move, including full details of our Bungalow renovation – and how we sold it privately, and now starting to take a wider look at the Californian architecture of the era that so captured our imaginations, it's very much a work-in-progress.

Post-by-post, we'll share our inspirations from the mid-20th Century, insights into seaside life here in Whitstable, plus updates on the renovation of our new house, Cambria. (The latter is likely to be a very long process indeed, so it's good to know our virtual notebook won't run out of pages!)

Jump across to our Journal and check out the first few chapters in our journey!

Brand New Breed of Holistic Therapist

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:02:00 GMT

Always great to catch up with our old pal and holistic therapist Tim Norris, we go way back – first working with Tim in 2003 in fact, he was our very first client here at Bungalow Industries!

Since then Tim has made the move to Sydney, Australia, settled down, has a family of his own, and has gone on to develop a large corporate wellness program My5 (with a little Bungalow help in the brand identity department).

With My5 now established, Tim needed our help once again to unleash his new business!

Spotting a gap in the market, Tim has taken the lead and combined his holistic therapies with his other passion in life… his dogs! It was no surprise to hear that Tim is now very much in demand as a canine Myofunctional Therapist and with business booming and fast gaining the attention of the local Sydney press, he urgently needed a brand identity for his business 'Both Ends of the Lead'. Our ears pricked up!

Knowing it would be a walk in the park for us here at Bungalow, Tim sent over the copy and let us get to work. Such a unique enterprise required a considered approach: friendly, engaging, but with a feeling of trust and authority. Built on Wordpress, Tim wanted to be able to update the website himself with all of the events he attends, the canine resources he wants to share, and dates of his regular clinics too. We're also encouraging him to get to grips with social media, and have introduced him to Twitter with a flurry of initial tweets. The result is a bright, fun brand and website that really hits his target market. With just enough doggy cues, great photography and catchy lingo, the website looks a treat!

Tim is already a regular at dog shows in the Sydney area demonstrating his approach and talking to potential clients. With this in mind, we wanted to kit him out… literally! With branded clothing, A-boards, flyers and appointment cards, Tim is certainly going to stand out as 'being best in show'.

It's great to be able to help chums out, and we wish Tim all the best with his latest venture (not that he'll need it with his agility, discipline and pedigree).

www.bothendsofthelead.com.au

(Excuse all the canine howlers in there… couldn't resist… we got like a dog with a bone!)

DIY .docs for YCI

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:47:00 GMT

The Youth Career Initiative, a programme of the International Business Leaders Forum, is a long-standing client of Bungalow Industries and it's always a pleasure to help them out with their ongoing documentation and materials.

As part of their closer integration with IBLF, and the expansion of their youth education programmes into new territories, they have a growing need to manage their suite of smart, designed documents in-house. From their programme overviews to full course curricula, having truly 'working' documents is increasingly important – not just for ongoing updates but also for regional localisation and translation.

It was our pleasure to not only begin a refresh of their collateral, but to go a step further and convert the designed documents from our workhorse application, InDesign, into… deep breath… Microsoft Word.

No mean feat, as any of you with experience in creating professional looking layouts in Word will agree… but ever-focused on our client's outcome we sallied forth with margins, columns, text boxes, tabs, tables, shapes, styles and page formats to achieve our end – and checking they displayed correctly on the team's PCs from London to Brazil and beyond.

YCI are full steam ahead in deploying these documents whose implementation came at a great juncture: the tourism-based life-skills programme is about to roll out across hotels in India!

Well done! I very much appreciate your attention to detail, your technical skills, creativity and above all your patience!

YCI, London

Wow! It looks fantastic, congratulations for making this possible! I am sure our partners will also appreciate it! Greetings from Mexico!

YCI, Mexico

Brilliant news, and we wish them every success in their continuing, youth-empowering work.

Top Flight Firm Targets Seats of Learning

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:15:00 GMT

Perrett Laver has one of the largest Higher Education executive search practices in the world, with a vision of influencing society through a new breed of a leaders for a changing world.

Having worked with the directors and consultants on previous corporate literature, as well as the redesign and reposition of their website, we were appointed once again to produce materials for their Global Chairs Practice.

The new literature, aimed at identifying, engaging and securing outstanding academic leaders for the world's top universities, had to feel truly global, set the right tone, and feel every bit as sharp as the the company itself. Taking its overall look and feel from the website, we sourced supporting images and devised a structure to best present the information.

