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--> 1)   Ask why? - A new website can do a lot of things, but if your product or customer service is shoddy, it can’t produce miracles. Make sure your company is ready and able to promote an honest online presence. 2)   Examine the old – If you have an existing site which is hooked up to Google Analytics, examine the visitor stats to see what worked and what didn’t before starting afresh. 3)   Represent your brand – Think about your brand values and how best to get these across. Your message needs to strong, consistent and reinforce the ethos of your company. The website is an investment in your brand. 4)   What is it’s purpose? – Do you want to showcase your latest service range, drive product sales, raise awareness, attract new customers etc? Dragging a site in too many directions may be detrimental if the process and navigation is not thought through carefully. 5)   Who is the site for? - Decide who the site is aimed at and w...

Let’s not beat around the bush. We want to raise the bar when it comes to design for business, and we want to make your company stand out. So why work with Toucan in 2013? Let’s start at the beginning… Toucan who? Toucan Design. We are a team of 10 based in central Exeter and have been established for 13 years. We work with a large range of clients in the South West and beyond, providing professional design and online development services. What do you do? Graphic design and website development. We are an enthusiastic and experienced agency, specialising in branding, corporate design (i.e. brochures, reports, leaflets etc) and packaging. We create bespoke websites that are both striking and functional, with unlimited growth possibilities. Why do I need you? Communication. We will help you portray your message(s) effectively and professionally. Whether you are looking to plan a 5 year marketing and growth strategy, or a simple one-off project, we can advise on the design options availab...

What is a brand? Is it a product, service or logo? Or is it an organisation? Oxford Dictionaries defines a brand as “… a particular identity or image regarded as an asset: you can still invent your own career, be your own brand .” A brand can range from a service such as a hair salon, or a product such as a sandwich. A brand can be the product or the company that sells or manufactures a particular item. The logo is one the most important features of a brand as it provides a reference point to begin with, but brands do not achieve their full potential by name and logo alone. In order to help consumers identify what product they are using, what that company sells and what you can expect from them, the brand must have character. To create a brand with personality, one must create a suitable environment for the target audience. One of the main aspects of a brand is colour, which helps draw the consumer in to have a closer look. Colour plays a significant role in communication; it br...

As the director of a busy creative agency I work with a diverse range of businesses operating in many sectors. Each of these businesses requires something individual, something bespoke, something carefully tailored to its particular needs. Whilst working with a local food producer recently on some packaging, it struck me that all of our clients who have a physical product to sell, regardless of the type of product - whether is is Crab Paté or Drill bits - understand that their product needs packaging to make it distinctive. They appreciatiate that it needs to be appealing, that it needs to be memorable and that it needs to be eye-catching. In short, they all 'get' the need for good design. This can't always be said for businesses that don't have a 'physical product' to sell which is a big mistake. All types of businesses, whether they are accountants, law firms or even schools and colleges are competing in a marketplace - it might not be the aisle of a supermar...

What is a brand? Why is it important? What is a branding strategy? There is a great deal being talked about 'the importance of branding' in marketing and design posts at present - much of which I find misleading and unhelpful. In this post I hope to put into plain words the case for developing a brand strategy, and some pointers on how to make a start. Firstly, though it is worth dispelling the myth that a 'brand' is a 'logo', it isn't... Your brand is the entire experience your customers (and potential customers) have with your company. It’s what you stand for, the personality that you convey and the proposition you set. In short it is: The style/tone of language and images you use The type of messages you give on all your sales material (including the website) The way in which you (and your employees) interact with your customers Your customer’s opinion of you (against that of your competition) Branding is important because: It differentiates you - helps y...