Turner-Locker Sign, Marsh Barton, Exeter

Exeter graphic design company Design Credo have produced new signage to advertise commercial office space in Marsh Barton, Exeter.

Working on behalf of Turner-Locker the Exeter based commercial property agency, Design Credo have used a strong visual impact to promote the office space at Merriot House in Hennock Road Central.

The sign was created using both digital output and vinyl graphics allowing it to be re-purposed at a later date.

Sunny Summer

No real reason for posting this other than I like it. I took the photo yesterday for a customer in Topsham as part of an ongoing website development.

So there it is, a sunny hat on a sunny day.

Recently I posted some images of the Snaefell. Personally, if the donor Laverda was on the forecourt next to the derivative I would be on two wheels every time. However I might just be found revving the engine and listening to it. This is the point where discussion could deviate to the relative aural delights of the 120° and 180° cranks, but it won’t. Suffice it to say that I am pleased that Snaefells exist

John T Overlander

John T 'n' Andrew B

Built for Simon Milward’s Millennium Ride the bike still continues to attract attention both for it and Motorcycle Outreach.

On first sight the Overlander is a total shed of a machine, however closer inspection reveals a huge amount of thought in particular the pannier system linked and damped with a steering damper and the dual height suspension. More of this machine can be found here.

Suffice it to say that bikes like this are never going to be things of beauty, they are things of purpose, a true expression of Form Follows Function.

Keywords for kids

Let me make it clear from the start when I say keywords, I am referring to text that appears in the

1. Page Titles (Meta Tag)
2. H1 tags
3. Body text (in particular text toward the page top)
4. Meta Tag Keywords
5. Meta Tag Descriptions

At Design Credo we have a number of hats available to wear, graphic design, photography, website design and of increasingly greater prominence SEO or search engine optimisation particularly for companies in Exeter, Devon and the South West. So, when we write for our own websites we need to mention these creative skills.

In essence we are trying to pre-judge what our potential clients might type on when using a search engine, particularly Google, when looking to access the services that we provide. Google still has the strongest market share but this doesn’t mean that we are oblivious to the likes of Bing and Yahoo though.

Some informative examples:

1. SEO Exeter Vs Exeter SEO ? If I Google ‘Exeter SEO’, Design Credo appears on the first page of a Google UK search whereas if I Google ‘SEO Exeter’ we are on page two. This is probably because my page title starts ‘Exeter SEO’ rather than ‘SEO Exeter’. Is this a problem? Well yes it is really because I suspect most people wold put SEO first and Exeter second when they do a search. Clearly there is a bit of homework to do.
2. Andrew Butler Photographer. My name is Andrew Butler I take photographs I am in the South West. So however does Andrew Butler and indeed does Andy Butler (by the way don’t ever call me Andy). In addition Andy Butler also gets his hands dirty with graphic design, I’m not certain whether this is the same Andy as photographer Andy Butler though. Suffice it to say that ‘Andrew Butler Photographer Designer’ puts me top of the list as indeed does ‘Andrew Butler Designer’.

   Clearly in an area of competition for the top slot there are winner and losers and the truth is that people will generally be searching for a set of skills rather than a person’s name or a trading name. As one of my customers correctly said the other day;

   “so what you are saying is that I’m not really famous enough yet, when I’m really famous my name will do but until then I still have to tell people what I do?”

3. Cheap Search Engine Optimisation Vs Search Engine Optimiser. Looking at these two search strings in the Google Ad-words Keywords tool, I was struck by the usage graphs for the two strings being almost a direct mirror of each other, with people now looking much more for Cheap Search Engine Optimisation. I guess it could be seen as an indicator of peoples’ changing needs.

To reiterate, we are trying to prejudge what people will search for and you may need to do some research. As an example I never really use the term agency, as in ‘design agency’ but I am aware that others do. Many people are aware of the term ‘SEO’ but don’t really know what it is short for. Is someone going to search for a ‘photographer’ or someone to do ‘photography’?

Location, Location, Location

Putting it simply, if your market is regionally defined this needs to be included in your keywords. There is no point in me battling it out with all of the website designers in the country if I only want to travel as far as Devon, so Devon and Exeter needs a mention. Keywords are filters too, they help you differentiate yourself and your services.

The bottom line website content needs thought, it is a different style of writing, you can’t assume Google knows what you are talking about, search engines need things spelling out to echo what your potential customers are spelling out on a search.

However with an apartment containing pieces such as Castiglioni lamps, Antonio Citterio daybeds and Arne Jacobsen chairs it would almost have seen rude not to. Marion was incredibly welcoming, (thanks too for the Prosecco and the delightful meal @ Café du Commerce ).

As with the ‘teo jakob’ photos these were shot handheld on a little Canon Ixus70 with no additional lighting.

Enjoy…

Many thanks to Marion Vogler for her time and enthusiasm for her subject, impressive stuff.

This stained glass trophy hangs in the flat at Schluecht in Wengen. It was awarded to Karin’s grandfather, Christian Lauener in 1976.

Great design.

If you didn’t go to Specsavers…you may have seen this

Eye-catching shop display seen in Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich. The clothing was made from large paper posters.

Citroën ds3

Seen in Exeter, at first sight the Citroën DS3 certainly attracts interest.

Share this is great but could anyone answer this?

In this WordPress blog I use the “Share This” plugin on. However I have noticed that if I put SEO in the blog title the Share This button doesn’t work, see;

http://designcredo.co.uk/sites/wordpress/2010/03/06/seo-test/ (SEO in the title),

and

http://designcredo.co.uk/sites/wordpress/2010/03/06/abs-test/ (Exactly the same post with ABS replacing SEO in the title)

Is there an innocent reason for this?