The Mo Bros here at RJ are breathing a sigh of relief today, their faces are less itchy, but more chilly, as Movember has drawn to an end and we bid farewell to their menacing moustaches and grisly goatees.

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who donated to our Mo Bros’ campaign, you contributed £138 to help raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancers, and ultimately save lives.

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.

The Jeti 1224′s state of the art 2.4m engine will give RJDA the best of both worlds, High Definition Colour (HDC) from each of its 24 print heads, combined with a significant increase in production capacity.

Capable of printing 110m2 in express mode the Jeti 1224 features four colour plus white in a single pass and benefits from a motor driven vacuum bed for precise registration and highly accurate dot placement up to 1200 dpi.

Right on cue and maybe a sign of things to come the RJDA production schedule was ramped up over the Easter period to roll out corporate signage across 3 sites for Progress Rail Services following their recent acquisition of Balfour Beatty Rail’s UK trackwork manufacturing business.

The results are simply amazing but don’t just take our word for it, check out our new kit in action.

Whatever your large format print requirements from signage, banners and portable displays, through to hoardings, billboards and point of sale you can be confident RJDA can be your perfect large format solution partner.

Got a large format print job? Contact us now for a quote….

The internet as we know it may have a myriad of uses but one fact remains certain, little over 20 years ago the World Wide Web exploded from an unknown entity to one which now pervades every aspect of our digital lives.

“What should they call this new browser. The Mine of Information? The Information Mesh? When a name was settled on in May 1990, it was to be called the WorldWideWeb…and so the worlds first web page was sprung”

Matt Underwood, Web Development Manager at RJDA and Web Designer Kat Wesley, who together boast an impressive 16 years combined web experience between them, are well placed to reflect on just how far the web has moved on from its humble inception in 1989. Fast forward over 2 decades and who could have predicted there would be…

240 million – registered domain names
2 billion – hits a day for the webs most popular site www.google.com
$16.5 million – the value of the worlds most expensive domain www.insure.com
166 – different web browsers

Accurate as of May 2010 netcraft.com

“As web designers we keep up to date with the latest trends and technologies so we can build flexible and future proof websites. We constantly strive to push the boundaries of creative design whilst complying to web standards and accessibility guidelines”

“We’ll take time to examine visitor trends and map out a typical journey through each website we create to maximise usability and enhance visitor interaction.”

RJDA are at the forefront of the very latest web trends offering fully integrated web solutions such as web video, search engine optimisation, digital marketing as well as e-commerce systems, content management solutions and secure off-site hosting.

RJDA’s multimedia team have recently completed the following web sites and are ready and awaiting their next challenge!

Click here to view our web case studies

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.

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

RJDA are delighted to announce their recent success in a 3 way creative pitch to Warrington based Environmental Protection Group (EPG) for a new logo, corporate ID and content managed website.

The combination of a clean design, classic typeface, revitalised colour palette and a bit of web WOW formed the basis of RJDA’s pitch winning proposition. EPG’s corporate rebrand will be finalised with the launch of their new look website www.epg-ltd.co.uk, which goes live later this month complete with a content managed news section.

The pitch marks the second success in as many months for RJDA, following the East Midlands Agencies appointment to manage the marketing and PR activity for Carbon Composites Manufacturer Atlas Composites.

Following the hugely successful launch of www.idealheating.com earlier in the year who else would Hull based Ideal Commercial turn to redevelop their B2B website rebrand than RJDA – particularly after the aforementioned website ranked no 1 with Google after months of Organic Search Engine Optimisation (Organic SEO) by the RJ-DA team.

The start of August heralds a new beginning for www.idealcommercialheating.com.

The SEO friendly site has been redeveloped with a CMS system, database driven product search tool and social media widgets.

The Ability to register warranty and request project quotation online adds to the browsing experience and there are further plans to include a servicing and training DVD over the coming months.

“It’s not everyday we finish such a big project with such lavish praise”, enthused Web Development Manager Matt Underwood, referring to the thumbs up received from Tom Anderton, Marketing & Product Manager for Ideal Commercial.

“Thanks so much for all your hard work on our new website. RJDA’s technical expertise was only superseded by their friendliness, openness and willingness to make all the amends needed. I truly believe this is one of the best websites of it’s type in the B2B sector and I’m extremely proud to be associated with it.” enthused Tom.

Click here to view the new www.idealcommercialheating.com website.

Click here to find out more about RJDA’s web design services.

