The winter newsletter from Calm is here, find about all about what we’ve been involved in over the last 3 months. Highlights include:

Never a dull day in the North East

With the launch of the revamped events-led website for visitTeesvalley and the bid website for Durham City of Culture, residents from in and around the region have absolutely no excuse to sit at home and twiddle their thumbs… more

Glue: A multi sensory art & design event to inspire, influence and involve
Sunday 8th November | 5pm ’til 1am Uncle Alberts (opposite the Railway Station), Middlesbrough… more

Introducing the new Face of Tees Valley
Over the past two months, visitTeesvalley has searched for two energetic Challengers ready to indulge in all Tees Valley has to offer, become ambassadors for the area and stand a chance of winning £1000 and the accolade of becoming the Face of Tees Valley….more

Advent Calendar Online
Another Calm Christmas is fast approaching, which means exciting times for Calm as Santa’s little helpers prepare to personalise an Advent Calendar Online for a number of clients not just in the UK but as far away as Australia and Dubai…. more

Daniel and Danielle
Although it isn’t mandatory for your name to be a derivative of Daniel to work at Calm, it must certainly help… more

Calm’s quest for SEO perfection
The majority of people think of (SEO) Search Engine Optimisation as an art to improve their search engine rankings, being a time studied profession that without putting a great deal of time and effort into it should be left to the techies. Wrong! more

Final Thoughts
We’d like to say a big thank you for reading our quarterly newsletter - we hope it you’ll be able to make use of some of the information. As always feel free to contact us: www.calmasylum.com - www.calmdigital.com - @calm_asylum - @adventonline

Calm recently recieved a surprising email from a company who are in our network showcasing their latest product - a seat shaped like a set of teeth! The company responsible is Sculpture Studios.

01. Aston Martin. Automotive – Cars
02. iPhone. Technology – Telecommunications
03. Apple. Technology – General
04. Bang & Olufsen. Technology – General
05. YouTube. Online
06. Google. Online
07. Nintendo. Leisure & Entertainment – Games & Toys
08. Agent Provocateur. Fashion – Lingerie
09. Rolex. Fashion – Accessories, Jewellery & Watches
10. Tate Modern. Leisure & Entertainment – UK Attractions & The Arts
11. Dom Perignon. Drinks – Champagne
12. Virgin Atlantic. Travel – General
13. Ferrari. Automotive – Cars
14. Ducati. Automotive – Motorbikes
15. PlayStation. Leisure & Entertainment – Games & Toys
16. Sony. Technology – General
17. Nike. Sportswear & Equipment
18. Bose. Technology – General
19. Facebook. Online
20. Lamborghini. Automotive – Cars

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Loving these travel posters - the graphic style by Steve Thomas reminds us here at Calm of LNER railway posters of the 30s and 50s that are still much cherished here in North Yorkshire (although the locales depicted here are somewhat more exotic)! - Pluto is my favourite.

Anyone that knows a (good) website designer or website developer will have observed that we are a picky lot. Accessibility, usability and good old ‘doing things the right way’ are top priorities in our lives (yes thats BEFORE love and money).  This can be a difficult sometimes when you spend ages making sure your code meets W3C and WAI standards but knowing that there’s people out there that don’t care.

When I’m sat in Digital corner and I feel a little sad I like to read “19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website” This article really makes me laugh because I agree with everything he says (although possibly not with so much anger) and everything on this list is very, very right.

Its well worth considering some of these points if you are getting a website or redeveloping one - so many times something that seems like a good idea and is attractive to you, can be very fustrating for your users and without users your website is a very expensive way to entertain yourself.

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This blog post celebrates what we here at Calm Asylum like to think of as trick of the eyes… In a world where we are bombarded with marketing messages all day every day, images really need to catch your eye and make you look twice!

Click here to see a page full of great illusions

The design of this toaster allows user to see the bread whilst its toasting.

GOOD BRIEF = BETTER WORK

A brief is the most important piece of information issued by a client to an agency. It’s from the brief that everything else flows. Therefore it’s essential that every effort be taken to prepare the best possible documentation of what is required.

It’s in the nature of creative thinkers that giving them the tightest of parameters will often stimulate the most inventive of responses – and 79% of clients and agencies agreed that: “It is difficult to produce good creative work without a good brief”. Im sure the Calm creative team wholeheartedly agree!

The client brief can be considered the platform for a communications campaign. The better a company’s corporate or brand position is defined and the more thoughtfully its key business issues are described, the more likely it is that strategic and creative thinkers in agencies will be able to apply their specialist skills to produce great solutions.

“The whole idea is to stimulate the creative imagination, not to restrict it. Ultimately you are buying creative ideas. Procurement people can sometimes write briefs as though they were buying copper piping or paperclips. But selling is an art. It’s more like briefing an architect. We need agencies to feel inspired so they can do their best work.”

© IP for this article is fully reserved by ISBAthe IPA, MCCA and PRCA, who have co-authored and produced the above.