NE8 Castings
NE8 Castings are an acting and modelling agency based in Newcastle.
Founded by Lisa Laidler, who is from a performing arts background, NE8 approached Foundry34 to develop a brand with an ‘urban Northern feel’ for their company basing their name around NE8- the postcode of their address. Their target was to become a strong competitor to bigger named London based agencies.
Brand Identity
The concept behind the NE8 brand was to give a northern urban feel which was also slick and desirable. The black and white photographs with the highly contrasting red badge for the logo was settled on quite early in the process. Once this branding was extended it made for a highly recognisable brand identity distinct from the company’s competitors both in London and the North East. Comprehensive style guidelines were put in place to ensure consistency of the brand, colour, typography, photography and logo reproduction.
Web Development and Design
The website design and development for NE8 had to accomplish a number of tasks, not only did it have to look and feel right and carry the brand guidelines but had to have a full content management system (CMS) and handle online applications. The client had to be able to upload and manage candidate profiles which included additional images, sound recordings and other information. These profiles had to be fully searchable by prospective agencies and casters.
The second stage after the website design and development was a programme of search engine optimisation and online marketing including e-flyers. This was hugely successful, gaining NE8 top and first page results on many of the company’s key terms translating into massive increases in visitor numbers and online applications.