Having met with resounding approval, printed copies of the book were whisked off to Asia where the Global Chairs Practice convened with the heads of some of the region's top universities. Feedback was prompt upon their return and we're delighted to report that the document proved to be a "roaring success" among its learned readers.

Winter Warmer

Wed, 23 May 2012 18:03:00 GMT

Our relocation now behind us, tucked up snug and warm in Kent, we received a winter warmer of a project from entrepreneur and regular client, Damien Knight.

With the overwhelming success of every venture Damien undertakes, and fuelled by the demand for his gas services, Damien swiftly commissioned us to design not one, but two new brand identities and websites for him. We thoroughly enjoy working with Damien, he's clear about his outcomes and objectives, decisions are made quickly, our designs are implemented promptly by his long standing developers – and he's always delighted with the results. This commission was no exception.

The first to be undertaken was 'London Boiler Centre': a simple, friendly and informative website targeting Londoners in search of a new boiler; the second: a sister site offering boiler repairs. Whilst the design work is complete for both, Damien is initially targeting the new boiler market, and the build of the repair site is on the back-burner for the time being.

We were mindful that the new sites should work well alongside Damien's other venture which supplies gas and electricity testing and certification to the property industry: London Property Inspections. We used our Bungalow trademark approach of clear, engaging graphics, strong imagery, plays on words, simple language, and most of all: a friendly and approachable feel.

Yet again the site has been a roaring success, and we are in talks with Damien about moving forward with a pilot for another of his business ideas. Damien is one bright spark!

www.londonboilercentre.co.uk

"Single Storey" — the Bungalow features in Midcentury Magazine!

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:52:00 GMT

Back in July of this year when we launched the marketing campaign for the private sale of our bungalow, we were thrilled and flattered to be approached by Tabitha and Tom, Editor and Aficionado behind Midcentury Magazine — the only UK-based publication for fans and followers of the midcentury movement. It was a real honour when they asked if they could run a feature on our ranch-style, Renway 'Type 60a' bungalow… and of course, we agreed like a shot!

It wasn’t long before they came to interview us at home, seeing the bungalow for themselves, taking a leisurely stroll around the tree-lined roads in Edgcumbe Park, and hearing some of the anecdotes about the estate’s eclectic residents, past and present — not to mention the parties of the ‘swinging sixties’ in the early days of the development!

The issue's launch coincided with this November's Modern Show in Dulwich where we caught up with Tabitha & Tom busily subscribing new readers on their stand. We were delighted to see a generous nine full pages had been given over to featuring the bungalow, illustrated by David's lovely photographs, along with a separate focus on the Renway Construction Company's vision behind Edgcumbe Park co-authored by Scott. In addition, there’s a useful ‘get the look’ section with information on where we obtained our key pieces. In all, a very special memento of our time at the property, and hopefully something to inspire others to remodel their homes, midcentury-style!

Why not subscribe and read all about it?!

Each issue is packed with interesting and information-rich articles all with a midcentury flavour; the current issue no exception with some fascinating reads about furniture designers & manufacturers past and present; where to source the best midcentury finds (and what to look for —great article by Antiques Roadshow expert Mark Hill), and the best in midcentury media & arts (including author David Christopher's appreciation of midcentury hi-fi equipment, and a lovely background insight into Hergé and his Tintin by Charlotte Luxford).

If you can't wait for your copy to arrive in the post, click to see a preview of ‘Single Storey: An American Ranch Home in Berkshire’.

Once again, big thanks to Tabitha & Tom at Midcentury Magazine!

Brand Identity Matters

Tue, 08 May 2012 20:51:00 GMT

Website development and SEO specialists Sugarcoat came to us late 2011 having observed our work for some time. They said they'd tried to craft their own identity countless times and failed, and came to the conclusion that if you want the job done properly, you call in the experts. We met, talked, and presented our options… the main one being a bitter pill to swallow: change the name. Sugarcoat underwent a rebranding proces with Bungalow Industries to become: netmatter.

We took their brief and crafted a new identity plus visual and language styles. We dissected their field and competitive landscape and devised a device that in one combined their name, their approach and their methodologies. We created a 5-colour double helix, cannily intertwining the 'n' and 'm' of the name (and the initials of the company's directors) and representing the DNA of the businesses that their approach targeted: the longer strand set in four Google-inspired colours for their 4-fold skillset (Consultancy, Design, Marketing, Reporting) and the other strand in a corporate grey for the SEO service underpinning every aspect of their approach. Simple, elegant, evocative and effective... 'genetic engineering for your business,' you might say!

