DNA have just completed a website design and build for Otone Audio. A growing name in the audio world, Manchester-based Otone works with a team of designers on the continent and collaborates with businesses in China to bring cutting edge technology and sleek designs to its range of PC speakers, laptop speakers and 5.1 surround sound systems. The new website has a flexible content management system and is fully optimised for search. DNA worked closely with marketing consultants The Green Agency and search engine specialists, 3 White Hats to deliver the project on time and budget.

The products featured on the website are not yet currently available to buy in the UK, coming to the market in the first quarter of 2012 and make up just a small number of the full range of Otone products. The site has a host of features that are currently hidden, such as customer and press reviews, downloadable product user manuals and links to suppliers for every product. Check back next spring to see the site in its full glory.

Take a look at the new site here: www.otoneaudio.co.uk

With over 400 luxury holiday cottages throughout Devon and Cornwall, Toad Hall Cottages offer the widest selection of luxury coastal and countryside cottages in the South West – and we’ve just completed their identity redesign and corporate guidelines.

The new design uses a customised handwritten typeface, moving away from the calligraphy of old, to create warmth and informality. Mr. Toad has also had a makeover and has been illustrated in a variety of poses which will be implemented across the up-coming brochure and website that are in development.

We’ll keep you up to date with new developments in the coming weeks.

The dna team were thrilled to be selected by South West based adoption charity Families for Children to work on their latest campaign that was launched this week. The campaign aims to recruit potential adopters and can already be seen on billboards, advertisements and posters placed throughout Devon, Cornwall and Dorset to support National Adoption Week. The campaign aims to encourage those thinking about adoption to find out more and to dispel common concerns around adoption such as adoptive parents having to be married and be homeowners, neither or which are necessary.

Families for Children place children from throughout the UK with loving families in the South West and pride themselves on the ongoing support offered to the families for as long as it is needed. With over 4000 children currently waiting to be adopted, the campaign encourages potential adopters to ‘Give a child a chance.’ If you have been thinking about adoption or would just like to know more about it, you can speak to one of the Families for Children team on 01364 645480. Alternatively you can find out more here.

The Bullion collection brief was geared to highlight the unique features of the product, namely the gold finishing on corners and buttons. In order to instill the essence of ‘pricelessness’ and ultimate value, we constructed a story around the product. Placing the products within a briefcase highlighted that they were precious and the bank vault setting and gold bullion placed either side enhanced this notion. Photography and post production was done in our in-house studio ensuring the result looked authentic and atmospheric.

The Pinstripe collection brief required us to capture how the iconic pinstripe suit, with its sharp and precise tailoring, is still a hallmark of the city. We took an approach that best displayed how the suit/products are intricately and painstakingly put together. Shot in-house on a blanket of a classic pinstripe material (direct from Savile Row), the subtle yet clever use of the material’s pinstripe direction helps draw the eye to the products, creating a stronger, more dynamic image. A few props were added to the scene to tell the story and a backdrop integrated to place the scene within a top London tailors. Post production enhanced the lighting and colour palette to help sell the concept.

Both adverts were launched today. Let us know what you think.

A fresh new look has been applied to the latest brochure suite for Princess Yachts, one of DNA’s higher profile clients. We are always looking to evolve and improve their brand presence and this year have looked to specialist print finishes and materials as well as looking at sizes, design and production. DNA were responsible for helping to save significant costs on print as well as adding a more pro-active and structured approach to this year’s brochure suite. The process, which starts around 8 months before the main boat show season, includes art direction on photography, print management, a lengthy design and artworking process, image retouching and inputting copy for 7 languages. However, the most important part of the process is the concept stage, which involves talking to Princess Yachts staff, customer feedback and looking at industry trends. Once the concepts are approved, the design process begins. The culmination of all this hard work is the printed article itself. This year the V Class and Flybridge brochures feature an uncoated softback cover with accented foil blocking and clear varnish elements to the type. The guts of all three brochure types were printed on a high gloss stock with a gloss coating to help lift and add vibrancy to all the images. The Generic brochure featured a hardback cover with matt laminate and silver foil and used a new lifestyle image photographed in Thailand earlier in the year.

The brochure suite has been well received by Princess Yachts and launches to the general public at the Southampton Boat Show, which starts 16th September and runs through to Sunday 25th September. For your copy, why not visit the show, or contact Princess Yachts directly – www.princessyachts.com

Pictured below: Simon Clare (Marketing Manager for Princess Yachts) at the recent press pass signing off a section of the V Class brochure suite.

Article by Paul Mabin – Managing Director

Following on from our recent rebrand we are pleased to launch the new and improved dna website. It took a little longer to complete than we had hoped but we’ve been very busy getting some exciting client projects finished first. As always, we wanted to take the time to get it just right, so we hope you like it.

