Posts
latest posts
- Dribbble and Drool31 Jan 2012
- A blast from the past09 Jan 2012
- Lord of the Flies05 Dec 2011
- Faber Christmas Gifts05 Dec 2011
- Black Mountain Hike08 Nov 2011
- Adaptive Layouts26 Oct 2011
- IE6 Apology26 Oct 2011
- Bristol Django Talks17 Aug 2011
- 150 years in the making17 Aug 2011
- King of Pong15 Aug 2011
- Summer at Omni15 Jul 2011
- Time tracking link07 Jul 2011
- iPad App Development05 Jul 2011
- Circadian Trust06 Jun 2011
- Awwwards Nomination13 May 2011
categories
- posted
- Jan. 31, 2012
- time
- 11:11 a.m.
- by
- Andrew
Dribbble and Drool
Design Social Network
We've just set up an Omni profile on Dribble, which is by far the most popular, design and development community on the web. It has an amazing array of designers, artists and developers from all over the world. It manages to stay this way because it's invite only, so you don't get every Tom, Dick and Harry uploading photos of their cat. We'll be posting shots of our workflow from sketches and things we're working on all the way through to finished, shiny pieces of work.
You can check out our Dribbble profile here: dribbble.com/the-house-of-omni
- posted
- Jan. 9, 2012
- time
- 8:46 a.m.
- by
- Sam
A blast from the past
1st Generation iPod
It feels like a very long time ago now looking at it but after only 10 years this 1st Generation iPod feels like an antique compared to what is now available. I think this is testimant to how fast the technology is moving but also how well Apple built these products.
Firewire 400 connection cable and 5 whole GB in capacity size. hahaha. :-)
- posted
- Dec. 5, 2011
- time
- 11 a.m.
- by
- Darren
Lord of the Flies
Cover Competition
Faber and Faber is one of the great independent publishing houses in London, and is renowned for its design heritage.
Omni has been working as one of Faber and Faber's retained agencies over the past year and have some exciting projects planned.
Working in partnership with the Guardian, Faber asked us to design a microsite to promote a competition - calling on artists aged 13 to 16 to redesign the cover of William Golding's classic, Lord of the Flies.
The site features a video brief from Faber Art Director, Donna Payne, as well as advice from Neil Gower - who will not only judge the entries, but has twice designed the cover on previous editions.
The audience can share the competition, register for competition news, download the brief and upload their entries via the site.
Lord of the Flies was an unexpected bestseller, and was not a hit when initially published. It has gone on to sell millions of copies and its success was purely down to word of mouth, as the late Charles Monteith at Faber and Faber recalled ‘The book began not only to be talked about but to sell and before long we had to order a reprint. In the United States, where we had great difficulty in placing it, it made little impression at first, but after a year or two, a paperback edition began to spread like forest fire through university campuses.’
The winner will see their artwork transformed by the Faber design team into a cover for the new cententary edition of Lord of the Flies.
Lord of the Flies has been summed up as "a savage analysis of what can happen when regimes fall, fear rules and power must be fought for"…so as relevant today as ever.
Visit the site here: lordofthefliescover.com
- posted
- Dec. 5, 2011
- time
- 8:17 a.m.
- by
- Andy
Faber Christmas Gifts
New site designs
Since taking on Faber and Faber as a client earlier this year, we've been providing them with a lot of back-end Django support and maintenance for their website (the framework that their CMS is built in). Up until now, we haven't had a chance to get stuck in with the front-end of the site but with Christmas approaching Faber asked us to design a new Gifts ideas are of the site. This new section allows you to filter the content by groups, 'Gifts for Dads', 'Gifts for Mums' etc, which then gives you a recommended set of Faber publications. This gave us a chance to break out of the existing templates that the site adheres to and create something new for them whilst ensuring it stays on brand and seamlessly part of the current site.
Designing the Gifts section coincided with planning a site-wide refresh, which would improve usability, functionality and importantly the inherited code that was originally used to build the site. The problem that we faced was that this is not a redesign where you have the flexibility of a blank canvas. We had to take what was already there and work out how we could make the user experience a better one, whilst upholding the design style that is already in place. We focussed a great deal of time on the homepage, trying to find a solution to some core site issues, which is to create an more intuative search for their large catalogue. The secondary need for the homepage is that it's a pin board of news and promotions for the various arms of Faber that all need a place to communicate. These two factors saw us radically change the layout and even navigation to find a solution. Watch this space for a launch later this year.
Choose your Christmas Gifts here: www.faber.co.uk/gifts/christmas
- posted
- Nov. 8, 2011
- time
- 9:28 a.m.
- by
- Darren
Black Mountain Hike
Omni Adventures
Following on from last years trek up Snowdon, the Omni team all got together this Friday for a 15km walk across the Brecon Beacons.
As a company we try to organise events like this as often as possible - the only rules being; no cringe worthy team building exercises and no whiteboards - just good clean air, horizontal rain and some breath-taking views.
Flickr Photo Feed here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjwSQzAA
- posted
- Oct. 26, 2011
- time
- 9:29 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Adaptive Layouts
Fluidity on the web
I'm holding back from a major blog around adaptive layouts because I want to show you some lovely examples from our own portfolio but these are all still in development at the moment and will be launched very soon.
Suffice to say, adaptive layouts are a very exciting development and have fast become a major consideration for our team. They are not new as a theory but have certainly been recently fine tuned and come into their own after the launch of a fantastic book by Ethan Marcotte called 'Responsive Web Design'.
The idea is for smoother user engagement with a website design when accessing it via the multitude of mobile and tablet devices now on the market. Essentially we work through each page template to consider how the core design template would then fluidly adapt, whilst still retaining the information priority and core structure. Drop down menus may change to mobile friendly menu items, images shrink or expand, carousels turn into single image slideshows, horizontal layouts become vertical for easy touch screen finger scrolling etc. etc.
Some say adaptive layouts can be boring and restrict the design process because they are sticking too strictly to measured column views but we have found the exact opposite, where having to consider how a site will adapt for mobile devices is a fascinating new challenge.
We are close to completion of two new sites using these techniques, the first is a 2012 Olympics Photographic Competition website for The Royal Photographic Society and the other is a new website for Active Centres formally South Gloucestershire Leisure Centres. Both will be launched over the coming months.
Some other examples of responsive web design can be found here: mediaqueri.es, foodsense.is
- posted
- Oct. 26, 2011
- time
- 9:26 a.m.
- by
- Sam
IE6 Apology
...kinda
It doesn't make up for all the pain anf frustration that IE6 (Internet Explorer 6) has caused us over the years but I guess it's nice to have some kind of appology for such a shoddy browser. :-)
- posted
- Aug. 17, 2011
- time
- 12:26 p.m.
- by
- Tom
Bristol Django Talks
Arkestra
In the interest of growing more Djangonaughts in the Southwest, Omni have been playing host to the Django Bath & Bristol users group.
Last night we were lucky enough receive a visit from Daniele Procida, and the subject of discussion was Arkestra, an intelligent content management system, which powers the School of Medicine at Cardiff University (and a growing number of other sites).
With impressive disregard for murphy's laws of presenting, Daniele built a small site that showed off Arkestra's determination to get as much use as it can from every piece of information that it's given. It's clear that a great deal of thought has gone into building a system that doesn't require the entry of lots of near-duplicate content, and that presents that content in an appropriate and flexible manner.
If you're interested in Arkestra, you may want to have a look at Daniele's lightning talk from DjangoCon EU (he starts at about 24:30).
As ever, thanks to Dan Fairs for getting everyone together.
- posted
- Aug. 17, 2011
- time
- 9:34 a.m.
- by
- John
150 years in the making
Exhibition Catalogue
Omni are delighted to share with you, the recently completed Exhibition Print Catalogue, for The Royal Photographic Society.
The Royal Photographic Society’s International Print Exhibition is the longest standing exhibition of its kind in the world. During its long history of over 150 years, it has gained a reputation for showcasing a wide range of genres and styles of photography, with cutting edge prints being shown alongside traditional work. This has ensured its uniqueness within the photographic world.
Take a look at some more of our work for the RPS
- posted
- Aug. 15, 2011
- time
- 8:30 a.m.
- by
- Sam
King of Pong
The Winner
It was an epic battle late Friday night but after an hour of gruelling table tennis with another local team, one of our designers, Andrew Lucas, picked up the singles award beating off all the competition.
The whole competition was accompanied by a truly cheesy 80s and 90s sound track, including 'Eye of the Tiger' and 'We are the Champions'!
Great times and certainly a welcome break from computer screens. :-)
- posted
- July 15, 2011
- time
- 8:57 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Summer at Omni
Thinking time
A candid shot taken whilst one of our video editors contemplates his next mind blowing creative decision in our staff lunch area.
- posted
- July 7, 2011
- time
- 8:12 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Time tracking link
Harvest and FogBugz
For anyone out there using FogBugz ticketing system and Harvest for invoicing and time tracking, we have just released a tool that allows time allocated to specific tickets on FogBugz to be submitted directly to Harvest (as long as the project names are the same). One of our dev team Thomas Dunham worked on tying up the two software packages because we spent a great deal of time trying to work out which office management tools would best suit our size of business and this was the missing ingredient.
You can find it open source on our Omni Github repository. Do feed back if you have any suggestions.
- posted
- July 5, 2011
- time
- 1:46 p.m.
- by
- Sam
iPad App Development
Prototype Completed
Busy times at the moment with lots of interesting projects in the pipeline but recently we have just finalised a prototype iPad App for a long term client, which unfortunately we are under a very strict Non-Disclosure Agreement and can't give anything away.
Suffice to say, the concept is 'proved' and we are now moving onto the commercial version of the app for distribution on iTunes.
It was certainly a different beast working on an iPad and interesting following some very strict HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) laid down by Apple but we are really happy with the results and can't wait to see the app in commercial operation.
- posted
- June 6, 2011
- time
- 10:54 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Circadian Trust
Brand Launch
Omni are proud to launch the new brand identity and brand applications for 'Circadian Trust', formally South Gloucestershire Leisure Centres (SGL).
