This video is a promotional events video we produced for Churches Together Salisbury, who are hosting the ‘Big Jubilee Weekend’, a series of events being held this summer by 22 churches of various denominations across Salisbury, in order to show solidarity for the local community. We were asked to produce a video to help promote this event, within a very short turnaround!

Our approach

We shot the interviews on location at St Francis Church in a few hours, using our own professional video lighting, camera and audio recording equipment to get the best possible results!

We produced a video edit purely for content purposes and uploaded it quickly, meanwhile producing the motion graphics whilst waiting for the content to be signed off. Once the content edit was approved, we then tightened up the edit to improve the flow and timing of the video, graded it to a slightly warm, neutral finish and moved it into our post effects software to overlay the prepared motion graphics.

After a little too-ing and fro-ing and small edits and colour changes we edited the soundtrack to fit in and then uploaded for final approval. Success!

Features

For the music on this video we were pleased to team up with Dan Smith of Crown Church (again) who had a tasty track called ‘Restored + Redeemed’ that we felt would be particularly suitable for this video.

Rev Cleaners are a London window cleaning company that provide window cleaning services to offices both large and small.

Client brief

The client approached us for a straightforward, no nonsense website and branding to act as their presence on the internet, providing potential customers with enough information to make an informed decision about using them.

They wished to show clearly the caliber of companies that they served, as well as having an easy route for companies to get in touch for a quote or more information.

Our approach

Initially the branding work was completed for the client, with a range of stationary sourced and produced (letterheads and business cards).

Following this, the website was designed and built with input from the client, with a contact form being built to enable potential customers to easily contact Rev Cleaners with minimal hassle.

A focus was made on SEO throughout the design of the site, and a Google AdWords campaign is being managed to keep the costs within a given range.

The website is hosted using our very own web hosting, providing the client with the peace of mind that they can have the whole website design experience under one company.

Features

Ongoing work

Interliterate provide a professional website translation service for manufacturers and businesses in China and the Far East wishing to make a good impression on potential clients in the West.

Client brief

The client approached us looking for a straightforward website that they could easily update themselves.

They requested that they would have the ability to receive payments through the site using their PayPal account, and that we could brand the company initially before beginning web design work.

Our approach

Our Content Management System (CMS) was used for this project to provide the self editing functionality that the client required.

Initially we drafted the company branding and website design with input from the client. After this, we developed the CMS with the new web design, and developed the PayPal payment portal to accept payments at the click of a button. Later, a website language transition tool was implemented to further solidify Interliterate’s standing in the international arena.

Features

Ongoing work

Byways House is a large, hotel style B&B in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK.

Client brief

Byways House approached us to redesign their website and their company branding to give it a fresh look with a modern feel.
They also asked us to continue with the SEO work that had been started on the website by another company.

Our approach

The initial stage involved the rebranding of Byways House, providing the client with several ideas for logos and colour schemes before settling on the current design.

Following this, some time was spent filming and photographing Byways House in preperation for the website design. At the same time layouts were prepared for the website which were discuessed in meetings with the client.

The final stage was the complete development of a new site from the ground up, including exciting features such as image galleries, automatic Twitter feeds, online booking and more.

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Ongoing work

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Stephen J Nelson is a world class cinematographer whose portfolio includes feature films, commercials and photography.

Client brief

Stephen approached us with a specific desire to be able to show his show reel and clips of his videos on the web in an interesting and interactive manner.

He also wanted to be able to update his show reel video but without the initial expense of a content management system.

Our approach

The user interface and design of this website were the most important features to the client. In order to achieve the best results across a variety of Internet browsers, the emphasis of this project was on web development and user testing throughout.

Whilst the functionality was being explored and refined, the design for the site was concluded. When both elements reached a point where both we and the client were satisfied, functionality and design were merged to create the full website.

In order to reduce hosting costs and also to allow the client to update his videos without update costs, Vimeo.com was chosen as a platform with which the website could embed the video, using the Vimeo platform to power the actual video download, reducing bandwidth and increasing the quality of user experience.

Features

Ongoing work

Client brief

Byways House asked us to produce a video for use on their website, with initial goals of improving awareness of the B&B as well as to improve retention of visitors on the website.

Our approach

After clarifying all the that the client wished us to promote the warmth and open feel to the guest house as well as the links between the B&B and the local tourist attractions, we set to work filming a day at Byways House – no actors or set up scenes, just a peaceful day in a bed and breakfast! It was a pleasant day’s shooting, although the smell of full English breakfast made it a little more difficult to concentrate!

Features

*PixelSparks Video Hosting improves video SEO through a combination of pointing the search engines to your website (rather than taking your potential customers to YouTube or Vimeo where the likeliness of them converting to a sale will be dramatically decreased). We offer hosting packages on a pay as you go (pre-pay) service or as a post-pay service. You only pay for what you use, and the benefits to your search engine visibility are excellent. Contact us for more information.

