Toshiedo

Flash Preloader

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:24:48 +0000

Below is a smooth actionscript 2.0 Flash preloader that animates the preloading process. As a result there is no jumping from one percintile to the next.

Download the Flash source file.

Tron Legacy

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:23:45 +0000

Here’s a preview of Tron Legacy. Amazing VFX and CG. This cold, stylised visuals are by one of my favourite VFX and CG directors Joseph Kosinski. Stunning and amazing work as always Jo..love your work.

Amazing Gif Art

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:22:18 +0000

Amazing gif art by DVDP. Definitely want to check this out.

5 Tips for Choosing the Right Web Designer

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:50:35 +0000

Look at Their Portfolio and Client List The first step in choosing the right web designer is by looking at their websites and previous work and establishing the quality and depth of their services. You should be able to expect what you’ll get by looking at what they’ve done for other companies in the past. Pay particular attention to detail: are there broken links? poor graphics? spelling mistakes? Do you feel that they have represented their clients well? What do their clients have to say about them? Also, look at their client list. How big is it? Have they been in business long? What type and size of businesses have they worked with? If you feel that the web designer has a portfolio of websites that suits your own requirements and a client list with businesses similar to your own, you’re half way there already!

Do Their Websites Rank Well on Google? There’s more to a successful website than merely text and graphics. The right web designer knows that a website needs to rank well on Google to achieve results for their clients. So check on Google to see if their websites rank well.

Shop Around and Compare Proposals When you’re shopping around pay careful attention to the details, sometimes it’s worth paying extra to avoid ongoing contracts and lengthy waiting periods. Some web designers charge by the hour, some for the full cost of the project, some charge per month. Be scrupulous, negotiate hard and be in it for the long haul, you’ll want someone who’s good, who you can trust and can have a bit of a laugh with. So yes, a good web designer comes down to skill, personality, performance, results and price. So take your time to choose the right one.

A Good Web Designer Needs to Be A Good Marketer To successfully launch and run a website a good web designer needs have a strong background in online marketing, online advertising and a good understanding of their industry and be placed well in it. Depending on your requirements you may need your web designer to increase traffic, leads and sales, to and from the website. Ask them if they belong to any industry networks or organisations, do they have any business partners or advertising accounts. A great way to increase traffic is to write articles and press releases – do they have any examples? Are they featured in any publications, weblogs, ezines? Your success online is a direct measure of all of these factors!

Your Web Designer’s Proposal Should Include Accessibility, Usability and Performance Focus Each website is a complete exercise in graphical design, interaction design, usability, performance focus and scalable results. These gateways must include tracking, the implementation of seamless advertising solutions, SEO, and increased monetary value. If your web designer hasn’t included these elements in the website proposal they’re a dud, move on to the next one.

The Difference Between a Web Designer and an Online Marketer

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:49:01 +0000

Probably the biggest confusion for businesses is understanding the differences between web designers and online marketers. For us in the industry the distinction is plain – web designers are concerned with the graphical layout and usability of a website, and an online marketer is interested in the actual marketing and visibility of the website once its launched. The problem a lot of businesses face is when they decide to set up their first website with a web designer alone, unfortunately pinning their hopes that once their site is launched, millions of people will be able to find them.

In an online marketing agency like ours, we have web designers work alongside online marketers and copywriters to ensure that every facet of the project is successful. We start by creating a clear search strategy of who we’re targeting centring around the clients core product/message. Our web designers build the website based on this strategy paying particular attention to SEO tags. Our copywriters design search optimised text also based on this strategy. When it comes time for launch, the online marketers have a much easier time generating leads for the website and there’s a much great chance for success.

By James Mason
call me any time (02) 9660 5553

What Your Web Designer Isn’t Telling You

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:40:09 +0000

70% of businesses are unaware of their search engine rankings. That is to say, they’re unaware of which search engines they’re listed with, how well their website’s ranked and whether or not their website is optimised for high performance search engine rankings. The problem stems from a lack of understanding of how websites and search engines interact, so when it comes time to contract a web designer, the business sledom requests these services in the scope of works. In a lot of cases, the web designer will build the website and months later the business owner will come back to the web designer for SEO services. This presents an array of problems for the web designer and the business owner – a lot of times the website hasn’t been optimised for search engines in worst cases requiring a complete rebuild.

