The eagerly-awaited who’s who of the design industry has been revealed by Design Week, the magazine of choice for over 35,000 design professionals and marketers.

Derbyshire-based RJ Design Associates are celebrating 47 reasons to be cheerful after polling some impressive debut stats:

5th highest new entry, 8th place in the most bullish top 100 groups for predicted growth and 47th overall on the Top 100 design consultancy list.

Bearings manufacturer INA FAG (a part of the Schaeffler Group) came to RJDA for some ideas for a direct mail campaign. The objective being to raise awareness  to Maintenance Personnel and Financial Directors that preventative maintenance is worthy of investment to avoid catastrophic down time in the event of machinery breaking down.

The chosen concept was based around prevention is better than cure and took on a medical approach to the visual style. The direct mail was sent out in a prescription bag, which also contained a doctors surgery styled appointment card with a call to action to meet the Schaeffler Team on stand at the Maintec exhibition at the NEC.

Along with direct mail piece an e- shot was also designed and delivered, a dedicated micro-site created and hosted, trade advertising produced and animation developed which was used on both the micro-site and on the stand.

INA FAG got a very positive reaction from this marketing collateral, leaving them in rude health at the end of the exhibition.

View the INA FAG web case study

View all web case studies

Every year Ecobuild attracts more & more visitors and for Stancliffe Stone this years event at ExCel proved no exception.

The combination of careful planning, and the launch of a new range of tactile marketing collateral has given Stancliffe an edge within the stone industry, something which Marketing and Communications Manager, Beverley Hill reflects on with a great deal of positivity.

“Working closely with RJDA’s creative team our Box of Stone branding was born”

“Packaging and distributing natural stone samples can present its own unique challenges. RJDA’s creative team, through their expertise and sheer perseverance delivered a winning formula.

The box of stone brand is both practical and versatile and has proved an overwhelming success.”

Understanding and communicating the essence of a fledgling business is the key to successful branding, none more so when the positioning required is one of a high-quality, sophisticated look and feel.

When a touch of class was required for Chesterfield based Klasse Vibe and Klasse Spa for their mind, body and well being business rebrand, RJDA distinguished themselves from the competition by delivering the complete marketing solution.

A new suite of logos and the launch of 2 newly created websites will herald a much improved web user experience, utilising social media feeds, data capture, and customised Google maps.

Both sites have been built with valid HTML/CSS techniques and significant improvements to the content have also been made through using the latest SEO-friendly design techniques.

View our web design portfolio.

Quirky, pocket sized, durable and versatile were just a few of the buzz words that went into the creative mix to make up RJDA’s latest brief.

Add to that a combination of digital and litho print technology, die cutting, print finishing and collation and RJDA’s most recent project for Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services (BBPFS) was sure to present a few challenges.

First Things First outlines a drivers daily check routine to ensure BBPFS vehicles are kept safe and roadworthy each and every day of the year by detailing an 18 point maintenance regime.

Commenting on RJDA’s creative approach, Fleet Services Compliance Manager Gemma Heasman was full of praise “The swatches and handouts look absolutely fantastic and will go a long way to helping Balfour Beatty on its journey towards Zero Harm.”

The countdown is on for this years Design Week Top 100, the magazine of choice for over 35,000 design professionals and marketers.

It’s that time of year to make ready your financial figures and prepare them for the annual Top 100 design consultancy’s. With business on the up and investment in new large format print technology planned for the second quarter of 2011, RJDA have their sights set on an impressive debut.

The deadline for applications is 2 March, and the Top 100 survey will be published w/c 26th May.

More to follow…

Profile, personalise and profit.

Personalised content can significantly boost customer loyalty, sales conversions and return on investment. Your customers like it, your competitors are probably already doing it and your kids are definitely buying into it…in short personalisation works.

Personal by definition describes how relevant, connected, or applicable something is to a given matter and RJDA are perfectly geared up to respond to these same exacting requirements.

If you are looking to drive business and profit through the following channels, Web to print, DM, Personalised URL’s, E shots or Digital print make sure you speak to an RJDA Account Manager today – 01159 445 428.

3 months FREE trial offer

Ask about our 3 months trial offer for Marketing IP, THE next generation web to print portal that everyone is talking about.

Fortunately for RJDA their latest creative brief for Derbyshire County Council, entitled Smart Rider, did not end with the infamous Norman Tebbit colloquialism ‘On your bike!’.

Instead DCC’s Road Safety Team were a lot more glowing in their assessment of RJDA’s creative delivery, which featured a brand identity and hand drawn illustrations with a digital twist.

Improving road safety is a top priority for DCC and RJDA have certainly played an important role by project managing the design and digital print of a new suite of training literature to help shape the future of cycle proficiency in Derbyshire.

If you would like RJDA to review your company branding, illustration requirements, or simply explore print management opportunities why not get in touch with our creatives. Email studio@rj-da.co.uk

If you would like to find out more about Smart Rider email roadsafety@derbyshire.gov.uk or click on www.derbyshire.gov.uk

Luxury salon The Hairdressers proprietor Billie Ragosta approached RJDA to look for ideas of how to launch her new Beauty Salon.

When the builders started work on the premises on Castle Boulevard two boxes of letters were found under the floor boards. The correspondence dated back to the 1870′s and many were in Russian, and seemed to indicate a love affair that crossed between Nottingham, France and Russia. The letters and envelopes had an lovely aged patina to them and the handwriting was immaculate.

RJDA used visual elements from letters and rippled this across the new corporate branding to give a sophisticated and bespoke feel to all the marketing elements.