Client brief

We were asked to produce a video to promote the launch of a new church in Madrid, summarising the mission, the challenge ahead and to educate about Madrid and the lifestyle there.

Our approach

For the Newfrontiers Madrid Church video, we knew that content was the key thing – there was no good producing something fancy if it didn’t get across what the leaders wished it to say: so we spent much time drafting the interview to make sure that we could cover a good amount of material within concise shots on the day. This would make the editing much easier to piece together. On the day, we experimented with a few different styles, and felt that the relaxed and informal feel worked best with the interviewee and leader of the church, Kevin Bartlett.

After we had finished shooting (on a very nice day in a penthouse in Brighton!) We chopped a quick edit up and checked the content with the client. On approval we then quickly moved forward, producing the motion graphics over a week or two, with the soundtrack ongoing during the time. When all the pieces came together we felt we had something a bit special!

Features

Client brief

Innovate Design asked us to produce a video for the front page of their website, with the brief of summarising Innovate’s services in order to retain visitors.

Our approach

After clarifying all the services that Innovate wished to advertise, we then took plenty of footage of Innovate during an average day, starting before any of the employees came in to work. As an invention development company, we played on the theme of the idea / light bulb but without resorting to a cliché format.

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The interview

Hi. What’s your name and position in the company?

My name is Graham Ormiston – I’m one of the Directors at PixelSparks.

Describe your company in 5 words.

Multi faceted but never facetious.

What’s your business philosophy?

We’re all about offering a great web design service that helps businesses get the most out of the web without trying to cash in on every new technology fad or bamboozling clients into paying us!

Describe your office environment:

A few too many widescreen monitors + coffee fuelled designers + Spotify = the perfect web crafting atmosphere.

Describe how your team interact and work together.

We’re keen to keep a productive but creative balance here, and as such have regular meetings to discuss projects, bounce around ideas and keep everyone talking and thinking.

What makes you different from other web design companies?

We pride ourselves on our ability to produce great web content in house – we offer great photography and video production – both particularly useful in enhancing the client’s brand across the web (not just on their own website). Of course, offering SEO and AdWords management is fairly standard for web design companies these days, but we do that too.

How do you get the majority of your business?

Generally through referrals and word of mouth. You can advertise all you like but people like to have a good reference before investing both time and money – especially when getting a website built which it seems can be quite a personal beast (even for a business)!

Describe how you manage projects from the initial client contact to completion and handover.

Firstly, get to know the client. Find out what they like what they don’t – this can pay dividends later on in the project timeline. Analyse their needs and goals for the project. Then move on to gather research, initial designs (with some input from the client), formalise the designs and then develop the site. Within the mix add user testing, quality testing, production testing, content building and then you’re pretty good to launch!

What do you think is the most crucial element of creating a good client relationship?

Keeping the client in the loop. We find that as much as anything, if you stay in touch with the client and keep them up to date on progress then there will be no surprises for either party. This helps us to maintain our goal of providing consistent and reliable service.

How do you manage demanding clients?

We make sure that our project schedule is very clear from the start, and do our best to manage the client’s expectations. It can occasionally be a challenge for companies which don’t deal with design on a regular basis, but we do our best to keep everyone clear about our design process.

If a client was trying to decide between a shortlist of web design companies, how would you recommend they go about selecting the right one for them?

Does the company specialise in the technology you are interested in, do they have positive feedback on a regular basis, do they answer the phone? Just talking to a company about what you want and finding out what they offer and whether they are willing to help you is a good way to start. If a web design company just wants to take your money and doesn’t take any interest in your product then I would suggest looking elsewhere.

Where do you see your company in 10 years?

Our primary aim is to continue to develop top quality websites for businesses both large and small whilst providing a jargon free project development atmosphere for the clients to be involved in. We also have a keen interest in developing sites for clients all over the world, so hope to be involved in some global projects.

Where do you see the web design industry in the future?

The obvious is mobile – more and more clients will be requesting sites that work well across all devices, and the industry will continue to grow in this. We’ve been really excited by some of the great developments in web technology in just the last few years, and can’t wait to see what happens in the future.

What computers do you use?

Mostly PCs, but we do occasionally use Macs (keeping up appearances)

How was your company name chosen?

We mostly specialise in digital media, whether web design, video or photography so ‘Pixel’ was an obvious choice. We went for ‘Sparks’ for our emphasis on creative freedom and spontaneity.

If you were to give your clients one tip on how to get the most from their website what would it be?

Make a plan for adding content and stick to it. Try and stay ahead of yourself as well (have a couple of blog posts in the bag for example). This can be very helpful if your creative juices are running dry and you still haven’t thought of a blog title for the week.

That, and distribute your content to every channel possible, whilst always building links back to your site.