Q: What's your name and position in the company?
A: James Guerrini - Director
Q: Describe your company in 5 words.
A: Graphic Design & Marketing Agency
Q: What's your business philosophy?
A: Mediaraft is the product of a meeting of minds between likeminded, experienced individuals with a total of over 35 years experience who really believe that in order to promote a flourishing economy, smaller businesses deserve top quality online promotion and graphic design at truly realistic, affordable prices.
Q: Describe your office environment.
A: We have a small office in the centre of Birmingham where we have 4 staff.
The environment is positive and focussed. We're all very creative and have made the space our own with prints of our designs and inspirational artistic content all over the place.
We love our work and it shows in our environment.
Q: Describe how your team interact and work together.
A: The Art Director oversees all projects.
Each team member has very specific tasks which they excel in and are left to do what they do best.
Q: What makes you different from other web design companies?
A: We believe in a fair economy.
We focus on helping start ups and SME's. We are a design agency and do have bigger overheads than say a freelancer, but we don't let that push our prices up.
We're affordable for a reason, we love being able to give high quality work to smaller companies that might not necessarily be able to afford a design agencies fees normally. We also work with many charities, some for free.
Q: How do you get the majority of your business?
A: Word of mouth.
Q: Describe how you manage projects from the initial client contact to completion and handover.
A: Meeting with client to establish goals >
Return to client with our technical brief then have another meeting to clarify certain points and take notes on any design features they'd like to have >
Meeting between Mediaraft team to delegate certain aspects of the project >
Work commences and concepts are designed >
Meeting with client to review concepts and choose one they like >
Website build and completion >
Meeting with client to present the website and review changes >
Website testing >
Client is given tutorials on how to use CMS & Analytical systems >
Website goes live and is monitored carefully over the next couple of months >
Website appraisal and performance review after 3-6 months.
Q: What do you think is the most crucial element of creating a good client relationship?
A: Being honest and open about the whole process.
Q: How do you manage demanding clients?
A: Through knowledge and education. We make sure before the project starts that everything is agreed and written down in a contract. This is to protect both parties.
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: Ask each company a set of questions and see how they respond.
A good design company should be willing to answer any questions you have about your project and make you feel like you've made the right decision.
Look at their portfolio and see if they have a specific style and if it could be applied to your project.
Also, just because one company might have been established for longer doesn't mean they are better. Some older design companies are stuck in their ways and use old systems for web design. Make sure you ask them about modern technologies and see if they are comfortable with them.
Q: Where do you see your company in 10 years time?
A: Employing a team of around 30 people and working with large charities.
We will still be focussing on SME's only.
Q: Where do you see the web design industry in the future?
A: Big changes are afoot. The way people search is changing due to voice recognition software and the world of SEO will be turned on its head.
In terms of design, I think it will be even cleaner and more minimalistic than it is now. Hopefully!
Q: What computers do you have use in your offices, PCs or Macs?
A: Mac
Q: How was your company name chosen?
A: Media encompasses all aspects of media.
Raft - to carry a businesses into the stream of online marketing and design.
Q: If you were to give your clients one tip on how to get the most from their website what would it be?
A: Content, content and more content! Keep it fresh and keep a close eye on your analytics. If you see trends that point towards a problem such as a high bounce rate or drop offs on a certain page then take action!
Latest Work
