Acquisition International - Business Excellence Awards 2017 69 Best Digital Design Agency & Award for Excellence in Website Design & Development - West Midlands Areca Design Areca Design was established in March 2009, by which time Mick, had gained a good reputation in the waste and recycling industry, providing marketing support to Biffa, video and exhibition design and build for Dennis Eagle, gaining over 30 clients from their supply chain and customer base. He discusses how the firm came into being and how he built it up to the success it is today. “Drawing on my background in creative design, I always knew that it would be important to keep ahead of our competition by seeking out innovative techniques to support client campaigns. Being awarded Best Digital Design Agency in the West Midlands illustrates that Areca Design has achieved this ambition. However, we cannot stand still and being featured as a winner in The Business Excellence Awards Supplement will lead to more interest in what digital direction design and marketing will take. “The majority of forward-thinking creative marketers see ‘mobile’ as the dominating platform over the next five to ten years. However, I feel that print will always be a loved medium, mainly for the tactile nature of a physical newspaper, magazine or book – but also due to the fact that looking over a newspaper allows you to see many snippets of news or adverts that you would simply never ‘Google’. “Previously I was a Senior Designer for an agency that focussed of Higher Education work, mainly designing and producing the University Prospectus for over 30 educational establishments, including; Cambridge, Warwick, Aston, Leicester, Birmingham, LSE, Nottingham and Coventry. This work provided the foundations for the high-standards that I now insist is adhered to for all of our client projects. Through networking andmaking themost of doors being opened, my passion for motorcycles, was rewarded by getting the opportunity to work with Yamaha, creating the artwork for the current global Yamaha Motorcycles logo, developing their brand guidelines and designing many press-kits over a four-year period.” Since inception, the firm has grown significantly and now offers a vast array of services which Mick is keen to outline. “Here at Areca Design we have developed a way to bring the twomediums of print andmobile apps together. Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) Apps allows a reader of a printed magazine, newspaper or flyer to gain more in- depth knowledge about an article, product or company by simply scanning the news-page or advert with a smart-phone or tablet. We can programme an App which controls the smart-device’s camera to recognise an image, logo or object – then launch a video, 3Dmodel Areca Design is a Worcestershire based digital design firm. We caught up with founder Mick Hurst to learn more about the history of this dynamic firm. Company: Areca Design Contact: Mick Hurst Contact Email:
[email protected] Address: The Areca Rooms, Abbey Gate Studios, Abbey Gate, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 4BQ, UK Phone: 01386 570 360 BE170086 or animation. These presentations can be interactive, entertaining and engaging and lead the viewer to exact web-pages, contact, feedback or order forms. To really engage your contacts, we can also easily include competitions and social media channels. The same technique can be used elsewhere in marketing, from point of sale and exhibition stands to vehicle livery and business cards. “The majority of current project work in the Areca Design studio is around websites, the software we use has been written from ground-up by a Midlands-based developer and his team. We are fortunate to be their only reseller, designing and coding the front-end and user experience element of the websites, in the knowledge that the highly secure and intuitive software framework is constantly being monitored, maintained and enhanced in the background. We currently have over 70 content management system websites live, from one-man consultants to international e-commerce platforms – selling thousands of products. All websites are designed to the very latest best practice for SEO, including being mobile responsive, having in-built social media control panels and e-newsletter generators. The Areca Design team also manage PPC, organic rankings and social media campaigns if required.” Moving forward, Mick foresees many exciting developments in the design industry which will provide great opportunities for his business. “For the last five years, we have been exploring Mobile AR Apps, providing interesting Historic Trails for Local Councils to innovative future planning for The City of London Council in the Square Mile. It has been a lot of hard work which is now paying dividends as the technology of mobile devices and 4Ghas caught up with the concept. We have now launchedMobile ARApps for training, reporting, promotions, supporting engineering, tourism, induction programmes and excitingly we are now launching AR Apps for use in theWedding Industry. “Looking ahead, in my opinion the design industry has got to embrace the next generation of business decision makers, anyone in their twenties or younger has been brought up consuming information on mobile devices – how long will it be before they are the key decision makers who will buy your products or services? Already there are more Google searches carried out on mobile devices than desktops or laptops. In 10 years, will you be able to buy a computer or laptop? Or will they all have been replaced by mobile devices’ capable of doing everything – will websites be seen as old-hat. If you are to future-proof your businesses marketing, perhaps the strategy should be to explore mobile devices now, and be seen as the innovators in your market.” rec ARECA DESIGN creative marketing support