Omni have a long-standing relationship with South Gloucestershire Leisure Centres and produced their first website after they received their independence from the council www.sgleisure.org (created for them over 5 years ago now), which has stood the test of time well but they have now evolved as a business and are looking to the future.
This new partner and stakeholder facing brand allows them the freedom to deliver, via Circadian Trust, all kinds of 'Active' related ventures, such as the new public facing 'Active Centres' brand and website, which we are working on as I type, and will be launched towards the end of summer.
We had an incredibly productive brand workshop at the start of the project, which gave us the opportunity to all thrash through the issues at hand. This was followed by a naming session generating 'Circadian Trust' as the new identity. 'Circadian Rhythm' is a 24-hour cycle in the biochemical, physiological, or behavioural processes of every living entity on Earth, so a very apt name for a business working in and around Active Lifestyles. We then moved into a second session, which revealed a powerful set of brand values and a solid, easy to remember Mission and Vision statement:
Mission: Inspiring active lifestyles
Vision: Giving more
Values
- Customer obsession - Looking at everything through our customer's eyes
- Passionate about service - Putting the customer at the heart of everything we do
- Provide expertise - We develop our people to be experts in their field
- Striving to be better - Giving more by striving to be better at everything we do
- Innovation - Developing new ways to inspire active lifestyles
- Ownership - Making the effort to get it right
- Being resourceful - Spending money on what matters
- Empowerment - Helping you achieve your potential
- Equality - In everything we do
The clearer the Mission and Vision of an organisation, the more easy it is for all staff and management to remember, relate, engage and action its core messages, and 'Giving More' to 'Inspire Active Lifestyles' is a powerful and simple formula.
The ideogram element of the brand mark was then developed and followed these core guiding principles:
- Creating a sense of rhythm taken from the dictionary definition of Circadian
- Multicoloured inter connections represent communities, partnership and support
- There is a sense of movement to highlight the core service offerings around being active
- Vibrant colours give a sense of fun and diversity
Initial feedback from staff has been overwhelmingly positive and we are very proud to see it starting on its journey. Stay tuned for the Active Centres site to be launched in the coming months.
Read more about Circadian Trust on their website. www.circadiantrust.org
- posted
- May 13, 2011
- time
- 7:51 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Awwwards Nomination
For BOA
We're happy to announce that one of our sites, Body Of Art, has been nominated for an Awwward. Awwwards are the awards that recognize and promote the talent and effort of the best developers, designers and web agencies in the world.
Well done team. :-)
- posted
- April 21, 2011
- time
- 8:11 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Tick box fun
HTML Experiments
Too much time on their hands, yes...but still an interesting experiement with the everyday tick box using HTML 5.
- posted
- April 11, 2011
- time
- 10:37 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Award awards awards
IVCA
Omni have just won another three awards at this years International Visual Communication Awards (IVCA), including a Web 2.0 category for Condom, No Condom, a recent safe sex viral campaign for the NHS, which has notched up staggering 1,713,702 views to date.
The campaign was also nominated for a Royal Television Award but we were pipped to the post by Aardman Animations.
Well done team, but not a surprise for such a talented bunch of people. :-)
- posted
- April 11, 2011
- time
- 10:09 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Digital Signage
At Liverpool Street
We are working on an interesting little Digital Signage project for Body Of Art (BOA), which will see their recent twenty competition winner's work displayed in a 3D Virtual Gallery on Liverpool Street station in London.
BOA have partnered with Art Below to present the artwork in this very public space. Art Below is the only public gallery to use advertising space to display the work of contemporary artists.
Their mission is to enrich the everyday lives of the traveling public by giving fresh insight into the very latest in art, illustration, photography, fashion, whilst at the same time providing a platform for emerging and established talent.
The artist's work will be featured from 18th - 24th April.
- posted
- April 7, 2011
- time
- 1:04 p.m.
- by
- Sam
BOA goes 2.0
'THE' Network for artists
The first stage of the recent Body Of Art (BOA) website launch saw us create one of the most beautiful art sharing websites in the world. A big claim, but backed up by just some of the amazing feedback from users/artists who have engaged with the site since its launch:
"I'd just like to say that your system of sharing art is a tremendous resource to the art community. This is a tool that will empower artists, dealers, collectors, art lovers, and the likes in many ways."
"…a pleasure to use, very easy and straight forward."
"This is fascinating, You have a wonderful site. It's wonderfully comprehensive and designed."
"Your gallery is extremely easy to navigate, I like that."
"I am so happy to have found Body of Art, what a wonderful resource for all artists everywhere. The Virtual Gallery is amazing."
"It is Amazing! Thank you for doing this. Love it! The coolest thing ever"
"Your website is really inspiring me to start and finish my personal projects."
"I'm totally in love with this site. So cool."
We worked hard together with the BOA team to produce a site that borrows from the real world experience of viewing art in a physical gallery, not just with the interactive Virtual Gallery system, which allows the user to view artwork in its very own virtual gallery space, but also in the main site gallery views, where users have the ability to zoom into the intricate detail of the art.
The site has been gathering momentum over the last few weeks but we felt that it was missing the social engagement side, that would ensure that the site would not only appeal to artists sharing and promoting their own work but also to art lovers who want to explore, follow, discuss and contact their favourite artists from all around the world.
The second stage due for launch in the coming weeks will see all kinds of amazing additions.
Activity feeds:
You will now be able to view at a glance the activity of the artists you are following. Who have they commented on, who are they following and when they have uploaded new work or galleries.
Virtual Gallery Arrangements:
Users who have over 5 pieces of artwork inside a gallery automatically appear in a virtual gallery. This defaults to the order of upload at the moment but with some clever Javascript, the new accounts section will allow users to drag and drop their artwork inside a plan of their gallery allowing them to edit their exhibition. Creatively, the order of how an audience views artwork is very important to the artist, so this was an important new feature.
Mail/Messaging:
This will allow you to be notified whenever someone comments on your work, emails you directly from your gallery or when they are interested in buying an artist's work. It may sound simple but this system needs to be bullet proof and all sorts of consideration is required to ensure it doesn't frustrate or spam the users.
Artists' profile addition:
Artists will now be able to update their status and make more of their profile page. This is their landing page URL and we want them to feel like it is more of a home page and route through to the rest of their work rather than just a biog. This page will also have its own activity feed so users can see what you are interested in.
Privacy settings:
With all these additions we realise that users privacy settings are going to be increasingly important. Whether they wish to receive email notifications, share their slideshows, share their activity etc. All of this will be available for them at the tick of a radial button.
Video!:
Oh yes, the site will soon open itself up to video content. We will not be hosting and serving video content but using Vimeo as our mashup site of choice. Artists can upload video art or maybe making-of documentaries about how they work. All content can be reported and policed by users or by the BOA team.
Generally, the rest of the new profile section will be far clearer and easier to use. Slideshows, image galleries and your favourites will all be housed in an easier to navigate interface.
Once launched, the site will fit well into the classic Web 2.0 model, allowing users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of their own user-generated content.
If you take Facebook as the classic social networking model, it has what are referred to as 'Ties'. These are the different social networks that you are connected to, e.g. Uni friends, Work colleagues, Family members and Sports club friends would be examples of just four ties. Facebook is an amazing platform for this overall sharing of content, status and life updates to all of these ties of people and to an extend it does give you the ability to group these people and separate viewing permissions between them but BOA is a far tighter vertical tie. BOA is looking to bring together and engage only those who love art, produce art or are just looking for inspiration and an injection of creativity.
Sites like Facebook, although brilliant for bringing people together and networking, can feel disposable over time but BOA will look to keep its users engaged by simply staying pure to the art world and respectful of its audiences inspiring them with new artwork, art related news, events and resources as well as regularly evolving and improving its features.
Body Of Art has been produced for the love and by love. Its investor, Leon Coburg, (an artists and life model himself), simply wants to give back to the art community that he loves so passionately.
The site is based around minimal financial input from related advertising and an open donations model (like Wikipedia) but Body Of Art will forever stay pure.
We've had great fun designing these new social interface additions, and hope the BOA users will have equally as much fun engaging with them.
Be inspired on the Body Of Art website.
- posted
- April 5, 2011
- time
- 4:54 p.m.
- by
- Sam
DjangoCon Europe
All Booked
So, the development team are all booked up for this years DjangoCon Europe. We hired an apartment for them all as close to the location as we could find (with internet for any of those little emergencies that may occur), and the extra room spaces have been filled with a few other local Django coding ninjas, so I'm sure they'll all solve the coding problems of the universe by the end of the week.
Hopefully it will be an event full of inspiration and knowledge sharing, so I'm sure they will come back buzzing, giving our clients lots of added value with turbo charged speed of service and lots of fresh ideas.
Have a good one guys, wish I was able to come along. :-)
- posted
- March 17, 2011
- time
- 8:56 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Office management tools
Stress free solutions
I thought it would be nice to share our recent findings and research with regards to what would be the best Management, Financing, Invoicing, Estimating, Ticketing, Task-tracking system for us as a relatively small digital agency.
We have spent hours/days…literally weeks researching the best systems to use for a successful management of digital projects and our eyes have been bleeding from all the demo videos, FAQ's, API's, Plugins, etc. we watched and learnt about along the way.
I think we are finally there now, so I thought I would share it with you as a potential work flow method because the process is daunting to say the least and might save some people out there a little time.
So what did we require?
- A ticket management system
- A messaging system
- A task/project estimating system
- Integration with Version Control software
- Posting of ticket time against projects and turning that time directly into invoices
- Ability to send PDF invoices as well as automatic recurring invoices and time against retainer invoices
- Good-time tracking system
So at the start of last year, we had began looking into Agile approaches to development, which in a nut shell is doing, and billing work iteratively and keeping the client informed at every juncture whilst working to estimated times/costs rather than being pinned down to fixed budgets, which inevitably puts a huge pressure on everyone involved.
