Insights

VGROUP’s new website design was recently featured on the Web Design Inspiration site – siteinspire.com.

We love designing websites as part of our branding work so having put a lot of thought and time into the new site it is always nice to get some recognition within the industry.

VGROUP have recently completed our latest interior for the Arun Veterinary Group. The veterinary sector generally conforms to predictable visual identities and functional clinics, but were briefed to create an experience for their clients; a place that was a pleasure and not just a necessity to visit.

Carrying through the strong colours we defined as part of the rebrand, we wanted to evoke the same element of heritage, quality and quintessential Britishness with a functional and slightly industrial edge.

Bespoke artwork was designed based on local history and vintage finds as well as books and documentation from the original owner of the practice. In total, over 60 of these adorned the walls using antique frames. We incorporated ephemera such as old veterinary operation manuals and equipment which had been previously boxed away in storage for decades.

Working closely with local carpenters, custom pieces of furniture were designed using traditional finishing and reproduction ironmongery.

The signage, as always, is an important aspect of a project like this. We wanted to obtain the look of a traditional cast iron signs, however, rigid cast polyurethane was chosen as a material being far lighter, easier to maintain and remarkably can be given the same pitted quality of iron.

This was a project of details down to the bespoke blue letterbox, reproduction steel lamp post… even the coat hooks. Arun Veterinary Group has been serving mid Sussex with a reputation for exceptional care for over 40 years. We hope the new clinic proves to be a fantastic addition to the Ashington community and look forward to growing the brand further. We’ve also created a microsite for Arun whilst we are working away on the full website. Take a look at www.arunvetgroup.co.uk

Like many businesses today we have evolved and adapted. We have listened to our clients, kept a watchful eye on the competition and dug deep to unravel what we love doing and what we do best.

In 2007, we changed our name from Vision Design to VGROUP: a group of specialists working across four key disciplines – Marketing, Branding, Design and Interactive. Today, we are still about integration but centred more around business and BRAND, because everything flows from brand…

…we research, define and align business strategy, values and positioning to brand strategy, identity and communications. It’s been at the heart of our business for many years, so we wanted to focus our offer and take some of our own medicine – never easy, but sometimes essential for good health!

WATCH OUR FILM:  HOW DO BRANDS BUILD BUSINESSES? (Go full-screen and turn up the sound for the best experience)

Read on for the story behind our new website…

Having decided to reposition our business, creating a new website was an integral part of the challenge. We started looking at the analytics of our current site, tracking where people clicked and how long they stayed in a bid to create a new site that would convey the full breadth of what we do to the outside world in an engaging way.

We minimised the site architecture to focus on our work and show it full-screen, after all, every brand we transform is special and unique, so why not show it off in all it’s glory? One feature that you may find of interest is the ability to view ‘before’ and ‘after’ transformations of the logos and websites we’ve created.

Once again, practicing what we preach, the new website is fully responsive. In case you are not familiar with the term, ‘Responsive Web Design’ is an approach to design and development where a site responds to the device it’s being viewed upon. This delivers an optimum user experience no matter what the user’s screen size, orientation or device, so we hope you enjoy viewing it no matter where you are in the world or how you engage with it.

We’ve had positive comments on the quality of content in our blog, something that’s been steadily evolving since our old site was launched in October 2007, but as time flies we have only migrated content from 2010 onwards.  However, do keep coming back for more news on the latest projects, insights and inspiration in the future, and if you’d like to discuss your brand and communications contact richard.maennling@vgroup.com or call 020 7734 8855 – it would be great to hear from you!

Inspired by the success of their rebrand, and having recently extended their offices to house a growing team, Intelogy (formerly BMN) asked us to breathe life into their interiors.

We carried the new brand colours across wall colours, furniture upholstery, flooring and signage. Glass manifestations are a bold celebration of the brand, with a variety of textured vinyl applied to both sides of the glass to give depth and introduce a subtle shift in colour as light filters through at different times of the day.

Intelogy’s visitors are welcomed on the ground floor, with its mini kitchen with state of the art coffee machine and wide comfortable sofas, upholstered in rich wool felt. Cost effective carpet tiles are brought to life with brand colours that work in harmony with furniture. Award winning “Invisible” central lights have been installed above each meeting room table. The acrylic plate is transparent until lit, when it appears as a floating slither of light.

Exuberance isn’t reserved for visitors. The ground floor also houses a light and relaxing staff refreshment room. Large refectory style tables for socialising are combined with individual work spaces for a relaxed and adaptable working environment. In the kitchen, bespoke coloured splashbacks and a subtle striped flooring tile lift the space. Heavy steel squared door handles, square kitchen taps and angular soft seating and furniture have been carefully considered to create a distinctively on-brand look. The space strikes a balance between function and form; light filtering blinds made from fibreglass and PVC fabric are installed throughout the new offices to take the glare out of computer work.

Floating interior signs printed in textured vinyl with Intelogy’s brand values are more like pieces of art; an everyday reminder to all of the values that drive the business. Intelogy’s inspiring space has boosted morale and increased efficiency, but above all has made for a happier place to work. Below: The office spaces before refurbishment