Check out the ‘see our work’ section for an assortment of projects from our ever-growing client list, providing a good representation of the quality and variety of our work. On the ‘meet the team’ page you can find out more about the people behind the agency and see for yourself what a good looking bunch we are.

We’ll be updating the site often, so make sure you check back soon, or even better sign up to receive updates using the link at the top of the page. We hope you enjoy looking through the new site and would love to hear what you think of it, so get in touch!

www.dnaadvertising.co.uk

Tues 12 April: Feeling the early morning chill on platform 5, I awaited the train with only a cardboard cup of tea and a luke warm bacon bap for company. This trip will be the envy of many, others may possibly even drool at the prospect, but sometimes you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do…

It’s important to keep abreast of the latest developing technologies when you’re working in an integrated design and digital agency. Be it software or hardware developments, emerging new media platforms or routes to market, it’s essential to keep your eyes peeled for the next industry evolution or new standards on both developer/designer and user sides of the table.

Sadly, Tomorrow’s World was canned in 2003 and frankly just reading about new technologies doesn’t cut the digital mustard. You can’t beat hands-on interaction and demonstration. So I took a trip to the Birmingham NEC on an exclusive Press preview invitation to The Gadget Show Live Professional, the largest consumer electronics show. That’s five huge exhibition halls crammed with hundreds of stands sporting the latest gadgets, consumer tech, demos, workshops and presentations from every industry imaginable, giving an insight into technology and trends of the future… FIND OUT WHAT’S HOT!

For a multimedia and graphic designer with an unhealthy interest in futuristic tech this was something special and after spending 6 hours negotiating the bustling halls and exhibitor stands, playing, learning and experiencing, here’s my take on future Tech and ones that dominated the show. Amidst the eco transportation, domestic robots, sound systems, digital storage devices, gimmick-focused toys, customisables and things you’d find in your local Curry’s, the big boys were:

3D home cinema and gaming.
You may still require those dodgy glasses but playing the latest Nvidia 3D vision system on the worlds largest 3D plasma was pretty immersive. Like last year’s expos, 3D was everywhere and 3D PC-powered experiences was chief. With every major manufacturer touting their improved 3D tv engines (LG’s being non-battery powered and shutter/flicker free – RealD cinemas style), 3D video cameras, stills photography and now 3D Bluray recorders, the industry is charging ahead with this stereoscopic mindmelding whether we like it or not. With the Nintendo 3DS paving the way for no-glasses consumer electronics it’s only a matter of time before that hits our home and we’re all pleasantly cross-eyed.

Tablets, slates, touch-screen mobiles and PCs.
These little babies were simply unavoidable. The lines certainly are blurring between these devices – way beyond the Dell Inspiron Duo’s netbook/tablet identity crisis. The new HP touch pad has sidelined it’s Windows slate and opted for WebOS on it’s new 9.7inch tablet. The Motorola android powered Xoom is weighing up a real contender against the iPad2, with Nvidia’s Tegra 2 Dual core processor and using Google’s (built for tablets) version of Android, Honeycomb. Even BlackBerry have jumped on board the casual bandwagon with their ‘executive plaything’, the BlackBerry Playbook. Throw the Xperia Play (the Playstation Phone) into the mix with its D-Pad design and dedicated portable gaming service and you’re spoilt for choice. Mobiles are becoming smarter and tablets are getting lighter, smaller and more portable – surely there must be the perfect middle ground soon? Well, Acer’s Iconica phone has now entered microtablet territory with it’s 4.8inch 21:9 widescreen display. Powered by Android Gingerbread, the Iconica smarts an 8megapixel camera, 720p video capture and HDMI out. A big phone, a tiny tablet or the best of both worlds? Time will tell. On the other hand, sWaP’s tiny Nova phone is the worlds lightest at 43grams cramming top touchscreen tech into the size of a matchbox! The latest word on the future of this big/small conumdrum… expandable smartphones. Oh and that Android is set to win the OS war… Did I say that aloud?

For portable gaming, widescreen media device and work tool, 2011 is the year of the tablet.

From the web getting smaller, to it getting much bigger! Smart TVs are certainly where things are going.
After experiencing the LG PZ950T 3D smart web-connected television with it’s pointer controlled web browsing, on demand streaming and tv-specific aps it was a no-brainer and is set to become a standard in years to come. Also integrating wirelessly with your other devices to stream from phones or computers, I was suprised that no other exhibitors were fronting these features.

My pic of the Gadget Show's Jason playing a proto-type 'whack-a-mole' with the power of his eye-balls.

Superpowers! It sounds far fetched but both eye-controlled and mind-power controlled electronics were on show and any were on sale! Recently appearing on The Gadget Show, the NeuroSky MindFlex head gear works with custom apps using brainwaves for control, be it focus to beat an onslaught of Zombies or meditation to reduce difficulty levels. Not exactly mass appeal though. Likewise, NI’s Waterloo Labs have developed a working prototype of thier Eye Control techology - forget jumping about with Microsoft Kinect, now you don’t have to raise a finger – literally!