We didn't spare any thinking on the typeface either: Delta Jaeger is a little-known typeface crafted by Gustav Jäger in 1983 for Berthold. Jäger sadly died last July, but his legacy also includes the font Catull – most famously used as Google’s typeface – and his work used here gives a subliminal tie-in for those in-the-know.

Netmatter were delighted and thrilled to at last have an identity encapsulating who they are and what they do so completely; one that also reflects their capability in this competitive – and fast evolving – marketplace.

An identity is more than just a logo; and from there, the roll-out commenced. We brought out the 'net' theme in their name, and the tile-able nature of their logo – both into long strands (like DNA of course) and into a net-like pattern vertically for their twitter background and stationery suite. We then designed a holding page, presenting the new name and identity whilst we designed the main site. The DNA strand was used to good effect moving across the screen presenting each of netmatter's key competencies. We coined friendly, approachable language, and a Diagnostic WebCheck service and visual as a hook to catch inquisitive visitors.

We designed and copywrote the entire site, covering a customer-focused approach to each of their business areas and provided them with all the artwork necessary to build the site, being SEO-savvy developers themselves. Meanwhile, business has been so good for them that they've not had time to complete the build, though it's being developed in the wings as time allows.

Business has indeed been good for netmatter as they've subsequently commissioned us to provide front-end artwork and brand treatments to a number of their projects. Confident in their coding abilities, and enjoying the refreshing change of digital communication and website design without having to get stuck into coding, the opportunities have been a welcome change!

www.netmatter.co.uk

Update Your Address Book!

Sat, 05 May 2012 16:11:00 GMT

This is just a quick change-of-address blog post to let you all know that we've moved! Our own property marketing campaign has proved a resounding success and we’ve sold our bungalow privately!

We're still amazed at how the bungalow and its online marketing have been tweeted about, shared on Facebook and featured on property, design and style blogs around the world — and look out for it in the next issue of Midcentury Magazine too! It's particularly rewarding that our combined talents have not only brought deserved attention to the Edgcumbe Park Development... but also saved us over £10,000 in Estate Agency fees.

December 2011: ISSUU, the world's leading online publishing platform, has just awarded us the accolade of best application of their product and we'll soon be featured on their blog! (Very chuffed!)

Once we're settled in we'll be blogging properly about how we put our property know-how and marketing expertise into practise to achieve this thrilling result.

Although sad to leave the bungalow, our super neighbours and the lovely locality behind, we were in need of more space — and the next challenge...

...We’re now settling in to an even quirkier property by the sea near Whitstable, Kent! Keep an eye here on our new journal to see more about our new home: an architect-designed, 1970's curiosity called ‘Cambria’, and our ongoing explorations of the local area — famed for its oysters and creative pursuits. We're very excited and are looking forward to sharing it with you!

Meanwhile, do please update your address books with our new details:

click to download our vCard

Bungalow Industries
Cambria
47 Hazlemere Road
Seasalter
Whitstable
Kent CT5 4AW

If you’d like our help in expertly presenting your property for sale to achieve the best possible price — perhaps even selling privately like us, you know where we are, or call us on 0845 601 1470.

With house-warmed wishes,

David & Scott

P.S. Even though our new home has an upstairs, we’ll always be ‘Bungalow’ ;-)

366 Days of Dance

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:03:00 GMT

As we head into autumn there are two things looming large on the horizon: Strictly Come Dancing… and Christmas. How better to combine the two, than with our professional dancers' calendars!

Following on from the success of Ian Waite's 'Man for All Seasons' calendar last year, he commissioned us to create a follow-up calendar using photographs from his summer shoot in Majorca.

Provided with the disk of unedited images, we all got to work whittling them down — Ian choosing his favourites, which we then retouched and laid into our new format design. This year we upped the size to A3 to provide more space for fans to write, still including a couple of bonus pages as per last year's. Striking white-suited images provided the front and back covers, and with the summery shots within, we coined the title the 'Whitehot Calendar' with straplines referencing the 'smouldering looks and year-round heat' on offer — all adding another dimension to the product.