RJDA designed and printed a beautiful brochure with some special finishing techniques employed to give it very high quality feel, along with a new website, photography, copywriting and eshot campaigns.

View The Hairdressers & Beauty Salon website

ECS (Nottingham) Ltd are global manufacturers and distributors for high quality water based and UV coatings, certificated pressroom chemicals, fountain solutions and sundry products.

When they came to RJDA a few months ago it was to sell us their products…

…they were so impressed with our set up they left the building full of design inspiration and a vision for a new brochure.

We soon had the new brochure underway and ECS were so pleased with the progress they asked us to re-design and host a website for them. We have subsequently rolled out business cards, leaflets, roller banners, pop up exhibition stands and they have an ongoing wish list for design and print!

Oh ……..and for the record we did purchase ink supplies!

Four winning finalists came over to the RJDA studio to receive their certificates and ‘sauce bottle’ trophy’s on Friday 21st May and Ryan took centre stage as the overall winner of RJDA’s FIRST EVER Creative Sauce Competition. to receive his 21 inch Mac, the ultimate prize for a graphic design student!

The winning students are all in their second year at Derby University studying Graphic Design and were thrilled to be with us as well as a little overwhelmed by their own success!

The students had a tour of the busy print and production facilities we have on site and around our design studio first off, followed by a session with the Company Director Lee Day and Studio Manager Chris Reynolds for a portfiolio appraisal.

This was a fabulous opportunity for students to show their work to professionals who have worked in the industry for years, and to use their knowledge to help  understand what it is future employers will be looking for in a portfolio and how best to present their work.

We also gave each student a dedicated invaluable weeks work placement in our design studio over the summer so as they can get a feel for what its like working on live briefs for clients and to deadlines, an opportunity which will stand them in good stead for the future.

Chris Reynolds commented on why Ryan was the guy who walked away with the big prize:

“All four of the winners entries were very strong and could have worked for the charity Brake as a campaign piece in their own right. The reason that Ryan’s entry had the edge was the fact that he had taken the brief and thought about it that little bit deeper. It was graphically well put together, it was hard hitting, neat and strong visually with an excellent use of typography.  They were all very good visually, but Ryans was that bit stronger. He was a deserved winner”

All in all it was a relaxed, informative and fun afternoon for all of us at RJDA as much as for the winners of the very first Creative Sauce Competition.

After over half a year of sheer dedication RJDA are both proud and thrilled to finally get their hands on a finished copy of the first edition of Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services Product Catalogue.

Lee Day, RJDA’s director who manages the Balfour Beatty account, is celebrating this momentous moment with a proud smile and admits a to small sigh of relief!

“A product catalogue can test the resources of any creative agency. With 308 pages covering 15 separate facets of the Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services business it has been a monumental effort from everybody involved and a good testimony of RJDA’s design, print and production capabilities. The job has taken nearly seven months to come to fruition and the finished article is something Designers Chris Reynolds, Andy Gilmore and the rest of the team can be very proud of.”

For Lynne Shacklock, Balfour Beatty Plant & Fleet Services Head of Marketing and Communications, it’s an immense achievement.

“We always knew that this was going to be a huge assignment and would take some time and determined focus to create and produce. We were literally starting from scratch with a blank canvas, so were able to work very closely with RJDA on images, text and overall layout. Chris and the team have spent hours going through page after page with the finest attention to detail to ensure that everything is just as it should be. I would like to thank everyone at RJDA who has been involved for their help and support over the months. RJDA can be very proud of the final product, we certainly are and the catalogue is already proving an invaluable tool for our customers”

The publication of a new Tenants Handbook for Matlock based Dales Housing provided Creative Agency RJDA with the perfect opportunity to substantiate the timely adjective ‘out with the old in with the new…’

A fresh, new 218 page Tenants Handbook was the collaboration and culmination of several months design, print, production and mail fulfillment.

In preference to the previous PVC, ring bound style folders, a paper over board format with magnetic fasteners was chosen – in doing so offering a more eco friendly, modern and contemporary solution – finished to a standard which Tenant Participation Co-Ordinator, Beverley Crowther was delighted with.

“The delivery of the new Tenants Handbook ensures up to date information can be provided to all of Dales Housing’s 3,100 plus tenants on a range of services covering repairs and maintenance to rights, responsibilities and obligations.”

Strong and trusting relationships with clients is pivotal to RJDA’s success and this looks like the start of a long and creative relationship.

Stancliffe Stone, a Marshalls Specialist Business, has appointed RJ Design Associates (RJDA) as its preferred agency to launch a new look and feel and attract attention to its brand.

RJDA won the creative pitch after competing with three other agencies.

The design of a new web site for the business is the first phase of the brief and RJDA are perfectly placed to deliver not just a strong new stylish look for the natural stone company but also focus attentions on initiating their digital marketing campaign.

Stancliffe Stone has seven UK quarries and an eclectic mix of both stone and products and to deliver this message effectively to their target market of architects, planners, and contractors was crucial to the pitch. Stancliffe wanted a style that reflected the key values of the business.

The Matlock based company is the UK’s largest producer of British dimensional stone and Debbie Rogers, Marketing Manager for the group wanted a new look and feel to take the brand forward.

“ Up until now, web and collateral have been developed independently with different suppliers, however as part of our marketing strategy we wanted to see the collateral, web and e-marketing becoming integrated activities. RJDA ticked all the boxes for us as well as giving us the confidence that they were more than capable of acting for our brand.”