This research made a lot of sense and led into the use of a manual system called Kanban, which was a very hands-on post-it-note system that assigns tasks to individuals and allows you to literally move that task through the Kanban board from proposed, approved, design, development, feedback and testing, done and live…and 'blocked' for any reason (very important from a Project Manager's point of view).
Before being introduced to Kanban, we were using Basecamp to organise all our todo lists and although clients seemed happy to be able to see todo lists and messages in one place online, our developers found it to be a very stressful way of managing their tasks. The reason is that you return to it each morning and the todos lists just get longer and longer and that can be very demoralising.
The difference with Kanban is that a Developer has 1x task active/in progress at any one time, and once done they move it to 'Done and ready for testing', which in itself as an action is very satisfying. The Project Manager of any team can then see at a glance what tasks are in-progress and does not have to constantly ask what people are working on and micro manage…sound familiar!?
We then had a new developer start who had previously used a ticketing system called FogBugz, which instantly made sense, and low and behold…it had a 'Digital Kanban Plugin', meaning we could ditch the physical board in the corner of the office and allow everyone to have it on their bookmarks to easily see what they should be working on, what to work on next and what tasks are blocked.
(I am looking into getting this Digital Kanban on a touch screen board as I still like everyone gathering in a scrum, shifting the tickets around manually and discussing them together.)
So we had FugBugz, which solved the ticketing system and allowed us to track all tickets, add estimates to tickets, submit time to tickets, add messages, re-assign to other team members, message clients, creating discussion topics, etc. and we then had Digital Kanban plugged into this, which solved the project and task management side of things. Nice…so now all we had to do was tie this into the financials.
This was actually the most complicated task of all, as it had to work for the accountant, tie into time tracking, tie into tickets, create auto invoices, etc. but also there are tons of these systems out there:
- www.freshbooks.com
- www.getharvest.com
- www.freeagentcentral.com
- www.synergist.co.uk
- quickbooksonline.intuit.com
- www.invoicemachine.com
- www.pulseapp.com
- www.letsfreckle.com
- www.zemno.com
- www.xero.com
- www.creative-manager.com
...are just some.
We ended up going right through to demo downloading and project setup stage on a lot of them but they always seem to be missing one element, which was either a) not doing retainer invoices, which can be a major part of Agile work flow or b) Not talking to the ticketing system that we had chosen…or any ticketing system…and if they did do a ticketing system, it didn't have all the features we needed.
After several meetings with the team, and them feeling my pain, one of the developers kindly spent a weekend writing an API link-up between FogBugz and Harvest (a system which did do retainer invoices) and we now had a ticketing system, which developers could add their time to and the API plugin would then send all that time to Harvest at 04:00am each day. Sorted. (Will OpenSource this to github Harvest and FogBugz as a plugin once we have fully tested it.)
A few weeks in, and demo licences are just about to run out but it's looking good. Ticketing System - done, Time tracking and exporting PDF estimates and invoices for clients - done, Kanban project management - done.
All in all, its a far more pleasant, stress-free working environment. Clients are feeling like they are well-informed of the work we are doing for them, Omni management are feeling they are more aware of estimated time and real time against tasks, developers and designers are feeling like they are making progress and not overloaded with todos, and we are able to ditch a lot of monthly outgoings on multiple systems that were certainly starting to add up and were not talking to each other.
So, in conclusion I would say that for an agency our size, these tools solve our immediate issues and I'm sure will serve us well in the future. In the two weeks of using them, I have already seen a noticeable difference.
We are still using Basecamp for the moment but really all we use from it are 'messages', so seems a bit of a waste and will probably phase it out and send direct discussions to clients from FogBugz, which you can then create a live ticket from.
I hope some people out there will find this useful as I wish I had found an article like this before I set myself off on that long and intensive research mission.
Here's to efficient stress-free work flows.
- posted
- Feb. 8, 2011
- time
- 7:24 p.m.
- by
- Sam via Andy
Beauty in Ruins
Photography Blog
It's a day of haunting imagery, with another inspiring collection finding its way into the office inboxes. This amazing collection of work was featured on the Denver Post Photo Blog. It's incredible how you can almost hear sounds emanating from of each image.
- posted
- Feb. 8, 2011
- time
- 7:17 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Water Projection
A beautiful campaign
Had to share this absolutely beautiful campaign called Water Talks produced for World Water Day by Solidarites International. An absolutely stunning and magical piece of work.
(Skip to 35 secs)
- posted
- Jan. 27, 2011
- time
- 9:14 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Faber and Faber
Paper to Digital
London based independent UK publishing house Faber and Faber has announced that it is seeking to evolve its digital presence in order to formalise its point of difference and to keep pace with the changing digital landscape.
The company, made famous from publishing many works of its former editor, poet T.S. Eliot, will aim to put a stronger emphasis on social media and ecommerce.
“The rise in shopping for books online has seen a reduction in the number of people going to bookshops to make their purchase and means that publishers are closer than ever to their readers,” explained Faber and Faber digital marketing manager, Matthew DeVille.
"We need to ensure that we embrace a modern direct-to-consumer approach to interact with readers who are increasingly comfortable reading, discovering and buying books online and downloading apps and ebooks."
The publisher is now working with The House of Omni, to make itself more accessible to the online community.
“We were recommended to Faber due to our strong understanding of Django, a Python Web Framework, which their current sites are built in.” explained The House of Omni managing director, Sam Hearn.
“The publishing industry is advancing rapidly from a digital perspective, so we are excited about working with Faber and Faber to see how it evolves and help keep them at the forefront of how consumers engage with literature online.”
Source: The Drum
- posted
- Jan. 26, 2011
- time
- 10:29 a.m.
- by
- Sam
BNP Paribas
Microsite Development
We recently produced a microsite for BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions to help manage their relationships with HP Partners. I haven't added it to the blog for a while because most of the core functionality is behind locked password protection and registration, so there is not really much to see for the general public, but we are proud of the site and the relationship with a large brand such as BNP Paribas.
View the site here: www.hpfinancing.co.uk
- posted
- Jan. 18, 2011
- time
- 8:20 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Body Of Art Live
Website Launched
We are very proud to announce the launch of a new website called BOA, Body Of Art.
Body Of Art is a social site for artists to share, promote and discuss their work online. It allows artists to upload large images so users can really see the detail, add image licensing to protect their images, create slideshows to present their work or use them to present themed art classes, they can also comment, create unlimited galleries, and share their work with art lovers all over the world as this first stage launch is multilingual in French and Spanish.
The founder of this site (currently featured on The Canvas) is a life long Life Model who wanted to give something back to the industry with a site that recreates the gallery experience online.
There are still quite a few new features and todos left but we can't wait to share it as this has been a real long term labor of love.
If you have any artists friends /professionals who don't have a web presence or even just want extra promotion feel free to send them the site.
Visit the website here: Body Of Art and let us know what you think.
- posted
- Nov. 24, 2010
- time
- 9:21 p.m.
- by
- Sam
NHS Safe Sex Campaign
Over a million views
The House of Omni have been working on a new NHS safe sex campaign with its sister company Omni Productions.
The campaign makes use of YouTube's linking video annotation system, which allows you to add links to the end of a video and direct the user through to another video on YouTube. Kind of like the old adventure books where you have to turn to chapter 10 to find the answer.
Well this time the question was whether you choose to buy a condom or not, and the choices you make along the journey then affect the overall outcome…either great (safe) sex…twice!!…or a trip to the clinic.
Helped with a small PR push, the media picked up momentum and the target audience feedback online has been positive and are now engaged in the debate around condom use.
The House of Omni developed the technical Information Architecture flow of the project, off the back of a great script by Richard Penfold, and developed the YouTube channel for the NHS.
The campaign has already notched up 1.5 million views from all over the world, so lets hope it helps raise awareness of the importance of condoms, which are still the only form of contraception which help protect against pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted infections.
View the campaign here: Condom, No Condom
- posted
- Nov. 11, 2010
- time
- 4:39 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Work fit for purpose
Somerset website launch
Have a look at a website we've launched today that we’re really proud of. Our client Somerset Leisure needed a strong new image and a fun, vibrant website to communicate its wide range of leisure and community services. We’ve given the logo a refresh and the site is engaging and easy to navigate. We think it fits the bill perfectly: www.somersetleisure.org.uk
- posted
- Oct. 11, 2010
- time
- 12:46 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Snowdon Pics
An Omni Adventure
- posted
- Sept. 22, 2010
- time
- 4:08 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Snowdon Trip
An Omni Adventure
Only a couple of weeks left until the Omni assault up Mount Snowdon. We thought it would be nice to take all our staff for a couple of paid days out of the office during a working week, and get them away from computer screens for some serious fresh air and adventure.
Pictures to follow.
- posted
- Sept. 17, 2010
- time
- 9:12 a.m.
- by
- Sam
WIlderness Downtown
Next Generation
You may well have seen this around already but if not, we highly recommend you check it out.
You basically put a postcode into the box on the home page, sit back and enjoy as the main character runs through your local streets and arrives at the location you typed in to the sounds of Arcade Fire's new track.
Google maps satellite view then allows the main character to interact with the environment and literally stop outside your location and explore it.
It's using some incredibly clever HTML5 techniques that not everyone will be able to see but certainly a great push from Google to get people to switch browsers and get the full experience.
What is so beautiful and interesting about this is not just the geek fest of clever tech and development but also the combination of music video and film production merging seamlessly with web code.
These HTML5 experiments will in no time at all, change the way we browse the web and experience information.
Very clever stuff.
- posted
- Sept. 16, 2010
- time
- 9:03 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Chrome Experiments
HTML5 and more
Some quite beautiful Chrome Experiments to be explored using new technologies and pushing along nicely the early stages of what can be done with HTML5. Our browsing experiences are going to be changing fast over the next couple of years.
I thought this one was particularly beautiful / Intense.
Noise Field - Produced by a Los Angeles based Artist / Developer, Felix Turner.
- posted
- Sept. 16, 2010
- time
- 8:48 p.m.