Minimising your carbon footprint with www.rjdisplay.co.uk

LARGE FORMAT PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS

Following the appointment of Damon Piall as Visual Communications Director RJDA are delighted to announce the launch of www.rjdisplay.co.uk – a product driven website to help maximise your large format print output whilst minimising your carbon footprint.

“With environmental print and green printing very much to the fore www.rjdisplay.co.uk represents a perfect combination for clients as RJ-DA’s marketing experts are perfectly placed to ensure campaigns achieve maximum impact from concept through to print. Add into the mix exhibition print, vehicle graphics, vehicle wrapping, portable displays and rolla banners and the brand new RJ Display.co.uk site delivers a powerful blend of eco friendly solutions for large format print in Derby, Nottingham and the East Midlands.” enthused Damon.

If you have been tasked with improving the sustainability of your large format print make sure you visit www.rjdisplay.co.uk.

Alternatively pop in and check out our new environmentally friendly product range, we are located just off junction 25 of the M1 near Derby and Nottingham.

View our range of Green Products

View our range of Niche Products

View our range of Standard Products

View our Green Machines

Sunday 25th July at 15:26 signalled the end of a tantalising wait for RJDA’s skydiving quintet.

The moment had come for Andy, Ben, Chris, Lee & Ross to finally climb aboard Langar Airways, a true no frills airline, destination 13,000 feet with no seats or landing card!

It was time to put up or shut up and it seems most of the team, notably Rocket Renner, did just that. With barely a word spoken the in flight entertainment was severely lacking and the required altitude was reached all too quickly.

A tap of the shoulder and with rolla shutter doors up there was no backing out now…awaiting our Guys in the Skies the first part of their jump, a 45 sec, 120 mph adrenaline fuelled freefall. Gasping for breath, pulses racing and with ice particles in their beards from a band of thick grey cloud (well Ross at least!) the first 7,000 feet was negotiated with dignity mostly still intact.

With parachutes safely deployed things got a little more sedate and the majority of the team (sorry Renner you did look to be suffering there) could savour the remainder of the experience as they wound their way down over the Nottinghamshire countryside.

With feet firmly back on solid ground the Guys in the Skies would like to say a massive thank you to all of you who have pledged your support and we hope the pictures were worth it.

We’re all agreed Skydiving was an awesome experience but we still have a way to go to hit our sponsorship target of £2,000.

If you haven’t already it’s not too late to sponsor the team…

http://www.justgiving.com/RJDAskydive

RJ Design Associates offer a wide range of fully integrated web design solutions.

Whether we’re working with a brand new start-up company or a well-established multi-million pound business, we build websites with a unique look and feel that really stand out from the competition whilst being fully tailored to the client’s brand and budget.

Our recent projects have pushed the boundaries of creative design, incorporating web video, search engine optimisation, digital marketing, online brochures and e-shot campaigns.

As more and more business is conducted online, having the right search engine optimisation strategy has become increasingly important. Our search engine optimisation packages are designed to boost your website’s visibility in all major search engines.

Web video and multimedia applications are something of a speciality for us and can significantly enhance the overall impact of your website, whether you are looking for a simple yet stylish animation to give an extra depth to your web pages, or a visually impressive database-driven application to sit at the heart of your interactive content.

Digital magazines, or e-brochures, are an exciting new way to put brochures and documents online. Fully interactive, they can be used as teasers prior to running a print feature, for internal, B2B and B2C use, or to promote products and services.

Promotional e-shots are a highly cost-effective way for businesses to enhance relations with their customers and boost sales. Our e-shot campaigns include immediate trackable response reports so you can act on leads straight away.

We also offer custom-built content management systems, secure e-commerce capabilities, ultra-reliable web hosting and more.

Click here to take a look at our fantastic web portfolio and discover what RJ Design Associates can do for you.

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!

RJDA never do anything by halves and on 8^th June we celebrated our 10^th birthday with the biggest all day party we’ve ever hosted.

Clients large and small, old and new, potential clients, local businesses, DNCC members, marketing Derby bond holders, suppliers, friends and the team at Rj joined the party to celebrate a DECADE IN DESIGN.

We kicked off bright & early at 8am by hosting a DNCC breakfast meeting. Visitors were given a tour of the print & production facilities, followed by barbequed bacon & sausage cobs out on our balcony overlooking the golf course. Luckily it’s a covered area so we were protected from the onslaught of the summer rain!