Although not as dominating as it might have been Augmented Reality, fronted by T-Immersion was also a key player – blurring the lines between the real and virtual worlds. AR is a relatively young, but actually quite established technology and it’s extremely flexible. I saw examples of product focused AR whereby the user has full control over a 3D model of an animated Nissan, educational focused AR whereby Dinosaurs literally came to life from a picture book, through to in-store interaction and videos to engage you before you purchase. AR has massive potential but it’s still misunderstood, yet to break the novelty barrier into a mainstream form of consumable interaction. However this is set to happen very soon in conjunction with traditional print advertising methods.

Unfortunately my biggest let down were the highly anticipated Vuzix Augmented Reality glasses, capturing 3D video in real time and and overlaying 3D digital creations and experiences before your eyes -great in theory but in practice, well I’ll try again next year.

An animated, lighting box, no circuitry - just ink.

Wireless Power?
While we’re on the subject of futuristic tech and with relevance to digital media, advertising and design applications my favourite has to be the progressive work by Fulton Innovations and their eCoupled intelligent wireless power. Although it appears to be in it’s infancy as far as final applications are concerned, this tech allows phones to charge without wires, food to heat itself whilst in it’s packaging and even animation of the packaging design itself through the use of conductive ink! All you need to do is place said item on an eCoupled countertop or shelf – lets get then in stores pronto!

Finally, some other things to look out for:
3D printing, literally Ink-jetting a solidifying resin into a 3D object from a 2D data file.

Near Field Communications – using mobile devices as secure travel passes, wallets, travel cards etc. Major players like Samsung, Orange and Google are backing this one and a similar tech is already established in parts of Asia.

4G mobile networks – O2 are already testing the super fast 4G system with rumored speeds of 20x faster than today’s home broadband on your mobile device!

Then there’s folding, paper-like touch and display screens to be the norm in 2018, Ultra HD TV is set for launch in 2020 although initial tests have resulted in sickness due to the image appearing as ‘too real’… after that, quite possibly time travel.

Well, the day was an educational and insightful one and although I wouldn’t say my mind was blown, it was certainly frazzled. – lot’s to think about.

Check out the official GSL website here for more information and to sign up for public tickets or watch videos from the show.

(Opinion: Jon Price – Designer)

We’re chuffed to announce that DNA have been selected to design and build a new website for the London Trocadero following a recent pitch process. We will be working with London real estate firm Criterion Capital to create a new online presence for the Trocadero and implement a new social media and content strategy as part of their rejuvenation plans for the centre. We’ll also be working closely with the Trocadero tenants such as Cineworld, Funland, HMV, The Rainforest Cafe, Starbucks and Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

On hearing the news that we’d been awarded the account, Jon just couldn’t stop himself from doing a celebratory dance on one of the Trocadero’s dance machines. Check them mad skillz!

The free-to-use employment solicitors website uses a bespoke employment dispute ‘claim evaluator’, which we hard coded in PHP and MySQL, sitting within a search-engine friendly HTML design. Individual information pages were created to provide consumers with information that would cut through the usual legal jargon, while also enabling the Employment Solicitors team to optimise the site for a broad range of relevant search terms.

The website steers visitors through a number of clear, simple, multiple-choice questions to ascertain the details surrounding the case. Those who receive a ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’ get the opportunity to explain their circumstances in more detail and, should they choose to, can opt for those details to be sent to a qualified, pre-vetted employment lawyer in their area, who will contact them within a matter of hours.

Losing your job has got to be one of the most stressful things that can happen to someone, so we hope you never need to look at this site again!

Take a look at the Employment Solicitors site at: www.employmentsolicitors.org

DNA chose the popular blog platform ‘WordPress’ to build the Hire Winnebago site. WordPress is a hugely flexible tool which not only includes an easy to use content management system, but also allows users to easily add functionality later via a versatile ‘widget’ system. The main benefits of using the WordPress system is that it gives the client huge flexibility to manage their own site and is found in the search engines quickly and easily with minimal effort while keeping the initial build costs to a minimum.

If you would like to know more about how DNA can help you to get your website started using ‘WordPress’ please contact our customer services team on 01803 616100 or, if you are looking to hire the Rolls Royce of motorhomes for a weekend, visit our friends at www.hire-winnebago.co.uk!

We hope you all had a very merry Christmas and eventful new year celebrations! If you were not one of the lucky ones to receive our c-fold DNA Christmas card, we thought you’d like to salivate over these snaps. Roll on 2011!