- by
- Sam
John's Phone
3 weeks battery
Touch screens, bigger screens, the biggest screens, emails, bluetooth advertising and location tracking, syncing, predictive texting, slidey finger texting, gyroscopic gaming, apps, apps and more apps, music, videos, cameras etc. etc. etc.
If anyone out there actually wants a phone...that is just...well...a phone...then look no further. This beautifully conceived reaction to the anti-tech is just about to be launched from the Netherlands and is genius.
- 3 weeks standby mode battery life....3 weeks!!...I can use my iPhone for 3 hrs and watch its battery wither and die.
- A pad and pen to write contacts down :-)...(if your writing finger muscles still work that is)
- International usage
- Any Sim, anywhere pay as you go
- posted
- Aug. 4, 2010
- time
- 11:19 a.m.
- by
- Sam
YouTube Fun
The Expendables
It doesn't make the film look any better but certainly this is a clever use of YouTube.
- posted
- July 28, 2010
- time
- 9:27 a.m.
- by
- John
Print Catalogue
Photographic Exhibition
Hot of the press and delivered just in time for the London opening of the International Print Exhibition we wanted to show off this year's catalogue.
It's now four years since we won the contract to design the coveted catalogue. This sits alongside a wide range of other projects we currently handle on behalf of The Royal Photographic Society.
It's a beautiful item, which includes some amazing images and will be for sale through The Society's online shop.
Well done to all the successful photographers who were selected for this years exhibition.
- posted
- June 24, 2010
- time
- 3:14 p.m.
- by
- Sam
World Wetland Network
Global Reach
We have just launched a couple of small scale, multi-lingual websites for WWN and WLI.
Both sites are using some fancy Google map API to feature Wetlands around the world and either allow the user to vote for their favourite (WWN) or view their facilities (WLI).
They may be small but they are perfectly formed.
- posted
- June 8, 2010
- time
- 3:06 p.m.
- by
- Sam
More World Cupness
Calendar System
I had to share this super cool world cup 2010 calendar. It's a really nice example of simple user experience graphic design and has been very well thought out and executed.
- posted
- May 31, 2010
- time
- 7:09 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Somerset Leisure
Active Mind and Body
We are currently in development of a slick new website for Somerset Leisure Centres and thought we would give you a sneak preview.
They have only recently established independence from their previous council run position and Omni are walking them through the whole process making it as pain free and exciting as possible.
- posted
- May 21, 2010
- time
- 10:14 a.m.
- by
- Sam
The World Cup
Nike Campaign
Well if you weren't excited about the World Cup before, then you may well be after this great short film produced for Nike that's just been released....one word.....'BUDGET'!! :-) Ohhh to have that much freedom to play.
Watch the Nike Film on YouTube
- posted
- May 19, 2010
- time
- 2:34 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Drive The A-Team Van
YouTube meets Google
I found this online and was overwhelmed at how well it has been done. YouTube meets the 3D Google Earth plugin…meets…the A-Team!
Click on the 'Drive the Van' button at the bottom of the video and find yourself driving The A-Team van in major cities around the world, or even drop into a fast run down Mount Everest.
After a while of playing you realise that if you keep driving you would actually be able to just keep going around the world and it all becomes a little overwhelming. Give it five years and higher-res mapping, faster fiber broadband speeds and a nifty pair of internet glasses and you will find yourself driving a real car through any city or landscape in the world.
http://www.youtube.com/drivetheateamvan
- posted
- May 10, 2010
- time
- 10:03 a.m.
- by
- Sam
A Life Model
A 15 year history
We are currently working a beautiful website which features a historic record of fifteen years worth of life modelling by one model. The website will include 1000's of paintings, sculptures and drawings from arists all over the country.
A rare and stunning insight.
- posted
- April 7, 2010
- time
- 8:26 a.m.
- by
- Sam
WWT Consulting
Website Launch
We have just launched a lovely new website for WWT Consulting.
The site includes some subtle home page Flash animation which helps bring the website to life, reflecting the environmental work they do. The site also includes a sophisticated Google map API integration allowing users to search and drill down into their global projects.
It also features a multilingual option including Arabic, Spanish and Chinese, which had to include a complete reversal of the CSS to account for Arabic text reading from right to left.
WWT Consulting is the UK’s leading specialist wetland consultancy and provides species surveys, habitat creation, restoration, management and visitor centre design services to clients worldwide. The consultancy is based at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, the headquarters of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust to whom it returns all of its profits to.
Visit the WWT Consulting Website.
- posted
- March 19, 2010
- time
- 1:06 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Marque-It website Live
New and Used Cars
We have just launched the BETA website for Marque-it. As a launch offer they are currently offering FREE ad space for people selling their new or used, prestige and performance cars (as long as they are over £8000.00). The offer will only be open for the next couple of weeks until the website is well-populated, so feel free to send it around to anyone you think might be interested. The first 20 get to go onto the home page featured ads. There is also a TV commercial being launched next week, so it should get some considerable user figures very quickly (www.marque-it.com).
Omni produced the 'Marque-It' branding, website, together with supporting printed marketing materials and the featured home page game. (Full case study to follow).
- posted
- March 11, 2010
- time
- 5:20 p.m.
- by
- Sam
YouTube and BBC down
Happens to the biggest
Scarily, the YouTube website went down today for a few minutes, and we noticed that the BBC website went down a couple of days ago as well, which just goes to show that even the monsters of the net sometimes have bugs and server issues once in a while.
Note on the image below quite how bad the YouTube error message is. Not sure the developers would like to be referred to as 'Highly trained monkeys'? We also didn't cut off 'situat', that is how it displayed. :-)
- posted
- March 1, 2010
- time
- 12:58 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Django Developer Job
Job Opening Available
Calling all Python - Django web developers based in Bristol or wanting to move to Bristol. There is a rare opening at The House of Omni for someone with your skill set. Follow this link for full job spec.
We look forward to hearing from you.
- posted
- Feb. 20, 2010
- time
- 3:52 p.m.
- by
- Sam
FFF Announced
Finish at Five on Fridays
We announced last week the start of the, oh so very popular, 'F.F.F.' campaign, standing for 'Finish at Five on Fridays'.
It's all about enjoying a little more of life, a little more sun and a little more time for fun......all subject to delivery deadlines....obviously. ;-)
We are sure that heightened productivity and general moral boosting would more than balance out the loss of hours, or may even slightly improved on it, so we're willing to give it a go.
- posted
- Feb. 18, 2010
- time
- 11:25 a.m.
- by
- John
Please Rob Me
Twitter Dangers
We were all thinking it but finally someone has realised it by producing a funny website about the dangers of Tweating your Geo Location....specifically regards noting exactly when you are NOT at home!!!
Great job guys. :-)
- posted
- Feb. 16, 2010
- time
- 7:51 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Future of Web Design
Conference
We are really excited..if not a little lighter in our wallet, after booking a couple of tickets, travel and hotels to the Future of Web Design conference in London this May, which looks to be an intense knowledge share, check out the schedule.
One of our back-end developers turned it down in favour of this years Django Conference which looks to be happening in Germany....nice!....keep an eye on the Django Con website for updates.
- posted
- Feb. 12, 2010
- time
- 3:30 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Explore Omni
OMNI STUDIO TOUR UPDATE
A quick one to let you know we have updated the Omni studio tour with some new pics and a master shot taken early in the morning when the sun streams through…love it at that time of day. :-)
(Flash Required)
- posted
- Feb. 5, 2010
- time
- 8:27 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Wrangler set the bar
Jeans web design
Had to share some love for this really innovative website done for Wrangler. It's not a big site, you can't even shop on it...but in my opinion it has made Wrangler the most memorable Jean brand of the year, creating some kind of groovy interactive music video where the user can dress and undress the models, throwing them around the screen or making them dance.
Very cool, very smooth work....Turn the volume up! :-)
http://eu.wrangler.com/bluebell/#/collection
- posted
- Jan. 31, 2010
- time
- 3:07 p.m.
- by
- Sam
IE6 web browser
No longer supported
After several previous blog posts about Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) Omni are announcing, (along with Google), that we are phasing out support for this bug-plagued browser during the coming weeks.
It has been a long time coming but this dated and restrictive browser is finally coming to the end of its life.
Sparked by recent and well publicised security breaches, which allowed the Gmail accounts of human rights activists to be hacked in China, Microsoft has been forced to admit that IE6 was in fact the weakest link and this lead to French and German governments both advising the public to change their web browser to combat the security issue.
Don't get me wrong, in its time IE6 certainly did the job but a lot has moved on in the last few years. Microsoft has already released updated versions of the browser in the form of IE7 and even IE8 but due to slow action in UK government departments to update their systems, the browser has been hanging on long after its shelf life.
Up to now, developers have found that they are having to restrict themselves, working around what IE6 lets you actually do online. This is slowing down the progression of the web as a whole in dealing with rich and diverse media. Hopefully this new shift will mean a more exciting, safer and less risky environment for web users and mean that developers can move forward into new and exciting online arenas.
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8488751.stm
- posted
- Jan. 30, 2010
- time
- 6:26 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Motion Graphics
Beautiful TV Spot
Just came across this beautiful TV spot for Chinese TV station CCTV and wanted to share. Lovely art direction and effects.
- posted
- Jan. 26, 2010
- time
- 9:19 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Body of Art
Social Network for Artists
Omni have just been commissioned to start work on a major new Social Networking website for artists to share their work, ideas, comments, skills and resources creating 'Body of Art', (BOA).
BOA will feature the highest rated, editors choice and most recently update artists profiles and help inspire and create a network allowing comment and engagement in an online artistic debate. The site will also house a resource for users to access information on art galleries, museums, related art material shops etc.
BOA is an entirely new venture which Omni will help guide through concept into launch.
We are very excited about this project, and confident Body of Art will be a beautiful website and go on to become a major success and inspiration for artists around the world.
- posted
- Jan. 17, 2010
- time
- 3:07 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Internet Explorer
Time to let it go
Could this finally be the end of Internet Explorer?
