We have been very busy on the run up to Christmas so haven't had time to develop any festive techy bits for your enjoyment, so sorry about that! We do wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year though.

We are closing down now, and will be reopening on the 3rd Jan. I am off to Australia for New Year, woohoo! then back in the office on the 18th January. Substrakt will be running as normal in the capable hands of Jim, Carlie, and Chris.

We launched a new flash web site last week for MADE. This web site was for a successful project they've been running titled 'Making Sense of Places'. Check it out

We have just managed to add a few updates to our site detailing a few other projects that we have completed and are in the middle of. We also added an alternative CSS style sheet for those who couldn't handle all the brownness!

We are pleased to announce the launch of Kate Beatty's web site. Kate is an award winning Birmingham based photographer who has developed some outstanding personal projects as well as working on impressive commercial commissions.

She is also a great friend! see her new web site www.kate-beatty.co.uk

Selly Sausage was Substrakt's very first client, we developed a web site for them 2 years ago. We have just updated Selly Sausage's web site with a new style and a content management system, as they are now hosting events so needed the ability to keep a what's on page regularly updated.

www.sellysausage.co.uk

A friend linked me to this the other day.

If you're like me (with not the most photogenic of faces), I'd hope that the end user has some control over which images are automatically uploaded, as I wouldn't be too pleased if some of the unsavory candid snaps that appear on my camera, especially after a night out, magically appear on my facebook profile for all to see.

Other than this, I'm amazed at how what was once a expensive commodity can now fit inside a device 1mm thick.

With regards to my last post...I would like to admit muppetry on my part with both hands held high! Forget-me-not-panties is infact a hoax (which I'm sure many of you already knew).

It is just one of the project campaigns by The Pantyraiders, which include Plastic Assets, Christians against Hip-Hop and Goodbye Bitch.

Well hats off to you ladies...yet another one to add to the fooled millions!

www.pantyraiders.org

On a more serious note, and this one's for real...

A fish at a Scottish museum has undergone surgery after visitors complained it was too ugly.
A harmless but unsightly growth was removed from the goldfish, which was on show at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. ?The operation was paid for using coins thrown into the fish pond atthe popular visitor attraction. A spokeswoman for the museum would not say how many complaints had been made about the fish. ?Scientists decided to remove the unsightly growth after people expressed concern. The lump, which did not seem to distress the fish in any way, was removed along with one of its eyes.

As reported on BBC News online.

I was browsing the interweb and happened to chance upon this extraordinary website, advertising a highly advanced piece of technology, the "forget-me-not panties" (yes American).
Here's a testimonial as featured on the site:

David:
"When my daughter hit puberty I nearly had a heart attack. She started looking like a woman and suddenly she was wearing revealing clothing and staying out late with her friends.

Rather than become an over-protective parent , I decided to try forget-me-not panties™.

They work wonderfully. My wife and I bought our Sarah several pairs so we can watch her around the clock, and if we see her temperature rising too high, we intervene by calling her cellphone or just picking her up wherever she is. My only comment is it would be great to have a video camera, maybe you can work that into V.2.

Thanks forget-me-not panties™, now we have true peace of mind."

Highly disturbing more like.

www.forgetmenotpanties.com

"Forget about colour swatches, colour swatch mugs are the way forward. A quick and easy way to brighten the kitchen or the office."

By W2 sold at Urban Outfitters.

£10 for a pretty bog-standard mug, but it sure screams 'esoteric design geek-chic' when suggestively placed on your coffee table.

Here’s a bit of an update on life at Substrakt (well overdue I must add, definitely going to make more effort on the blog).

Updated site and brand ¶

For those have visited our blog before you will notice the re-vamp, this is to match our newly styled web site and slightly tweaked brand. We felt that we had developed considerably since the last site and branding, so wanted to have a bit of an overhaul.

www.substrakt.co.uk

Our new strap line is ‘creative communication’, we felt this portrayed our services and the way we work with clients more effectively. Previously, ‘web – print – ident’, although our main services, was too specific. We have recently been involved in projects where we provide full marketing and advertising packages and want to move forward with this type of service, so just marketing our core skills as separate entities didn’t really cut the mustard.

New addition to the Substrakt team

We welcomed Carlie in late September, a talented graphic designer, who recently graduated from Bath Spa.

Architecture ¶

We have been working on several architecture and urban design projects:

MA Urban Design ¶

We completed a prospectus for the MA in Urban Design at Birmingham School of Architecture.

School of Architecture Centenary ¶

The school are due to celebrate their 100-year anniversary next year. We are currently working with the school to develop a brand identity to mark this special occasion. Alongside marketing the Centenary and the commemorative ball, we are creating a web site that will offer the alumni a chance to reunite.

Lovejoy ¶

This successful land planning company with offices in Birmingham and London have been working with Substrakt to develop numerous pieces of design work. We have produced documents that have helped them present development plans.

CUDOS (Centre for Urban Design Outreach and Skills) ¶

The centre advances excellence in urban design skills by developing community-centred solutions in housing, neighbourhoods, and the wider built environment. Substrakt have branded and are in the process of developing marketing material for CUDOS, and the development of a web site in the near future.

MADE

MADE web update ¶

We are giving MADE’s web site a bit of an overhaul with a new style and some technical developments. This will be finished and uploaded at the end of next week.

‘First Site’ ¶

Based on a previous project, ‘Youth Space’, MADE (Midlands Architecture & the Designed Environment) are running a creative communities project titled ‘First Site’. This project develops models of practice for young people’s creative participation in the built environment. We are creating a brand, followed up by a web site, which allows project participants to display project work and discuss issues.

Other projects: ¶

Jibbering ¶

The new site is up, promoting Jibbering’s spectrum of activity as well as hosting their online record shop.
www.jibbering.co.uk

Advertising ¶

We have recently been working on an ‘advertising’ job, creating Christmas promotional material for the Old Square shopping centre in Walsall. Liaising with the Express and Star to take advert space and distribute leaflets.

I'm sat on this rather lovely street in Bristol posting this.

You have to love idiots without WEP/WPA!

The Regent Arcade is Cheltenham's largest shopping centre. We have given them a brand new web site, which includes a full content management system and an interactive store guide. The project also included developing a virtual tour of the shopping centre, which gave us the chance to show off some 3d skills. We also developed print work including store guides and roll up banners advertising the launch of the web site.

The site was launched last friday, and all this week there has been a spot in the arcade where our 3d creation, along with clips of the web site, is being displayed on a big plasma screen alongside the print collateral.

It was a great honor to be working on this project as Cheltenham is my home town, and i spent many a penny of my pocket money in the regent arcade.

www.regentarcade.co.uk