It has been a very odd year this year. And here at Practically.io, since we all went virtual in March 2020, it has been one of the busiest periods in terms of output. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, we had some major projects in production, which meant as an agency we were at capacity at the start of the lockdown period, with those major projects coming to fruition over the summer. This included this very site: Practically.io.
Secondly, at the start of lockdown, we were much in demand as a web agency. Pretty much all of our clients needed to change their offerings and messages, reflected on their site – we are all familiar with those Covid-19 banners. However, some of them needed a major switch online. Our hotel sites we look after, finance sites and most of all the NHS, all needed new forms, sections, and more.
Thirdly we seemed to be the place that our networks called on for advice and help.
Lastly, many firms also went virtual and/or had usual staff furloughed, so we took over a lot of responsibilities and work from our existing retained clients.
This said, not only have we been remarkably efficient as an organisation – those commutes, London meetings, and general office buzz do eat in to productivity – but we have produced, in our humble opinion some really great design work. Here, then, is a non-exhaustive list of some of the design-led sites, projects and things we have launched over the six months since April 2020.
This does not include any of our many ongoing projects, nor a number of sites that are not yet live, but which have been largely produced in this same time period. You’ll see they range from the huge to the small, from technical and content led beasts, to videos and branding. Remember, this is just the design and strategy side of our output this summer – effectively Sam and Anna’s domain. At the same time, as well as being a part of the below projects, the rest of the team have been working on ludicrously big web applications, such as GCSE Prepper, DS-Compliance, ESP and NameTags .
September
Clarity Vision
Project details
Type: Video
Category: Brand
Client: Clarity
People: Anna, Sam
Timescale: 2 wks
Link: More info
What was the brief
We have been lucky enough to help with launching a new product and concept – the DeSk – which is a beautiful reception desk which is also a video wall.
Commentary
The videos come with a full content management system so that users can choose and upload the videos they want to see. But more importantly still the DeSk can take digital feeds, of stats or news for example. It also comes with the ability to plugin AI – so in our time of social distancing we have also been working on a virtual, voice operated receptionist using the DeSk.
We created the 30sec and 2min videos to show off the video, including the videos that are now running on the DeSk itself. It uses an audio track and dizzy background generated by us and using AI tools. More information can be found on our DeSk project page.
September
Alex Zurich Hotel
Project details
Type: Website
Category: Redesign
Client: Alex Zurich
People: Anna, Sam, Alex
Timescale: 3 wks
Link: alexlakezurich.com
What was the brief
A redesign and rebuild of the Alex Lake Zurich Hotel website, in English and German.
Commentary
In conjunction with Campbell Gray Hotels we helped the team at Alex to create their own independent web identity.
September
Flourish Zone
Project details
Type: App
Category: Strategy/Design/Build
Client: Flourish Zone
People: Alex, Sam, George, Adele
Timescale: 6 wks
Link: To Come
What was the brief
Florish is an app-based B2B system for helping individuals and teams to improve in key areas, such as mental health, resilience and leadership.
Commentary
Our task was to help out with strategy to help first time users more engaged, educated and generally onboard with their first visit. We helped come up with the plan, design the user journey and implement it with React Native. We will post on this soon!
September
Beauty on Demand London
Project details
Type: Website
Category: Strategy
Client: BeautyOnDemandLondon
People: Anna, Sam
Timescale: 6 wks
Link: BoD
What was the brief
We did a lot of strategy work to come up with a phone based MVP for this wonderful new start-up.
Commentary
See our project page for Beauty On Demand London.
August
Taylor’s Therapy
Project details
Type: Website
Category: Strategy
Client: Taylors
People: Anna
Timescale: 2 days
Link: www.taylorstherapies.com
What was the brief
A revamp of one of our longest standing client’s websites.
Commentary
A really beautiful site taking all the existing content and boosted by our small site builder system. This includes a rebrand of the logo, fonts and colors.
August
Tender is the new tough
Project details
Type: Website
Category: Design
Client: Re-Tribe
People: Anna, Sam
Timescale: 2 days
Link: tenderisthenewtough.com
What was the brief
A campaign site – part of the re-tribe network – asking men around the world to be good to women, and to change their behaviour. This is not your wife-beating level of nastiness, but more of men’s everyday rudeness.
Commentary
See our Re-Tribe project page.
August
Teen VC
Project details
Type: Website
Category: Website
Client: Augmentum
People: Anna, Sam
Timescale: 2 days
Link: teen-vc.com
What was the brief
A new initiative aimed at teenagers and young adults who are interested in Fintech investment.
Commentary
See the main Augmentum project page.
July
Travel Events News
Project details
Type: Web & Branding
Category: Website
Client: TENs
People: Anna, Sam
Timescale: 4 days
Link: traveleventsnewsservice.com
What was the brief
Branding and website design and build for a new Events news service for the transportation industry.
Commentary
A great example of what could be a dry corporate website that instead tells a story in an engaging manner. See the TENs project page.
July
The KNOW Framework
Project details
Category: Branding / Website/ Strategy
Client: KNOW
People: Sam
Timescale: 4 weeks
Link: knowframework.com
What was the brief
Branding, strategy, moral support and web creation.
Commentary
See the KNOW project page with client comments.
July
Campbell Gray Hotels – Gunmetal
Project details
Type: Redesign
Category: Website/ Strategy
Client: CGH
People: Sam, Anna, Alex
Timescale: 5 months
Link: campbellgrayhotels.com
What was the brief
A major upgrade of all Campbell Gray Hotel sites – a redesign and a rebuild of every single hotel site created over many months.
Commentary
See our Campbell Gray Hotels project page.
We created the 30sec and 2min videos to show off the video, including the videos that are now running on the DeSk itself. It uses an audio track and dizzy background generated by us and using AI tools. More soon!
June
Practically.io
Project details
Category: Website/ Strategy
Client: Us!
People: Everyone!
Timescale: 2 months
Link: practically.io
What was the brief
A proper website that more reflects who we are.
Commentary
Started before Lockdown, it was high-time that we created for ourselves a proper website, which gives us a chance to play, to practice a bit of what we preach to our own clients, make a statement about who we are and what we do, and frankly to just show off. Our old site took approximately half a day to create and push live, and was always a temporary measure – which lasted some four years. This one took a lot longer to create and curate. This site has been an opportunity to appreciate some of our work and also a great chance to get some wonderful feedback from many of our clients.
See the story of our artwork.
April
University of Worcester – 2020 Vision Degree Show
Project details
Category: Website / Strategy
Client: UoW
People: Sam, Anna
Timescale: 1 month
Link: worcesterdegreeshows.co.uk
What was the brief
Completed with students from University of Worcester, this is their “Virtual Show”.
Commentary
See our University of Worcester project page.
April
Re-Tribe
Project details
Type: Redesign + Social
Category: Website / Strategy
Client: Re-Tribe
People: Sam, Anna
Timescale: 1 month
Link: re-tribe.com
What was the brief
A revamp of the wonderful start-up Re-Tribe, who are doing great things for mental health.
Commentary
See our Re-Tribe project page.
What Next?
We continue to be busy bees, with lots of major sites waiting in the wings to be live – both on the ‘design’ side, and on the business application side. Watch this space for launches and projects from Employ Ability, RJM, MiQ, Open Minds, Odessa, Sterk and more…