All web developers have been saying Internet Explorer is incredibly flawed for years but you have to listen when a whole country says it! :-)
Come on all you PC user, it takes five minutes to install Firefox or Google Chrome and those security holes, pop-ups and sketchy navigation will all be solved.
Download Google Chrome browser
- posted
- Jan. 7, 2010
- time
- 11:07 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Happy 2010
Be gone 2009
Welcome back everyone, we hope you had a lovely Christmas break and we wish you all wealth, health and happiness for 2010.
So, Omni are getting off to a running (if not a little slippery from the ice) start to the New Year. We are days away from launching the new WWT Consulting website which looks lovely and is superbly usable. It also includes some smooth Google Map API integration and some very subtle Flash animation techniques.
The Marque-It website and brand is also close to launch. We are just finalising some complex database integration, as the site relies on vehicle registration lookup to supply lots of its core data.
The web team are also about to undertake two large social networking based websites so keep an eye on our news for more info on those.
Some other briefs in development at the moment are some slick motion graphics projects, one for a large scale internal conference (which we are not allowed to talk about I'm afraid but includes product builds, fly through and logo design on all conference items including t-shirt and name badges) and the other is a five minute brand film for a major international engineering business, which off the back of our proposal they described as, "the most creative project they have ever done".
We also recently launched a viral video campaign for NHS Bristol called Chlamjam which supports Chlamydia testing in young people. You can see one of the films here>> (but be warned…it's a little saucy) :-) Combined views to date for the campaign are 85,000.
All in all things are looking good for the start of the year, long may it continue.
- posted
- Nov. 14, 2009
- time
- 9:40 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Wrap3 Website Launched
Papervision3D Site
Wrap3 work in the realms of digital art and the very latest in display technology. They create a virtual second skin which wraps around objects using multiple projection, motion graphics and tracking science. Omni worked with them to produce their brand identity together with a Papervision3D based animated website which reflected their brand, style and work in a functional and useable way.
View more of Wrap3.
- posted
- Nov. 12, 2009
- time
- 9:25 a.m.
- by
- John
Great Mac tweaks
Tweak your dock
Make 10.6's List Stacks look like Grid Stacks
To make this change on your Snow Leopard machine, open Terminal (in Applications -> Utilities) and enter these two commands, pressing Return after each one.
defaults write com.apple.dock use-new-list-stack -bool YES
killall Dock
10.6 Metallic Gradient Effect on Mouse Over
defaults delete com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack
defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilite-stack -boolean YES
killall Dock
- posted
- Nov. 9, 2009
- time
- 5:31 p.m.
- by
- Sam
NexStor Website Launch
1248 products
A speedy turn around, a slick new website refresh and a happy bunny for a client. NexStor, who specialise in Data Systems Integration, felt their website was in need of a refresh to keep up with a competitive market place and Omni were happy to oblige.
We built their original site and Content Management System (CMS) almost five years ago now but the CMS is still bug free and worked fine so we simply plugged straight into this and refreshed the design together with an update to the CSS and HTML code to ensure it was clean and W3C standards compliant.
We are also working with them on eNewsletters and ensuring that their website is well placed within Google searches for their core products.
View the NexStor website.
- posted
- Oct. 26, 2009
- time
- 8:57 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Some Client Love
The best so far
Just thought we would share a little client love with you, which is by far and away the most interesting testimonial we have had to date.
"You know those amazing sushi restaurants where everything your heart desires in sushi trundles towards you?
That’s what working with Omni was truly like. We asked, we got. Except there was no trundling. Just a beautiful, sparky piece of film that started out as one great flavour, before exploding into a whole rainbow of other ones.
If Omni was wasabi it would be so hot that it would melt your tongue to your spine, even then I’d still recommend you don’t be sparing in your application."
Benjamin O'Connor - Content Producer, Middlesex University
You can see the promo in our Our Work.
- posted
- Sept. 22, 2009
- time
- 3:15 p.m.
- by
- Sam
WWT Consulting website
Website Design and Build
Omni are very proud to announce that we have been selected as the agency of choice by The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (Consulting) Ltd, known as WWT Consulting, to design and develop their new website.
WWT Consulting is the UK’s leading specialist wetland consultancy and provides species surveys, habitat creation, restoration, management and visitor centre design services to clients worldwide. The consultancy is based at Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, the headquarters of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust to whom it returns all of its profits to.
It's fair to say that it was one of the most pleasant web meetings we've ever had, concluding with a tour of their beautiful visitor centre at the WWT HQ in Slimbridge which was opened by Sir Peter Scott in 1946. This award-winning visitor centre overlooks 325 hectares of nationally and internationally protected wetlands. Together with the world's largest collection of swans, geese, and ducks, we also got to check out some otters and it was the first time our web developer had seen flamingos so he was happy.
We can't wait to get started. :-)
Photographic Credit: www.daveporterphotography.co.uk
- posted
- Sept. 18, 2009
- time
- 4:21 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Vistair Website Launch
We have lift off
Buckle up...sit back...we have just launched a new website for Vistair.
Read all about it on the Vistair Case Study
- posted
- Sept. 16, 2009
- time
- 11:52 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Touchscreen game
Medical Nutrition Industry
The guys have been working hard on a seriously tight deadline to deliver a touchscreen game to be housed on an exhibition stand for an international player in the medical nutrition industry.
The game is based around the classic Cup n' Ball and is communicating via three touchscreens into a server database which has been capturing user data for marketing and competition purposes.
The stand has proved best in show with queues of people waiting to play and will go onto be used online via a link from their website and be repurposed for the exhibition tour.
Nice work guys. :-)
- posted
- Sept. 14, 2009
- time
- 3:29 p.m.
- by
- Sam
New Website for NexStor
A Brand Refresh
Omni are working with NexStor a supplier of Data Systems Integration based in Nottinghamshire. NexStor's current site was one of our very first websites and has supported them well over the years. We worked hard to ensure their website was well optimised for Google and they appear on the front page of Google for most of their 1500 products which has generated a great deal of new business enquiries for them.
This brand refresh will help them stay at the top of their game making it easier for them to stand out amongst a relatively crowded market place.
We are working with them on a subtle brand identity update, the design and build of the new website together with the design and management of their eBulletin mail shots.
- posted
- Sept. 8, 2009
- time
- 8:28 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Website of the week
rps.org
We are very pleased to say that one of our recently launched websites rps.org has just been flagged as Site of the Week by NMA (New Media Age).
- posted
- Sept. 7, 2009
- time
- 12:28 p.m.
- by
- Omni
Green Game Goes Global
Energy Challenge
An online game we produced for Spirax Sarco, who are one of the largest employers in Cheltenham, has now gone global with world wide offices picking it up including Mexico, US and Denmark.
You can access it from their home page here or directly here.
- posted
- Aug. 16, 2009
- time
- 9:17 a.m.
- by
- Sam
IE6 for 4 more years
Great!
I hear every web developer around the world screaming today, waking up to the news that I.E. 6 is set to haunt them for another 4 years.
It was announced today that Internet Explorer Version 6, which is the bane of every developers life when testing new websites, will now be supported by Microsoft until 2014. Update your browsers people and let's rid ourselves of this monster! :-)
Read more on the BBC Website
...Also found this funny illustration by MARTZ which pretty much sums it up.
- posted
- Aug. 13, 2009
- time
- 8:15 a.m.
- by
- Omni
The RPS Website
In a new light
Established in 1853, Bath based The Royal Photographic Society (The RPS) has now firmly established its online presence with the launch of a new website design, adding significant value for members. Their Digital Agency of choice, The House of Omni, have been working closely with The Society to ensure they are widening their target member capture group without losing sight of their tradition, prestige and heritage.
The website includes the all-new Learning Zone which is an area for students or teachers of photography to find some project inspiration around various photographic genres such as Nature, Portrait, etc. Users can comment and feedback on project ideas so over time this will expand into a very useful education tool and is supported by The Society workshops and courses.
Together with a vast database of member portfolios and events running throughout the year, the site also has a multiple privilege Content Management System (CMS) giving The Society’s regions and groups from all over the world access to implement their own updates and create bespoke sub sites within The Society’s core website. All of this is supported by a new online shop, which communicates directly to The Society’s in-house Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) through some very complex APIs (Application Programming Interfaces).
The site currently supports 10,000 members and growing, together with 25,000 unique visits every month.
“The Society has worked closely with The House of Omni for the past six years on numerous projects ranging from development of our corporate brand image and our prestigious international print catalogues, through to web design and interactive teaching aids. They have proved themselves a highly creative, technically competent, well-managed team who work with commitment and enthusiasm.”
“Their innovative approach has taken The Society forward with cost effective value adding solutions. With their ability to respond to briefs and get under the skin of a project, we really feel that working with Omni is not like working with a supplier but truly working with a partner."
Dr. Barry Senior, President, The Royal Photographic Society
- posted
- Aug. 12, 2009
- time
- 9:06 a.m.
- by
- Rich
Old People New People
Online Commercial
Get your virtual spare change ready as we're currently approaching the final stages in post for an online charity ad for Age Concern Gloucestershire. The 3 minute short; New People is a portrait of a widower finding the strength to make new friends in the absence of his late wife, and will soon be made available online via a microsite from which donations can also be made to the charity.
We're really proud of the project, and this opportunity to do something for the cause to help our elderly population. So if you're worrying about the old lady next door, or think that your grandad could use some help sorting out his bills, now's the time to find out more about them...www.ageconcernglos.org.uk
The film will be ready to watch in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted.
- posted
- July 14, 2009
- time
- 8:15 p.m.
- by
- Omni
PSL Website Launched
Website Design and Build
We have just launched a new website for Property Solutions, who improve the management of service charges between tenants of large scale office buildings around the country.
This clean, professional and refreshed online presents for Property Solutions certainly positions them as leaders in their market, and gives them a new clarity to their offering. They have quickly adopted our easy to administer Content Management System which will enable them to have full control over all the content of their website whilst retaining its visual aesthetic.
