The Brief:

Urban Knights are a Digital Video Jockey collective from Bristol, UK. They produce music videos and mix live music video sets around Europe. The design of their website was to be in keeping with their ‘Urban’ image. Being a music group, Urban Knights release a lot of new photos, videos and audio tracks on a regular basis. The website needed to be designed in such a way as to make it easy for visitors to access the latest releases as well as the back catalogue.

The Design:

Image

We created a background with a “Grunge” effect. It was important for Urban Knights to carry across their spinning logo from their previous website so we placed the logo in the top right and modified the background behind the logo to give it a more mysterious look.

Usability

The site was created in a blog format with an easy to use Content Management System to allow the Urban Knights to upload new mixes as soon as they were produced. With the greater portion of their year taken up by touring, a Video Blog was also installed to keep their fans updated. This interactive content has proven to be a great way of getting fans back to their site on a regular basis.

Functionality

An unusual feature of the site is the Video player that plays uninterrupted, in the top corner of the screen, as users browse through the different pages of the site.
QuantaSense was also given the task of creating and manging their other social media sites including the Urban Knights Myspace page, the Urban Knights Facebook profile and the Urban Knights Twitter feed

Technologies Used:

Visit Urbanknights DVJ’s website >>

The Brief:

Blue Tree Fundraising (BTF) is a new business formed in 2009. They required an informative brochure website to educate their potential clients on their methods of fundraising. They wanted their website to be ‘light and airy’ and to stand out from their competitors sites. Having browsed the web, they decided that in order to make their website stand out, they wanted it to look like it had been painted in water colours. The client also required an open source backend Content Management System (CMS) to change the content of the site and a new logo.

The Design:

Image

In order to produce the watercolour effect as requested by the client, we drew up some initial designs and produced a specification then commissioned an artist to paint various different backgrounds and foreground elements. We then used Photoshop to touch-up the paintings to give a polished layer with enhanced graphical effects.
The logo was designed in a similar fashion, to suit the BTF theme, incorporating a blue tree and using the watercolour effect.

Usability

As with all of our websites, this site was built to rank highly in search engines for the client’s specific keywords. We included a WordPress backend CMS (with the Search Engine Optimisation plugin installed) as this is the most widely used and easy to use open source CMS.

Technologies Used:

Visit Blue Tree Fundraising’s website >>

The Brief:

Our client wished to build an online fantasy Gaelic Football and Hurling website. The site’s purpose is to offer an online platform for members to pay a fixed fee to enter a team, and to have the chance of winning various prizes if their team performs well.
There are several web applications available which power fantasy sport games. These systems are expensive and we advised the client against using them as they would add a significant cost to the project. This meant QuantaSense were tasked with building the gaming engine from scratch. This is a complex and unusual web development application. In order to deliver the system on time and within budget, we took two of our strongest programmers and dedicated their time and gave them free reign to develop a powerful system without the need to outsource.

The Design:

Usability

The site needed to be fun and attractive in order to engage the target audience. Although some complex technologies were utilised at the site’s back end, we needed the front end interface to be user friendly. We made the player selection function ‘drag and drop’ and used big buttons for ease of use.

Functionality

The site has an advanced bespoke gaming engine, with the results being automatically integrated via an XML feed, keeping website management time to a minimum. There is a secure payment gateway allowing visitors to pay using several methods. There are mini-leagues allowing members to set up leagues with colleagues, friends and family etc. This adds an extra level of engagement for the visitor and encourages recurring participation.

Technologies Used:

Visit Fantasy Gaelic Sports’ website >>

The Brief:

South Blessed is a new business that sells clothing products with individual designs from people around the South West of the UK. They have recently opened up a new shop in the cultural centre of Bristol and were looking for an eCommerce website as an extra sales channel. The aim was to produce a visually striking website that made buying products as easy as possible for the visitor. We also had to provide an easy to use backend eCommerce system to allow South Blessed to upload new products as and when they came into stock.

The Design:

Image

South Blessed required a brand image that consists the colours green, yellow and black with some ‘metallic looking’ elements to the site. Therefore, a black and yellow background with a bespoke grunge effect was created, with the left navigation menu on a metal plaque. Some swirly design features around the logo was added to make it stand out from the page.

Usability

We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to buy clothes. So we kept the design simple with two large buttons on the homepage for “Mens” and “Womens” clothing. A sitewide search function was also added with a search box. Finally, the menu system in the top corner of the site allows for easy browsing.

Functionality

Once we had completed the design we needed to add an eCommerce package to the site. We chose to use Magento as it is the most widely used open source eCommerce system, with powerful functionality and integration with payment systems such as PayPal and Sagepay. It is also a very intuative package for users once it has been configured according to the owner’s preferences.

Technologies Used:

Visit South Blessed’s website >>

The Brief:

Accident Claims Advisory is a compensation claim management company. As a start up firm, they required a full website build, backed up by a comprehensive online marketing and SEO strategy. The purpose of the site is to offer information on the company and its services, allow client’s to log into an online portal and encourage visitors to contact ACA through multiple calls to action.

The Design:

Image

Clear, easy to navigate and professional. There was a large amount of content that needed to be integrated into the site without making it look cluttered. To achieve this we used two static columns at either site of the main dynamic window in the middle.

Functionality

The site has WordPress installed which allows the client to update the news section. An online application form and ‘Call Me Back’ function have also been added.

Technologies Used:

Marketing and SEO Strategy

The client needed to break into one of the most competitive online markets. We wanted to create a strategy that would allow the client to increase targeted site visits and to improve search engine rankings. Pay per click was not the route the client wished to go down so we developed a strategy that focussed on organic optimisation. We focussed on Google Local and article writing and the site continues to improve in both visits and search rankings. Google Analytics was installed to track and monitor the movements of visitors.

Visit Accident Claims Advisory’s website >>

The Brief:

Okoru are an Events Company who organise music events at Ski Resorts across the world. They required a brochure site that fit in with their ‘professional yet grimey’ branding image. The purpose of the website was to publish details about upcoming events including venues and dates and increase Okoru’s popularity.

The Design:

Image

In order to portray the ‘professional yet grimey’ image we produced a grunge looking background built with sharp and modern foreground elements and text.

Functionality

We installed a backend Content Management System (CMS) for them to keep their event information up to date.
The site was also to be used to increase Okoru’s popularity which was done by setting up a newsletter system and linking to their other social media sites including their Facebook profile and Twitter feed.

Technologies Used:

Visit Okoru’s website >>

The Brief:

iSpy Photography is a photographic agency run by Dan Mariner. They specialise in event photography, press shots and post production. The aim of the site was to allow him to showcase his work and obtain new leads. iSpy wanted a website with a clean and simple design that would allow him to showcase his work without diverting attention away from his photos. They required a portfolio gallery with image resizing and a Content Management System to keep the website up to date with his latest shots.

The Design:

Image

In order to bring out the colour in iSpy’s photos, we opted for a clean, white background and grey text. In this way, a visitor’s eye is drawn directly to the photos. On the homepage, we used up most of the space with a big section showing some of their latest photos on a transitional reel.

Usability

The gallery page was fully integrated into the Content Management System which allows iSpy to update their photos easily when required. To allow for image resizing, we used a lightbox which appears when a visitor clicks on a photo, and enlarges that particular photo in the centre of the page whilst greying-out the rest of the page.

Logo and Business Cards

iSpy are a relatively new company and required a logo and some business cards. We designed the logo according to iSpy specification and also managed the design, printing and distribution of the business cards. We used 400gsm card with a matt finish and spot gloss on the logo, to give the cards a modern and professional look.

Technologies Used:

Visit iSpy’s website >>