Depending on your business type search engine listings may not be that important to you, but if they are take note! High search engine rankings can dramatically increase your bottom line! The foundation of a successful SEO campaign starts with:

Special attention to HTML tags
Keyword and keyphrase rich text
Search Engine Submission
Link Building

Remember, search engine users generally only explore the first 10 or 20 sites in the search results. If you site isn’t in the top 20, you won’t be found, it’s as simple as that. Always include search engine optimisation into your marketing budget or your site could be as effective as a billboard at the end of a dead end street.

By James Mason call me any time (02) 9660 5553

Web Design Sydney

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:28:30 +0000

Looking for web design in Sydney? You’ve come to the right place! Toshiedo is an Australian owned web design company based in Sydney delivering web design, web development and online marketing solutions to help clients lead in the digital age. Since 2002, Toshiedo has helped Sydney companies maximise their potential on the web. We started out providing web design solutions in at attic bedroom in Sydney’s inner west and grew into one of Sydney’s most talented emerging web design companies with clients including multi-national corporations, retail and luxury brands. Toshiedo is regulalry featured in web design magazines and publications and is easily one of Sydney’s most established and recognised web design companies. Toshiedo provides clients with stunning web design solutions. We work closely with local companies in Sydney, across Australia and clients overseas to deliver solutions that connect customers with brands. To learn more about our web design solutions view our web design page or call James for a chat on (02) 9660 5553.

Web Design Companies

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:18:20 +0000

I thought I’d write a guide to web design companies here in Sydney, Australia and overseas to give companies and individuals a guide to choosing a web design company that will help move their businesses forward in the digital age. This may seem strange as we are a web design company ourselves but there’s not much information out there to help companies find good web design companies that are the right mix between service, price and innovation.

There are plenty of web design companies here in Sydney, Australia and overseas. These web design companies range in size and scale, the quality of their services and their ability to help companies succeed online. One of the main problems in finding decent web design companies is that most businesses use Google search to find web design companies. The problem of this is that Google delivers search results not on the quality of service of a particular company but the efficacy of their search marketing efforts. There are a lot of web design companies out there that don’t list on Google at all and these businesses are often overlooked and b-grade web design companies end up being chosed instead merely because of their search listing.

So what makes a good web design company? What criteria make a good web design company better than another web design company? With so many web design companies to choose from what factors should I look for in choosing a web design company?

Well the answer is complex and multi-layered. It really depends on your project – it’s scale, requirements, use, budget and target audience. You need to a web design company that can deliver on all these factors and take your online marketing to the next level. There are many disciplines that a web design company must master to deliver real value for your project and company.

A good web design company needs to excell in creating powerful online website experiences that customers want to use and return to. It must be a memorable experience that highlights your brand, products and services, and create a relationship between consumer and brand. Creating these website experiences fuses several disciplines into one powerful marketing tool, these disicplines include: interface design, copywriting, story-telling, graphics, technology, market research and a sound understanding of your business and where you’re heading. You want a web design company that is savvy with all these areas, that is creative and pushes the boundaries of online creation.

One good way of measuring a web design companies effictiveness is to see how well they’re placed in awards programs, if they’re featured in publications and if they’re a leading voice in the web design industry. You also want to see if they are large enough to be able to handle your project and if they have the time and staff to provide quality service during your relationship with them. Another telling factor is their client list. Usually the more successul web design companies have an “A” list of clients, this is because they’ve built a solid reputation in the industry. Here’s a list of web design companies that are at the top of their game:

Sydney Web Design Companies

Toshiedo
Glass Onion
William
Reactive
Exa
Milk Digital

Australian Web Design Companies

Toshiedo
Exa
William

Design Chapel 2

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:39:59 +0000

The amazing portfolio of Robert Lindstrom, co-founder of North Kingdom and creative force behind Design Chapel.