You can view the website here: www.property-solutions.co.uk
- posted
- July 13, 2009
- time
- 8 p.m.
- by
- Omni
Omni YouTube Channel
New Launch
We have just launched The House of Omni YouTube Channel to feature all our video, website and motion graphics content. It's early days so only a few videos are currently up there but subscribe to the channel if you want to keep updated.
- posted
- July 8, 2009
- time
- 5:26 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Luxury car web design
Only the best
Omni are working on a the branding, web design and marketing materials for a high-end luxury car business. The site will integrate with a secure payment gateway system and some pretty fancy DVLA database integration.
- posted
- July 8, 2009
- time
- 5:21 p.m.
- by
- Omni
Sand Sculpture
Western
One of many pretty impressive sand sculptures we checked out on Western-Super-Mare sea front at the wknd. Good work people.
- posted
- July 3, 2009
- time
- 3:55 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Omni 911
Baby Seagull Saved
So, you innocently head to the shop to buy the staff some ice cream on a hot sunny Friday, and end up saving a baby chick from being mown down on the M32. Fear not, the RSPCA are now taking care of him.
- posted
- June 22, 2009
- time
- 7:24 p.m.
- by
- Andy
Pixel Photo Mapping
Beautiful technique
Check out this lovely mapping system. Not quite Google street view but very beautiful.
- posted
- June 13, 2009
- time
- 10:30 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Banksy Exhibit
Bristol First
Banksy's at the Bristol Museum people!!! Go Go Go!!
- posted
- June 12, 2009
- time
- 8:32 a.m.
- by
- Sam
The RPS online campaign
Web design and Development
It's been a long time coming but The Royal Photographic Society is finally days away from the launch of its refreshed website and integrated shop system. Omni implemented an online advertising campaign on their site for related brands such as Epson and Canon, which has paid off and has allowed them to allocate that money back into their online marketing materials.
We are stripping a lot of the dated legacy coding from the site which made it messy and clunky to update, and also integrating a new shop system which talks to their in-house CRM membership database of over 10,000 photographers from around the world.
Read more about our this on The RPS Case Study.
- posted
- June 12, 2009
- time
- 8:18 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Brand Film
Motion Graphics
We are working on some pretty sexy motion graphics for a new brand film for the University of the West of England (UWE). We have also just released their new microsite to accompany the development of the recently purchased HP land. Visit the UWE case study for more info.
- posted
- June 2, 2009
- time
- 5:38 p.m.
- by
- Andy
New games system
Get off that couch!
Microsoft have just unveiled an amazing new games sensor system which tracks your whole body. Nice!
Check out the video on the BBC website.
- posted
- May 27, 2009
- time
- 4:51 p.m.
- by
- John
3D Monitors
That's pretty
3D Monitors took another step forward today with the lunch of the full HD 3D Monitor Panel with Enhanced Brightness from LG.
Over in South Korea, the company has showcased a new Full HD (1080p) 3D monitor with what it says is the highest brightness level of any competing panel. Sadly, viewers are still required to wear glasses when ingesting the action, but this take on the tech enables said eyewear to be somewhat thinner and less cumbersome.
Obi-Wan Kenobi would be proud.
Have a peek at the vid down in this link.
- posted
- May 24, 2009
- time
- 5:37 p.m.
- by
- John
All Rise
and shine!
Theres been quite a few ingenious alarm clock concepts of late. They all have one thing in common - force you to physically get up to turn them off. The Carpet Alarm Clock has taken this to a new level as in order to turn it off, you have to get up and step on it. If you really want to make it a challenge, place it far away from your bed. Of course it wouldn’t be a clock if it didn’t have and LCD screen to indicate time too.
We all know someone who could use one :)
Designer: Sofie Collin & Gustav Lanberg
- posted
- May 7, 2009
- time
- 12:01 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Property Solutions
Website Design and Build
Property Solutions specialise in the management of service charges for very large scale office buildings across the country. They came to Omni to help them breath some life into their online presence by producing a professional looking website that will allow them to start using it as a valuable marketing tool.
The new site will feature video downloads for mobile devices such as iPhone, and include up to date industry reports ensuring that clients view them as thought leaders in their field.
Here is a sneak peak at the initial design.
- posted
- May 1, 2009
- time
- 10:07 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Developers Conference
All things Django
In keeping our development team up to speed with all the latest tools and tips, Simon is off to the Django Conference in Prague on Sunday for a week.
Have a great time Si.
- posted
- April 29, 2009
- time
- 8:25 p.m.
- by
- Sam
DoP showreel website
'Director of Photography'
We just launched a beautiful little showreel website for Richard Stewart, Director of Photography.
We worked with Richard on our latest drama production for Social Film Drama called Leaving, which went on to win a heap of awards: two Gold's and one SIlver at this years IVCA's, two first prize wins at Encounters, a first prize at TCM Shorts, Best Cinematography at Fuji Film Shorts as well as currently showing in Poland's Krakow Festival and Brussels Film Festival. To top it all off, it also had TV broadcasts on Sky and ITV.
...maybe a small website but definitely worth a blog mention 'cos we love his work and how the site turned out.
- posted
- April 24, 2009
- time
- 10:09 a.m.
- by
- Omni
Twin City Euro Fans
Marketing Campaign
In production at the moment is a fantastic new website for Twin City Euro Fans, the european division of TCF International.
Omni are working on creating a more efficient sales channel, ensuring all their marketing materials including brand, website and printed brochures are presenting them in the best possible light.
Below is an initial website architecture plan. Omni work though this process with the client before any design starts, ensuring we have clear understanding of the user journey.
Initial designs are looking great...we'll keep you posted.
- posted
- April 17, 2009
- time
- 9:40 a.m.
- by
- Sam
UWE Website
Its foundation for the future
In a move to ensure the University of the West of England (UWE) creates a truly 21st century university, it has purchased land and buildings adjacent to its Frenchey Campus from Hewlett Packard (HP). The move will allow the university to re-think the configuration of the campus, make better connections and help integrate subject areas and services.
As part of the master planning, views and ideas will be gathered from all parts of the University and its partners in business and the community. Omni has been brought on board to develop a new website which will act as the central point of this communication, housing FAQ's about the development, blogs to keep everyone up to date, as well as forums and questionnaires to help gather useful feedback and opinion, ensuring UWE co-create an exceptional campus with the help of staff, students and the local community. All this helps enforce their new brand ethos of being Better Together.
Omni will also be producing a series of videos that will be used throughout the site to help keep everyone up to date with new developments.
Read more on the UWE Casestudy
- posted
- April 17, 2009
- time
- 7:05 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Danco Website Launched
Marquee Hire specialists
We have recently launched Danco's new website, helping them secure their place as a major player in the Marquee and tent hire market.
Together with producing an on brand website that helped present their work, we were also asked to ensure that they improved their Google rankings, as they were aware that business was slipping away due to not being found.
It's still early stages, and Google has only just cached all the pages but on initial analysis Danco has seen a significant jump for key word searches, including first page results for more specific searches such as 'Marquee hire for Sporting Events', 'Marquee hire for Flower Shows' and local searches such as 'Marquee hire Bristol' etc. All these results have been naturally achieved from simply creating a well considered, clean website build.
We are very happy with these initial results and hope that this new web traffic helps generate a significant rise in enquiries and new business for Danco ensuring that their investment shows a significant return.
Read more about our Search Engine Optimisation.
- posted
- April 7, 2009
- time
- 4:38 p.m.
- by
- Sam
All things steam
Touchscreen game design
We have been working on a pretty complicated interactive game called the Energy Challenge. It's highly targeted towards engineers working within the management of steam and as well as being part of an direct mail campaign, it will also feature at a major upcoming exhibition in May, and be used internally at their offices.
The game is built in Flash with a multi lingual XML back end allowing easy addition of languages as it gets used globally.
- posted
- April 4, 2009
- time
- 8:56 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Vutrix Website
Re-design
We are currently in development on a new product based website for Vutrix, suppliers of high-end displays for the broadcast industry.
- posted
- March 27, 2009
- time
- 4:03 p.m.
- by
- Richard
Middlesex University
Brand Film
Omni's Business of Learning Video department continues to set the standard of education promos by enrolling Middlesex University as its latest client.
Middlesex Uni have big plans, and for that they need a big, barn storming promo that has all the bravado of one of London’s largest, edgiest, trail blazing Universities. Covering diversity, internationalism, London life, student life, and learning time and space; Omni will be producing six shorts for Middlesex over the coming months using the Red One camera, turning over in super sexy slow-mo, 100 fps of all of their offerings in dramatic and super detailed fashion from sporting clashes to science explosions. It’s going to be a belter. Boof!
- posted
- March 26, 2009
- time
- 8:21 a.m.
- by
- Richard
Omni and UWE
Better Together
UWE believe in the power of partnerships, and have had some 3400 interactions with 1125 businesses and community organisations from Aardman to Xerox. (No ‘Z’ titled companies yet…)
Omni have been commissioned to produce a dynamic live action / motion graphic promo for UWE that demonstrates their brilliant Better Together Brand and how their powerful industry partnerships create a richer real world experience for their students, who as a result of direct contact with these potential employers, graduate with excellent CVs to boot.
So far, we’ve been won over by Sir Richard Noble and the incredible 1000mph land speed record breaking Blood Hound, and Science Minister Lord Drayson and the UWE robotics department where UWE are leading the world in artificial intelligence. All impressive stuff and right on our doorstep too. Omni will be there to catch more of UWE’s pioneering work over the next few weeks with the promo to be released in the next month.
- posted
- March 18, 2009
- time
- 10:25 p.m.
- by
- Sideshow
Missing in West Bank..sy
Palestine
Contrary to Bristol legend the famous Banksy Wall Art is not on the Israeli Defence but on an extension to the former protecting the tomb of Rachel (Jacob's wife). Furthermore, it has left in strips for selfious souvenir hunter's ebay dreams.
