DADI - Digital Art Design & Illustration (dadi-online)

Q: What's your name and position in the company?
A: Adam K Gallagher (owner)

Q: Describe your company in 5 words.
A: Professional, innovative, creative, dynamic, focused

Q: What's your business philosophy?
A: We focus on each clients specific needs, helping us to deliver effective, creative solutions for every client. Our aim is to provide each client with a fresh, professional, lasting look for the future. We maintain a strong reputation for high quality design, reliability and value for money, this combined with our continued interest and training in new media has enabled us to offer each client a complete design solution whether for web, print or multimedia purposes.

Q: Describe your office environment.
A: A totally zen-like creative space. White walls, ceiling and flooring (a blank canvas) allowing us to concentrate on what really matters - Your Work! Oh and everything is organised - well everything apart from the coffee making area.

Q: Describe how your team interact and work together.
A: Information is key! We share our ideas and information by all means possible allowing access at all times and always keep each client informed. Design and development go hand in hand.

Q: What makes you different from other web design companies?
A: Our services range from the creation of a simple business card, advertisement or presentation to flash animation and professional web site design. With over 17 years professional experience in website design and web programming languages, the strength of our technical ability and design skills is something we are really proud of. No job is too large, small or difficult, this means we are always on the look-out for the next exciting challenge.

Q: How do you get the majority of your business?
A: A large majority of our work comes from referrals from previous clients - Word of Mouth is definitely the best form of advertising. We also do a lot of work for agencies and large private companies.

Q: Describe how you manage projects from the initial client contact to completion and handover.
A: We aim for the first meeting to be face to face, this enables us to gain a better understanding of the clients requirements and form a solid brief. Our next step is to create our proposal ensuring that all of the clients requirements can be met. After submission we usually request a second meeting to ensure that the client is happy that our proposal meets the requirements. We then start on the design process, once approved we begin on the construction and all technical aspects of the site. Final payment is expected within 7 days of the project going live.

Q: What do you think is the most crucial element of creating a good client relationship?
A: Clear communication, taking an interest in your clients businesses and always treat each client as an individual. We've heard it many times from clients that "some" web designers use technical jargon and over complicate any communication between themselves and the client. We believe in keeping things clear and easy to understand for everyone. We believe we produce some fantastic work and want our clients recommend us and continue to use us again in the future.

Q: How do you manage demanding clients?
A: We manage all clients exactly the same. There is no such thing as a demanding client as each and every client gets exactly the same amount of attention and is always given a dedicated email and direct telephone number to make contact with us. We use a wide variety of tools that enable us to manage each project effectively. This helps us perform to our clients expectations and ensures that all communication is handled effectively and promptly.

Q: If a client was trying to decide between a shortlist of web design companies, how would you recommend they go about selecting the right one for them?
A: A web designer will do more than just lay out a few pages according to your brief. They will help you define, design and deliver a site that will best suit your customers. Set yourself a budget and stick to it! Spend time viewing designers and agencies previous websites. Read previous customers testimonials and finally speak to other designers to gain more of a understanding of how they work. In most cases your website is going to be an important tool for your business, so you need to build a good working relationship up with your designer.

Q: Where do you see your company in 10 years time?
A: Over the next 10 years I would like to see ourselves continue to build upon the great working realtionship we have forged with our existing clients, gain some further high profile clients and work towards building DADI into one of the premier design agencies found in the UK.

Q: Where do you see the web design industry in the future?
A: As more and more users jump to handheld devices for communication, work, study and play. We feel the web is likely to grow to become a major part of any handheld mobile device. This coupled with the arrival of HTML5 means we are going to see some truly innovative websites allowing a whole new form of user interaction. We hope to help deliver new and exciting ways of users interacting with our clients websites regardless of the device they choose to use.

Q: What computers do you have use in your offices, PCs or Macs?
A: Both PC and Mac

Q: How was your company name chosen?
A: DADI - stands for digital art, design and illustration. I named the business DADI after hearing my son say daddy, daddy, daddy over 100 times a day. I realised that it was one of the first words he had learnt to say properly and it also came apparent that it meant something special to him. I have always hoped that our clients feel the same way, we are only ever a phone call or email away.

Q: If you were to give your clients one tip on how to get the most from their website what would it be?
A: Whether it's your first website or an existing site, your website is a hugely important part of your business. Ensure that your designer understands your business and creates you an effective online presence. Regularly assess your website and try and update it at least 2-3 times per year. Stay on-top of things and don't let your site become stale, constantly talk about improvements and further ways to increase visitors. Remember that a quality website will reward you and your business and help to convey a message of professionalism to your customers.