Again in wall and desk formats, Ian approved the artwork and we set about preparing print-ready files and creating the renders for his online shop and HTML emailshot to his mailing list. Like last year, each calendar will be signed by Ian nearer to Christmas — in another mammoth session!

Visit Ian Waite’s online shop here.

More top billing Strictly clients of ours, Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag were also keen to be there for their fans over '366 days of dance' — and using the images from their 2010 'Puttin' On The Ritz' tour, we created their 2012 calendar with the suitably music-hall title, 'Night and Day'. Their beautiful portraits were used to great effect at A3, showing the exquisite detail in Erin's dresses and we added the starry backdrops from the new website we created for them earlier this year to keep everything on brand and suitably sparkling. Extra pages were added, including a year-to-view planner and full-page print for the Nation's Favourite Ballroom Couple to hand sign.

With Anton and Erin's approval on the design and layout, we prepped the file for print, created the marketing renders and set the product live on their online shop to coincide with the Strictly Launch Show on the 10th September… simultaneously sending out a beautifully styled HTML email to their mailing list.

When it comes to marketing, like dancing, it's all in the timing!

Visit Anton & Erin’s online shop here.

Risky Business

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:58:00 GMT

Leading light in the provision of Risk Assessment software and systems to businesses nationwide, RiskBase approached Bungalow Industries to rethink the presentation of data and results in their report documents. Not the most glamorous of fields, granted, but certainly of relevance to us (being property-minded) and an interesting opportunity nonetheless with great industry-wide potential.

We began with Asbestos. RiskBase have devised a unique system for assessors to capture their survey data on tablet devices — such as the iPad — which syncs with their office database from which a report can be automatically compiled and prepared. Experts in user interface (UI) design themselves, their online polish wasn't reflected in their printed materials and they duly commissioned Bungalow to find a new way of reporting the information.

We took the report to task, firstly having to understand the survey's scope and important legal and technical requirements so we could work out how to present the information in the best possible way. We wanted to give a cleaner, stronger format to the layout, including more visual signals for the key levels of hazard. We even worked hard to understand the algorithms used in the calculations so we could clearly show their customers how raw data translates into risk, hazard… and crucial action lists. Clarity, communication and comprehension were key to turning dry, word-processed documents into engaging, understandable reports.

RiskBase were delighted with our approach, the format and design we presented and were quick to set us off reformatting their reports for Fire Safety. We went back to basics again, understanding the complexities of the assessments and how to interpret them in order to present the results.

Again, the layouts were met with approval — and not just by our client RiskBase… but also by the Fire Protection Association, the national regulatory body who will in fact be implementing our formatting into their reports. They requested some subtle customisation to work with their specific datasets, resulting in not just a delighted client but also a step change for risk reporting with Bungalow able to help raise the industry-standard bar.

Headhunted by Headhunters

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:24:00 GMT

Bungalow Industries’ design consultancy talents were recruited by two leading London firms to take their online presences to the next level in brand positioning and engagement.

Having previously worked with premier brand Perrett Laver on their corporate literature, we were called in again this time to redesign their website and reposition their brand, asserting the firm as a leader in executive search globally. Understanding their needs and requirements was vital and a full-on day of back-to-back meetings with the Directors and lead Consultants from each Practice Group was organised to provide a fuller insight into their operation and business goals.

Fully briefed, we set about devising the new site architecture and design, providing each Practice Group with its own identity derived from the original brand mark — and blueprinting a new site within which the Consultants can come to the fore with their news, views and success stories.

As part of our sweeping revision, we employed a module-based page template which is being implemented phase by phase as their blogging, library of media-bytes and catalogue of global appointments grows. All artwork files and a walk-through site were given to their long-standing developer, Mark Ingman at Valhalla Software who set about building the front end and bolting it onto a bespoke, user-friendly, Content Management System (CMS) for the Consultants to upload positions, track and manage applications, and keep their Practice Group news up to date.

With Phase 1 in place, Perrett Laver are successfully presenting themselves to a wider audience and being commissioned to seek out new talent for positions at the highest levels in companies, institutions and organisations worldwide.

After crafting the identity for Society in 2009, this progressive search firm came back to Bungalow Industries to commission us to redesign their website's homepage to bring it more up-to-date and inline with their growing client base, charitable activities and social media presence.