Intrepid Omni Developer, Simon Harrison, on a trip through Palestine has uncovered worse still. There are no flat screen monitors on the West Bank anywhere and the families on the Hebron front line suffer daily from Israeli intrusions and humiliations.
- posted
- March 18, 2009
- time
- 9:39 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Branding
Wrap3 Stationery
A sneaky peak at Wrap3's new branding applied to some stationery fresh from the printers. The website is under development and will be completed over the coming months.
- posted
- March 17, 2009
- time
- 1:05 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Skateboard Graphics
Laser Technology
If only these had been around back in the day! We've been looking into laser technology for a print job and came across this sexy application of the technique: Refil 7. Definitely worth checking out.
- posted
- March 13, 2009
- time
- 5:12 p.m.
- by
- Sam
This is the Order
Relentless Mag
Love the look and design of this new mag launched by Relentless. Really subtle branding for a drinks company and some really cool articles. Worth checking out: Relentless Magazine
- posted
- March 9, 2009
- time
- 2:15 p.m.
- by
- Omni
Street Art
Edgar Mueller
Some beautiful and dramatic street art we came across. Check out the making of video on his site. www.metanamorph.com
- posted
- Feb. 14, 2009
- time
- 9:16 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Game for Comic Relief
Chris Moyles Game
Doing our little bit for comic relief, we saw an opportunity where we could re-skin one of our old games to help support radio one DJ Chris Moyles in his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro.
Visit: www.fitdjs.com and follow links to 'Sponsor Chris'
- posted
- Feb. 5, 2009
- time
- 9:44 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Wrap3 Branding
Branding and Website
Omni has been appointed to undertake the branding and new website development for Wrap3, one of Bristol’s fastest expanding creative companies, who is pioneering a new technology for 3D projection.
Wrap3 has already been commissioned by international brands that include the latest Bond film, Quantum of Solace, Chanel and the Arcadia Group. They use their innovative technology to project images, which wrap perfectly around 3D objects from exhibition stands to whole buildings, making solid forms seem fluid and dynamic. The versatility of the technique and its ability to create a bold, immersive experience in any room or environment, have made it an attractive proposition to global brands around the world.
Omni will work closely with Wrap 3 to develop a highly creative, dynamic and unique brand identity to position Wrap3 alongside its international client base. The new website will incorporate 3D animation using PaperVision3D– the latest development in Flash.
Sam Hearn, Omni’s MD said: “We love the work that Wrap3 do and have been looking for a project that allows us to explore PaperVision3D with real purpose. We are not just creating a website but marrying two technologies which seem to share very similar ethics – its going to be a lot of fun.”
Alistair Burleigh, the founder and creative force behind Wrap3 said: “Wrap3 was one step away from re-locating to London a while ago, then Bristol just won me over with it’s easy going but highly professional way of creative working. There is a real talent pool here as Omni prove. It felt like Omni understood my business from the first meeting, and we are really excited to be working together”.
The new site will be launched later in 2009.
- posted
- Feb. 5, 2009
- time
- 8:37 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Vistair Website
Airline Technology
We are excited to be working with Vistair on the redesign of their website over the coming months.
Vistair specialise in the the development of innovative time and energy saving systems for the Airline industry, and have some pretty heavy weight clients on their list. They are looking to breath some life into their site, and Omni are happy to oblige.
- posted
- Feb. 5, 2009
- time
- 8:32 a.m.
- by
- Sam
Danco Website Design
Marquee Hire
Omni are working with Danco, a major player in the Marquee and tent hire market, on the re-design of their new website over the coming months.
The site will give Danco a far stronger position within this competitive market place, and will ensure users get straight to the information they need fast and intuitively.
By designing a clean and optimised site it will be far more attractive for search engines and ensure that it is crawled effectively, pushing up it's Google rankings and generating valuable new leads. Omni will be consulting Danco on further SEO marketing campaigns during and post project to help raise its profile even further.
- posted
- Feb. 5, 2009
- time
- 8:24 a.m.
- by
- Sam
The RPS Ad Campaign
Adding Value
Omni are working with The RPS to generate new revenue sources via online advertising partnerships.
Our role is to secure spend from complimentary brands such as Canon and Nikon who are running campaigns which include MPU size ad creative which we then house on The Society's website. A per mil impression rate is agreed and all user traffic and click throughs are logged and analyzed.
Omni have also been generating new member enquiries by launching and managing The Society's own ad campaign.
The campaigns are proving very successful and The Society is on its way to having a self sustaining website together with an upsurge in membership enquiries adding real value to Omni's offering.
- posted
- Feb. 4, 2009
- time
- 8:26 p.m.
- by
- John
Time Crisis on iPhone
How cool!
Many a happy hour was spent playing Time Crisis as teenager and now Namco has released Time Crisis Strike, for the iPhone and iPod touch. Similar to the popular Time Crisis arcade games, Strike uses a duck-and-shoot design, allowing users to tap on the screen to fire and tilt the iPhone or iPod touch to duck, take cover, and reload.
Describe by Namco as "Adrenaline-pumping rail-shooter action has arrived big time in Time Crisis Strike." We'll have to see if it lives up to the hype.
The game offers two game modes—Arcade Mode and Crisis Missions—and is available now from the App Store for just under £4
- posted
- Feb. 4, 2009
- time
- 3:49 p.m.
- by
- John
Typefaces that we love
February 2009
Typography isn't just about being legible and looking great.
When we choose an effective font, among other things, we try and achieve two important objectives:
1) Create an appropriate atmosphere and enable users to develop trust towards the site or printed media.
2) Make sure your collateral gets the main message across and users becomes interested in the services offered on the media.
Below you’ll find the first post of some first-class typefaces for corporate design that we love. Please notice that they are not free; however, we believe that these typefaces definitely work.
Graphik
“I ended up drawing inspiration from all parts of the 20th century. The heavy end of the family is based in part on Paul Renner’s Plak, a relatively obscure display typeface cut only in large sizes of woodtype, that is related to his heavier weights of Futura but has rounder, friendlier, fatter proportions“. By Christian Schwartz.
Stag Sans
The normal/quirky balance is a bit different in the heavy weights, which are more likely to be used for enormous headlines. The final result is a perfect match for Stag, and also works as a muscular counterpoint to just about any elegant serif face.
Prelo
A large sans-serif family with 18 weights with ligatures, alternates, fractions, scientific inferiors, superscript, swashes, oldstyle figures, lining figures, tabular figures, numerators, denominators, ordinals and smallcaps.
- posted
- Feb. 4, 2009
- time
- 1:54 p.m.
- by
- John
Google Latitude
Ok so thats well nosey
Google is today launching software called Latitude that lets mobile phone users share their location with close contacts. The search will help people find each other while they're out and about and, more creepily, keep track of loved ones.
"What Google Latitude does is allow you to share that location with friends and family members, and likewise be able to see their locations," said Steve Lee, product manager for Latitude. For example, a girlfriend could use it to see if her boyfriend has arrived at a restaurant for their date and, if not, which of their mutual friends he was cheating on her with.
To protect privacy, Google specifically requires people to sign up for the service. People can share their precise location, the city they're in, or nothing at all.
The software spotlights Google's fixation with mapping and location technology. The company sees its geographic services as a way to establish a more personal connection with customers who today use Google chiefly for search. And of course money is involved, too: Google hopes its mapping technology will lead to location-based advertising revenue.
Google's power is firmly lodged in search and search advertising, but the company is trying to expand to broader online services. That includes online documents and various aspects of social networking, which are much more personal services and ones that put Google into more direct competition with rivals such as Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo. Like using Google profiles to contact information with select contacts, using Google Latitude tells Google who's who in your social graph.
- posted
- Feb. 4, 2009
- time
- 12:31 p.m.
- by
- John
Making our lives easier
Browse QuickLook Plugins
We love our lives being made easier. We love the 10.5 Mac QuickLook plugin, but the out of the box plugins are limited.
So with some digging, Omni compiled some of their favorite extras for the creative industry.
HD Quick Look v1.0.0 by Shedworx
Description: HD Quick Look lets you view the first frame of your AVCHD files (mts and m2ts) without. View multiple files as a slide show, as an index sheet or full screen - all with a single click.
Gimp XCF Quick Look Plugin v1.0 by wilber-loves-apple
Description: Displays previews for Gimp (xcf) files.
Requirements: Gimp.app must be installed and opened at least once
Mobipocket eBooks by Durrant Software
Description: Displays cover image (if any) for Mobipocket (.mobi, .prc) eBooks
Cinema4D Plugin by [XPresso24.com]
Description: Adds QuickLook support for Cinema4D-created files. Cinema4D is a cross-platform 3D graphics application.
Description: Displays Entourage emails located through spotlight.
FJNWebArchive v1.0 by fujidana
Description: FJN Web Archive allows viewing of Safari WebArchive files.
Quick Look Filter for QuarkXPress 7 by Quark
Description: Displays previews of QuarkXPress 7 files in Quicklook
Requirements: QuarkXPress 7.31
Description: QuickChm lets you preview Compiled HTML Archives (*.chm) in Quick Look.
BetterZip Quick Look Generator v1.1 by macitbetter
Description: QuickLook plugin allowing previewing of a wide array of compressed file types.
Currently supports: ZIP, TAR, GZip, BZip2, ARJ, LZH, ISO, CHM, CAB, CPIO, RAR, 7-Zip, DEB, RPM, StuffIt\'s SIT, DiskDoubler, BinHex, and MacBinary. Version 1.1 brings additional view options, collapsible folders, and many other features.
SneakPeekPro by Code Line Communications
Description: Preview Illustrator, InDesign, and EPS documents without launching an application. Also allows viewing of fonts, images, and colors used in many CS3 documents.
Adobe Illustrator Viewer by Hrmpf Description:
Description: Allows viewing Adobe Illustrator files, but only if the files are saved with PDF compatibility.
Requirements: Files must be saved with PDF compatibility.