Dropclock

admin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 12:27:40 +0000

One of the most beautiful screensavers you’ll find on the web. Check out dropclock by the fabulously talented Japanese agency Tha.

Verbatim Championship

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:16:06 +0000

A recent FWA winner, the Verbatim Challenge site is an awesome 3D fighting game, with little electronic monsters! Not sure how if it’s successful in communicating the launch of Verbatim in Japan but stunning site none the less – hats off to IMG SRCs Inc in Japan – wicked work.

3D World – Luxx

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:00:11 +0000

This month’s issue of 3D World magazine has a great tutorial on 3D animation. It really goes inside Cinema 4D – the workspace, setting up a scene, lighting, dynamics – to create a stunning animation rendered out in After Effects. Hats off to Luxx here in Sydney for putting together the tutorial, definitely a must see for 3D artists.

Just My Type

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:37:47 +0000

Stunning sets of fonts over at Just-My-Type. Truly worth checking out.

North Kingdom – New Site

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:18:58 +0000

One of the top web design production companies in the world and one of my personal favourites, North Kingdom, have just launched their new website. Of course I was expecting to see their stunning portfolio of works but more interestingly, there’s no Flash to be found in the design of the website at all. Like a lot of other agencies their new website is built on Wordpress and isn’t filled with all the tricks and amazing effects. Instead they’re concentrating on content – “content is king” – and they’ve definitely got that part right but a little dissapointed not to see another ground breaking website from them.

iPad

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:34:31 +0000

Apple has finally launched the much anticipated Apple iPad.

Attic to Toshiedo – Net Diver

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:19:52 +0000

Toshiedo was recently featured on the front page of Net Diver. Here’s what they had to say about us -

Another exceptionally well-done website for Toshiedo agency, hailing from Australia. “Like so many internet companies founded in the late 90s, Toshiedo started with a guy in an attic with a mission. Disappointed with what he saw on the web, James Mason set out with a goal to create online experiences to satisfy his own expectations. Driven by passion and a meticulous attention to detail, an attic-based operation quickly grew into a recognised agency attracting a list of glamorous clients.”

Not bad uh?

Inside The Industry

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:19:54 +0000

I thought I’d write a post for those new to web design that looks at the different agency types and corporate structures that exist in the digital advertising industry. When I started out, almost 8-9 years ago there was no course at Uni that actually gave me a good grounding in how the industry is structured and how it all works. And even to this day it’s still not taught in Interaction Design & Electronic Arts.

To start off with, the industry is very much based, or is an adaptation of the traditional advertising industry. Now when I say “traditional advertising” I mean of course, advertising before it went digital, so television, print, outdoor, radio etc..And at the very top of the food chain, in the digital advertising industry are the traditional advertising agencies. Now if you don’t know much about the advertising industry that’s okay. Just know that it’s a very, very lucrative business and at the top are four large corporate giants made up of a diverse portfolio of subsidiary companies so large that some of these subsidiaries own subsidiaries..Let’s take a look at their structures and the key businesses that you need to get to know.

Omnicom Group ($13,360 million sales 2008 / 68,000 employees)
- BBDOss
- BBDO (6,800 employees)
- DDB Worldwide (8,883 employees)
- TBWA\Worldwide
- Element 79 Partners
- Goodby Silverstein & Partners (200 employees)
- Arnell Group
- GSD&M
- Roberts & Tarlow
- Zimmerman Advertising
- Merkley & Partners
- Martin/Williams
- Porter Novelli
WPP Group ($10,821 million sales 2008/112,000 employees)
- Grey Global Group
- JWT
- Ogilvy & Mather
- Young & Rubicam
- RTC Relationship Marketing
- Blast Radius
- Burson-Marsteller
Interpublic
- Campbell Mithun
- Campbell-Ewald
- Dailey & Associates
- Deutsch Inc.
- Draftfcb
- Hill Holliday
- Lowe Worldwide
- Mullen Advertising
- The Martin Agency
- McCann-Erickson
- TM Advertising
- R/GA
Publicis
- Bartle Bogle Hegarty (49% owned)
- Fallon Worldwide
- Leo Burnett Worldwide
- Publicis & Hal Riney
- Saatchi and Saatchi