Visitors poured in all day long to join the celebrations, taste the delights from the BBQ and join in the fun, games and competitions in true party style. The skalextric racing challenge with a top gear style leader board was the most popular and a remote controlled car delivery challenge tested the driving skills of our visitors. But it was the old photographs of our team at 10 years of age that provided the best entertainment!

Our welcome plasma screen in reception showcased video footage from our recently launched Creative Sauce Competition and a team building Go Karting evening from last week with commentary by Murray Walker!

Everyone left the party with their own little black party bag filled with goodies and we were left to toast Rob and eat cake!

From left to right: Chris Reynolds, Katie Leedham, Sarah Adams, Leanne Leitch, Ryan Benniston, Lee Day

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.

Ryan Benniston receiving his brand new iMac

“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.

When a client came to us recently we were (well mainly the females here) just cooing over the content!

Hush is a brand new baby photographic company who are about to launch in the Midlands. The clients came to us after a quick internet search for graphic designers in the area.

They wanted a clean, contemporary look that presented the images in the best way possible and that encouraged families to embrace their new relationships and capture the very special times in their young babies lives.

They also wanted SEO to maximize their new business on the web, which is an area our multi media team specilaise in, so they will be looking to grow organically rather than paying per click.

We love the results, as do the owners of Hush Photography!

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.”

February 18th saw Nottingham’s East Midlands Conference Centre play host to Balfour Beatty Rail Safety Challenge Awards 2010.

The annual awards ceremony is a key date in the calendar for Balfour Beatty Rail Operating Companies in recognising and rewarding innovative and creative safety applications across its businesses. The Safety Challenge Awards form an integral part of a group wide goal to make safety personal and achieve Zero Harm by 2012 – values which are now firmly rooted in the mind of RJDA Director Lee Day.

Safety Challenge Awards Event Organisers Sue Sawyer & John Tidyman commented “RJDA have earned a much deserved reputation within Balfour Beatty Rail companies for delivering quality Zero Harm marketing collateral on time, every time, and perhaps more importantly by taking the time to understand the importance of our initiative and the valuable positive impact it is having on all Balfour Beatty stakeholders. RJDA’s work ethic is very much a combination of going the extra mile, taking the time in making things personal which is why RJDA continue to secure referrals and repeat business from key decision makers within Balfour Beatty Rail.”

“On behalf of Balfour Beatty Rail we would both like to say thank you to RJDA for all of their help, ideas, effort and support over the Safety Challenge Awards planning and preparation period. The attendees were extremely impressed with the Zero Harm pillars and overall branding of the conference and I would have no hesitation recommending RJDA.”

Fast forward a few months and a select few dare devils amongst the RJDA team will be free falling at 120 mph, 10,000 feet above the Nottinghamshire countryside.

Lee Day, Chris Reynolds, Andy Gilmore, Ross Ballinger and Ben Edwards are our high flyers that have chosen to stand at the edge of an open doorway in an aircraft flying at 10,000 feet with the noise of the wind and the engines ringing in their ears with only the outline of distant fields below. They will then lean forward out of that doorway and fall forwards into the peace and quiet of the clouds, diving down through the air free falling at over 120 miles per hour. Their canopies will then open and they will begin their descent steering themselves back down to the ground below ………. Well, that’s the plan!

For the guys to head to the skies we need your help! Our aim is to raise £2,000 for the national road safety charity BRAKE that campaigns for zero deaths on our roads.

Every week 49 people are killed on Uk roads. Traffic is the biggest killer of 15-24 year-olds, and the third biggest killer of children aged 5-14, after cancer and diseases of the nervous system.

Please help us to help this worthwhile charity. Its very quick and easy to do – Just log onto http://www.justgiving.com/RJDAskydive - your donation will be very gratefully received.

Thanks!

RJDA teamed up with Globalkey Translations for a day with a difference at Loughborough University’s Holywell Park Conference Centre recently.

Russia Day was organised and hosted by East Midlands UK Trade and Investment (uktiem) to showcase Russian culture, business trends and openings and provided the perfect opportunity for companies hoping to tap into one of the worlds fastest growing markets.

A wealth of industry experts and guest speakers were on hand to deliver workshops and advice to companies across many sectors such as transport, energy, engineering, automotive, media and pharmaceutical.

Working in partnership with a linguistic professional certainly broadens RJDA’s offer and Russia Day delegates were impressed by the fact that RJDA can now combine translation with marketing collateral and web solutions to provide multilingual localised marketing material.