Textmate Integration by Ciarán Walsh
Description: This is a set of two plugins. One plugin allows QuickLook to use TextMate's syntax highlighter when viewing Perl, PHP, Ruby, Shell, and C/Obj-C files. The other allows the use of Quicklook from within TextMate's project pane.
HetimaClipping.qlgenerator by Hetima
Description: "This is Cover Flow and Quick Look plugin for text clipping files (.textClipping). and picture clipping files (.pictClipping)."
Description: Allows previewing of flash videos, or .FLV-formatted files. Displays the animated video along with the time remaining and a play/pause control.
Requirements: The free, open-source, Perian to be installed.
EPSQLPlugIn EPS Viewer by Eternal Storms
Description: "EPSQLPlugIn is a QuickLook plugin for Mac OS X Leopard to extend QuickLooks functionality to be able to display previews and thumbnails for eps files."
ColorXML QuickLook v1.0 by Fabio Lecca
Description: QuickLook plugin to see XML files with indentation and syntax coloring.
Description: Allows previewing of folders. Replaces the default view of an enlarged icon with a preview of the folder's contents.
Description: Allows previewing of .zip files. Shows a preview of the zip archive's contents.
Description: Allows previewing of .zip files. Shows a preview of the zip archive's contents along with metadata pertaining to the zip archive.
- posted
- Feb. 3, 2009
- time
- 2:04 p.m.
- by
- John
Fancy a dip
Google goes under water
The latest version of Google Earth will map the 70 per cent of the Earth's surface that is underwater.
How mad is that? Take your hats off to the Google boys and girls for innovative thinking.
The new version, launched at the California Academy of Sciences, takes data from more than 80 organisations, including the US Navy, the National Geographic Society and the Marine Conservation Society.
It provides a map of the underwater sections of the Earth, including mountains, shipwrecks and the deepest part of the planet, the Marinas trench.
"With this latest version of Google Earth, you can not only zoom into whatever part of our planet's surface you wish to examine in closer detail, you can now dive into the world's oceans that cover almost three-quarters of the planet and discover new wonders that had not been accessible in previous versions of this magical experience," said former US vice president Al Gore at the launch.
The software includes up to 21 data points at various points in the ocean, showing everything from surface temperature to information on the underwater environment and images from deep sea surveys.
"Starting today we have a much more detailed bathymetric map (the ocean floor) so you can actually drop below the surface and explore the nooks and crannies of the sea floor in 3D," said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps, in a blog post.
"While you're there you can explore thousands of data points including videos and images of ocean life, details on the best surf spots, logs of real ocean expeditions and much more."
The new software, version 5.0 of the code, also includes the first mapping of Mars, in partnership with Nasa. By selecting the Mars tab users can navigate over the Red Planet using the latest mapping scans from the space agency.
Google has also added a timescale function, so that images on Google Earth can be used to scroll through different eras to see how Silicon Valley grew and matured, for example.
More user information can also be added, including video clips, personal reminiscences and more detailed photographs.
See a video on the BBC website.
- posted
- Feb. 2, 2009
- time
- 7:28 p.m.
- by
- Sam
Breasts
...and the wonders of SEO
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a complicated beast that's always changing but one thing is for certain...put the word 'breasts' in your browser title and page content and your page will receive ten times more hits than any other on your site.
Every year Omni give what they can to breast cancer awareness day, and announce it on our online news pages. When working our way through the site analytics, it quickly became clear that this was our number one landing page. Ok...so the time spent on the site once they were there was a fraction compared to users who were genuinely looking for our creative and technical genius but still, it was fascinating to see.
It's no surprise that the sex industry has driven much of the expansion in the web, mobile content, SEO and rich media content delivery but it's just funny to actually see it in action.
We make it our mission to understand how SEO is moving forward, and how we can offer the best services possible to our clients, image naming, related in-bound links, targeted copy, optimized pages, web standards compliant site builds etc....We take our information from which ever source is most relevant. ;-)
NOTE: Sorry for all those other people who clicked on this link expecting something a little different.
- posted
- Feb. 1, 2009
- time
- 2:51 p.m.
- by
- John
Little Gems
Forgeting your shortcuts?
Did you know that the average Mac OS X application has 40 to 80 menu shortcuts?
Menu shortcuts are supposed to provide quick access to frequently used menu commands. Honestly though, how many shortcuts keys do you know by heart?
KeyCue helps you to use your Mac OS X applications more effectively by displaying a concise table of all currently available menu shortcuts.
You no longer need to memorize and remember key combinations; just press the command key and KeyCue tells you what you want to know.
- posted
- Jan. 31, 2009
- time
- midnight
- by
- John
A new user interface for 10.6
'Marble'
Last year, Apple announced that they will be releasing the next major revision of Mac OS X (10.6 Snow Leopard) in 2009. The focus of Snow Leopard has been on performance and quality of the underlying codebase rather than introducing new end-user features.
However according to macrumors.com, Apple will apparently use Snow Leopard's release to tweak the overall user interface for Mac OS X and unify it across applications. Exact details of the theme changes have not been made public, as the current developer seeds for Snow Leopard still retain Apple's existing Aqua theme. The new theme will likely involve tweaks to the existing design and perhaps a "flattening" of Aqua in-line with Apple's iTunes and iPhoto interface elements.
The codename for the new interface is said to be "Marble" -- though that seems likely to be an internal codename only. John Gruber had also hinted at such changes in a pre-Macworld prediction piece and had independently heard the codename "Marble".
Apple's Snow Leopard is rumored to be released as early as the first quarter of 2009.
Omni say any OS update which has a description which includes the words 'focus on performance' is all good with us.
- posted
- Jan. 15, 2009
- time
- midnight
- by
- John
We love our iPhones
New Web Browsers for iPhone
Brennon Slattery, PC World was had a hands-on look for the new Web browsers available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Edge Browser
The main feature of the free Edge Browser is that it removes the clutter from an ordinary Safari Web page to present sites in full-screen glory. Besides the reception, time, and battery bar at the top of your iPhone’s screen, you should see nothing but the page.
Problem is, all I saw was nothing. I loaded the browser, and as I was trying to figure out how you’re supposed to leave the Apple Store page, it crashed. When I rebooted the app, I got a blank white screen. So the edge of my browser was taken off … all the way off.
Incognito
Those of you who are fearful of getting busted for checking out less-than-appropriate sites on your iPhone will be interested in the $2 Incognito.
This browser leaves no traces behind from your wanderings on the Web. Once you close the app, so also disappears your entire browsing history, or even that you were online at all.
Incognito is useful for those with a company iPhone or the generally paranoid.
Shaking Web
Using the iPhone accelerometer, the $2 Shaking Web compensates for small hand and body movements by jiggling the browser’s screen. It functions by sensing movement and applying small but opposite movement to the viewable content.
I paced the office hallways looking somewhat like a moron, trying to read articles on the Web. It was still difficult and annoying. I had “turbo” turned on, which is not the default. Turbo applies forces in both vertical and horizontal movements, whereas the regular viewing mode only applies to vertical movements.
One of the bigger problems with Shaking Web is that it’s not completed. As of this writing, pop-up windows are not supported and sites requiring new windows to open links will not work. That’s a pretty big chunk of the Internet, so unless you’re hanging out on stolid sites, Shaking Web is not for you.
WebMate
Offering the closest thing to tabbed browsing for the iPhone, WebMate is a useful application for those who like to collect a series of Web sites for reading later. The idea behind the $1 WebMate is excellent, and I hope it spurs Apple to upgrade Safari. But WebMate on its own has one flaw: when you have two separate pages open, WebMate does not save the other tabs in their full form, so whenever you switch back and forth, the page has to load from the beginning all over again. This takes time that regular tabbed browsing does not.
It’s important to remember that these new browsers are all based on the Safari developer kit, and aren’t actual differentiations from Safari but instead, separate add-ons. I’d keep Incognito and WebMate handy and hope for continuous upgrades. With the right additions, both could prove to be better than the included Safari browser.
- posted
- Jan. 7, 2009
- time
- midnight
- by
- Sam
Pickled Egg website launched
Successful launch
The magical team of Omni and McFaul get together again to produce a new website for Pickled Egg, a fresh thinking Corporate Incentive company based in Chichester.
Omni worked successfully with McFaul a little while back on a Flash based, multi lingual website and a series of short, online commercials for Toshiba.
It is a first for us not getting involved in the design process, and it was fraught with challenges but we all got there in the end and the result has been well received and is serving them well.
See the site here: www.pickledeggevents.com
- posted
- Jan. 6, 2009
- time
- midnight
- by
- Sam
Balls of fury 2
Office entertainment
Ok....so maybe this isn't news...but it is for us...Omni now have a table tennis table and it RULES!!!
Some may say it's a distraction and a waste of space, others may say it improves hand eye coordination, gets people away from their computer screens and sparks a bit of team camaraderie, (although it's more like bitter rivalry at the moment!). Either way it's great to have.
If any other agencies out there have one, let us know and we can set up some inter agency matches.
Email: nochance@omniproductions.co.uk to try your luck.
NOTE: No shoes rules are in force (to save our nice carpet) so make sure your feet are clean and socks match.
- posted
- Jan. 6, 2009
- time
- midnight
- by
- Sam
Happy New Year
A little love
Happy New Year to one and all. I watched the news over the Xmas break and there was an exciting feature on people having a great time seeing in the New Year....and then the presenter said...."It's a shame this will be short lived because of the current economic climate."...unbelievable!!
Here at Omni we are great believers in positive thinking and doing, and it's statements like this that broadcasters seem to spread into the world and make it a more difficult place. Enough of this economic blues we say!!
We wish everyone the happiest, most prosperous and fun year ever.
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
- posted
- Dec. 1, 2008
- time
- midnight
- by
- Richard
Portsmouth Uni Promo
Video Project
Omni are currently working on a long term project with Portsmouth University to promote their STEM Department (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
The purpose of the film is to inspire 16-18 year olds to take on the science subjects that have traditionally been seen as either too difficult or boring.
We will make it our mission to make science sexy!