DNA have successfully completed a project for one of the UK’s leading book publishers, Hodder & Stoughton. Based in London, the publishers awarded the prestigious contract to DNA, briefing them to design and build an updatable website, with features, blogs and news about authors and their forthcoming books for their new imprint ‘Two Roads’, which publishes themed titles focused on animals, emotion and life-stage decisions.

Still a relative newbie to DNA, Digital Project Manager Mathew Riley found winning the major contract when in competition with some of the best London agencies is very satisfying – “The most rewarding part of the project was delivering a site that matches the tone and functionality requested by the client”.

The Two Roads imprint is run by Lisa Highton, who edited the mega successful Marley and Me film tie in, among other titles. Lisa commented: “DNA was incredibly helpful and patient setting up the Two Roads site. We really appreciated the problem solving and after sales service but first and foremost a great site.”

See www.tworoadsbooks.com

Things are changing here at DNA. We’ve recently taken on some great new hires which have helped to restructure and refocus our business, so we’ve given ourselves a makeover with a refreshed brand identity! It was an exciting process (we took a few snaps along the way, see below), and we’re really pleased with the outcome. Our new business cards arrived today which was very exciting, although we love them so much it’s going to be hard to hand them over! Watch this space for our shiny new website, coming soon…

EMCAS is an established and successful financial services claims management company. Set up to advise and act for clients who think they may have been mis-sold a financial product, like Payment Protection Insurance or an Endowment Mortgage or been mis-advised about an investment or a loan, EMCAS has specialists who can pursue a claim on their clients’ behalf. Beginning with a fresh logo design, DNA went on to create a compelling advertising campaign which is currently running in several national tabloid newspapers. DNA also handled the media planning for the campaign. Enquiries flowing from the ad campaign are followed up with a mailing, consisting of a Welcome Pack containing information relevant to each enquiry. With careful attention to tone of voice, DNA’s copywriting skills came to the fore along with the creation of a suite of accompanying images. DNA have also recently refreshed the existing Emcas website with the new branding.

Read, and see more:

After months of hard work and anticipation the brand new Princess Yachts brochure suite has been launched! The change in size and orientation allows the dynamic imagery to really make an impact, while the two main boat ranges, Flybridge and V Class, now feature separate identities for the first time from cover designs, through to the stock, finish and overall design and layout. Printed in eight languages, these brochures will be seen all over the world starting at the 2010 Southampton Boat Show.

These Princess Yachts brochures weren’t the only ones completed and released; the new British Ceramic Tile product brochures were also hot off the press in September. Three brochures in total, each one specifically designed for the different target audiences within the retail and trade industries. The new A4 format really shows off the stunning room set imagery which was also commissioned as part of an extensive new product launch.

When First DataBank came to DNA with their brief for a corporate DVD presentation to be used in a sales pack and on exhibition stands, we knew exactly what they needed. As the UK’s leading provider of drug databases and active clinical decision support, their subject matter can get more than a little complicated but with DNA’s long-standing relationship with FDB we were able to get under their skin to create this animated typographic presentation that makes it all the more clear.

The pharmaceutical sector is ruled by results and facts and that’s exactly what we drew upon to highlight the benefits of working with FDB, and the possible dangers if you don’t. In-house, DNA Advertising story boarded, animated, wrote a bespoke soundtrack and edited the presentation.

View this video on our YouTube Channel.

Check out some more of our video work on our Vimeo channel.

Back in April we won a pitch for an adoption campaign for Somerset County Council. So with a spring in our step we set to work creating a brand identity, advertising, a website and a whole load of marketing collateral. We have really enjoyed the challenge, and with the website going live yesterday we thought you might want to take a look – www.adoptioninsomerset.org.uk. The lead on the project was Somerset County Council’s PR and Communication Officer, Lyndsey Mayhew, here’s what she had to say about the process, “It has been a pleasure to work with DNA on the adoption campaign. Right from the start, I felt DNA really understood what we wanted to achieve and I was impressed with the background research and the ideas that were developed beyond the creative brief. The creation of the site and campaign tools could not have been smoother and the account team were excellent, always on the end of the phone and with no request too difficult!” Thanks Lyndsey! Next up we’ve been lucky enough to secure the Fostering in Somerset campaign too! Watch this space for updates on how we get on.

DNA Advertising are again proud to be working with Torbay council, Creative Torbay and Torre Abbey on their latest exhibitions. After the success of TACO 09 (Torre Abbey Contemporary Open) and the Ultimate Day Out campaign, DNA have this year created an identity for ‘TAMED’ and ‘Art on the English Rivera’ as well as designing and producing the advertising and literature for the highly anticipated exhibition. Running from 6th July – 30th August and in conjunction with TACO 2010, TAMED brings the work of renown artists such as Richard Long, Heather Jansch and Damien Hirst to Torbay. See the details above or for more information or see the Torre Abbey website at torre-abbey.org.uk. We hope to see you there!