Having not been involved in the original website design, we were eager and excited to be able to roll-out our identity work and vision to create a new dynamic, engaging and social media-savvy interface. Our proposed design was approved without amends, offering a much more customisable layout with hero banners, trailers to content within the site and greater potential for keeping Society's homepage as fresh and current as the team themselves.

As with the Perrett Laver website, changes are being implemented in phases, many in place already and Society have been excitedly tweeting about their site’s relaunch to their growing following!

———————————————

Headhunted again, and hot on the heels of our work with Perrett Laver and Society, we were asked to create the identity and website design for a new global recruitment brand soon to enter the market. Keep your eyes on our blog - we'll keep you posted!

Step Into The Starlit Domain Of Anton & Erin!

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 21:40:00 GMT

Household names, national treasures and dance icons, Anton & Erin are one of the most renowned ballroom dancing partnerships since Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers. As high profile entertainers, the couple are never far from the media spotlight and Bungalow Industries were duly thrilled and honoured to be commissioned by this illustrious couple to give them a brand refresh and website makeover.

Starting with a beautiful set of studio-based images from Greg King capturing the couple in some lyrical poses, we set to work compiling and editing text, images and video content to ensure the site was rich in fresh media and an authoritative archive of the old. Using Greg's photographs as large as possible to give the fans a real treat, combined with some subtle spotlighting, silvered logotype and starry backdrop, the concept for the site was born.

Followed by an already extensive – and active – fanbase, the site had to provide greater functionality than our previous sites to date and so we integrated a messageboard coined the 'Speakeasy' as a forum for fans to engage with the site, each other, and Anton & Erin too. Complete with a blog, gallery, bookings & events pages, and a print-and-poster-stocked online shop it was developing into a showbiz site of apt style and class!

We're particularly proud of the 'Strictly' section. From a splash page of its own introducing the couple in a 'presenterly' manner, you then get to enjoy their celebrity pairings, dances and videos from every series on dancecards portrayed in a cheekily 'Play Your Cards Right' format! No small feat of collation, but the interface certainly kept us amused throughout!

A pre-launch countdown and sign-up period amassed a mailing list of fans who received a lovely email invitation from Anton & Erin to visit the site when it went live on schedule, 1st June.

Complimentary comments flooded in to the inaugural blog post – and over twitter too with both @theAntonDuBeke and @ErinBoag having over 15,000 followers apiece and receiving countless tweets of approval. The Speakeasy opened its doors to eager fans posting their thoughts and comments and starting dance topics of their own... and the hits haven't abated.

We don't mind admitting that it's been particularly exciting to watch the site take on a life of its own!

With 'Strictly' season soon upon us we have our fingers and toes crossed that Anton & Erin will once again appear as professional dancers – for their 9th series, no less – and that their new website will grow into a lively meeting place for current fans, and help them become fast friends with new followers.

Keeeeeep Dancing!

www.antonanderin.com

On Your Marques!

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 08:07:00 GMT

2011 started apace with a call from three-times world Salsa champion and choreographer to the stars, Chris Marques. Hot on the heels of his successes in choreographing many of the routines seen on the BBC hit show 'Strictly Come Dancing', French-born Chris had been appointed Artistic Director and Head Judge on TF1's 'Danse Avec Les Stars' – France's equivalent to 'Strictly' – and needed a website up and running in time for the show's press launch.

Chris had a clear direction in mind from the outset: he wanted his site to look and feel very magazine-like, loving the approach we took with fellow Strictly professional Erin Boag's website last year. His brief was to take design cues from top gentlemen's style publications and team them up with shots from his latest photoshoot by the fabulous Snooty Fox Images to create magazine-style pages with attitude and impact. As a relative newcomer front-of-camera, the site was to present Chris as a personable expert and authority in his field — the natural choice for the role of Head Judge on this primetime show.

With a striking bilingual 'coverpage' linking through to a media-packed contents page, interview-style spreads (translation to be supplied) and a blog, gallery and contact page, the result is a punchy site that's smart and chic whilst still capturing Chris' quirky personality and latin spirit.

Known industry-wide as being a perfectionist in his field, we held our breath when we sent the site over to Chris for him to explore... and were thrilled when we received his marks: a full 10 points!

"The site is AMAZING!!!! Thanks so much for all your hard work!! Everything from the way it looks to the way it's written, just fantastic!"

Hot-step over to www.chrismarques.com to learn more about Chris Marques and his winning debut on 'Danse Avec Les Stars'!