We have just had the packaging back from Mushroom and Co the ethical children’s toy retailer and have to say we are very pleased with the results. Foundry34 have been working on a complete rebrand for the company over the last few months and developed a wide range of branded material and digital work, including brand identity, packaging, presentation materials, advertising and ecommerce store. They have just returned from several trade shows and we think the 100% natural rubber, hand painted toys are going to go down very well. We will be getting more images of the work onto our folio pages over the coming weeks.

Seems like a bit weird to be designing Christmas promotional items in the middle of spring but just finalised some of the promo work for The Holiday Inn in Jesmond Newcastle. Christmas Party anyone?

Foundry34 recently attended the Innovate to Success conference organised by GlobalBlackSwan and hosted by Alistair Campbell. As well as the launch of the TDNA application which has been a major project for us over the last 8 months there were some really interesting speakers from very successful companies including Proctor and Gamble, Rio Tinto and Duke Corporate Education. The conference really got us thinking about the role of innovation at Foundry34. Without going into a major intellectual diatribe about the role of innovation in the digital sector, it is obviously an issue we deal with daily. If you aren’t growing, developing and adjusting every day you will soon be left behind. Around 80% of the work we do now wouldn’t have been possible 5 years ago. We are not in a sector that can develop a product then sell it largely unchanged for the next 20 years. The challenge for us as a business is how we can maintain depth of knowledge with such a fast changing landscape and obviously keep our clients informed and at the forefront without being in cycles of perpetual change and adjustment. Our major role becomes about making sense and bringing clarity to technologies and modes of operating that can see alien and confusing even for the most astute of companies. Foundry34 becomes about being able to innovate and problem solve in rapid fashion behind the scenes but to be able to work with clients and provide solutions for their businesses that are relevant and often using cutting edge technology but ones which can be ,managed and integrated into their business models and processes.

With the start of the new year well underway and everyone back to work the time of the year for planning, resolutions and getting everything ship shape for the coming year is upon us. We thought we would send through our top five quick and easy tips to promote your business this year to get things off to a flying start

1. Maximise your resources. Before you go out and buy lists or start complex data collection look at any existing resources you have – think email lists, phone numbers, referrals or existing website users. Think creatively (or get someone to think creatively for you) about how you can utilise these contacts in a cost effective way -which leads us to…

2. Get most bang for buck. E-newsletters (like this one) are a great way to keep in touch with your customers without the effort needed by other digital marketing methods and are much cheaper than conventional mailing, think about cost vs results across all of your marketing efforts.

3. Show your products and services in the best light. The death of print has been definitely been overstated- in a digital world a well designed printed brochure can give you the edge over your competitors and make your products and services seem much more special.

4. Get with the times. Try out some social media. What’s not to love about social media and digital marketing? Low cost and easy to use- if you carefully manage your time and develop a social media plan you will really start to see results.

5. Refresh your website. Remember that website you had designed in 2002? It is looking dated and in desperate need of an update. Your website is the primary research tool for anyone wanting to find out more about your business, Make sure it is current, looks fresh and communicates the key information your customers are looking for.

December sees the launch of one of the major projects we’ve been working on over the last few months – Jap-Central. Again, ‘content is king’ is the mantra for the project and the company are currently going through a soft launch of the site with trusted businesses and users.

The intention of the soft launch is twofold; one to build up real content on the site in a live environment and get some very useful usability data. We think with the right take up Jap-Central is going to be a huge success.

The guys behind the company are passionate about the product and completely understand their target market and know what makes them tick. The coming months are going to see this online brand really build into a major player in this market.