This list by the way is available from Wikipedia, you can look the financials up on Hoover. Anyway, you can see that these are big companies with large networks that span the globe. Now what’s particularly interesting about this is that although these companies mostly focus on mainstream (traditional) advertising a lot of their efforts are more and more focusing on digital. Some of the well known ad agencies like Ogilvy and Saatch & Saatchi now have their own independent digital divisions. There’s also a couple of companies in their that are worthy of a mention. R/GA and Blast Radius are two of the biggest, well renown digital agencies, both are at the top of the digital industry in terms of sales, clients and awards – you need to know these guys. Also, a company not on the list but worthy of a mention is AKQA. AKQA is an independently owned digital agency, perhaps the largest of its type in the world and certainly rates as one of the top digital agencies.

So what’s so important about all this? Well, if you want to work with Nike, Gucci, Sony or any large retail brand, the chances are that one of these agencies already has them in their bag of clients. If you’re a small company the only way to get this type of work is to be contracted by one of these agencies. This is one of the main reasons that renowned studios like 2Advanced, Big Spaceship, Barbarian Group and North Kingdom get these top clients – because they have a working business relationship with the big ad agencies.

Outside this sphere are the battlers. Agencies that have been built from the ground-up with clients ranging from the small business sector to corporate companies, pretty much clients who are not major retail companies or large corporations that don’t require large advertising campaigns from the big ad agencies. At the small end, you’ll find a lot of start-up “boutique” studios with lots of interesting clients including photographers, emerging fashion designers, things like this. And at the big end, you’ll find a lot of I.T. style companies that service large corporate clients.

This is the industry today and as you can see it’s a bit of the old and a bit of the new. What will be interesting to look out for though is the new “Ogilvy” or the new “Leo Burnett” to emerge out of the digital industry. There are a lot of agencies claiming to be all that, probably the closest is R/GA or AKQA but it is still a very exciting time. Just like television was the new technology that bore advertising giants in the past, digital will bear new leaders and history markers. My guess though is that this new type of agency will be built from the ground up and will be based around the core philosophies of its leader/partners.

Appreciate comments; this will be a post I’ll come back to and revisit.
James

CSS Awards

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:53:46 +0000

Big thanks to the CSS Awards, Toshiedo has received an honourable mention for the redesign of our new site.

Relaunch!

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:29:56 +0000

We’re happy to unveil the new Toshiedo.com.au! We took the best elements of our award-winning site, then added a ton of new functionality and a sleek interface. The result is an experience only Toshiedo could bring you. Here are just a few of the key features of the new site: The Blog – This is a new addition to Toshiedo.com.au. We’ll be updating the blog frequently to give you a first look at: new Toshiedo work and updates; Toshiedo-related breaking news, product information and a unique look at what goes on here at the office and at industry events around the world. Simplified Site Structure – Our new site is built to cleanly and easily bring you everything you need from world of Toshiedo. That’s just scratching the surface and we’ll be adding loads of new stuff all the time. So once again, welcome to the all-new Toshiedo.com.au!

Watermark Goes Live

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:31:12 +0000

Toshiedo is happy to announce the launch of the second incarnation of the Watermark Castle Cove website – www.watermarkcastlecove.com.au. Since 2006, Toshiedo has teamed up with Watermark’s development and marketing team, producing all digital and online material, providing key insights into online marketing and lead generation. Timed to coincide with the finish of construction, the new Watermark website features an open, easily accessible layout for seniors and less savvy internet users, and includes a regularly updated blog and news feed and extensive photography of the apartments, facilities and gardens. The website serves as the principle point of contact in the mixed marketing campaign, other advertising included radio spots and commercials, online and print advertising and display and product information.