Welcome to the Lavish Lounge

Tasty snippets from the Creative Services World, the Lavish world, the virtual world and even the real world.

Thursday 31 July 2008

Web development partners needed

We are currently looking to boost our network of web developers. We are actively looking for web development partners, to work with us on varied client briefs. We are looking for: Front end / CSS specialists Freelance IA professionals CMS developers Application developers Development / Technical consultants We are not looking to employ these resources, we are looking for individuals or small companies that we can build ongoing working relationships with.

Monday 28 July 2008

Congratulations


So another Tour de France is over.

That wonderful spectacle of team effort, amazing endurance and gladiatorial spirit has once again come to and end. Of course, The Tour has had its scandals this year, but our congratulations must go to Spaniard Carlos Sastre, who won yesterday in Paris.

Vive Le Tour!

Carbon Disclosure Project

We are very proud to announce that we are working with The Carbon Disclosure Project to produce their 2008 annual reports. Lavish are currently working on the production of 3 reports, due for publication in September of this year. The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an independent not-for-profit organisation aiming to create a lasting relationship between shareholders and corporations regarding the implications for shareholder value and commercial operations presented by climate change. Its goal is to facilitate a dialogue, supported by quality information, from which a rational response to climate change will emerge. Lavish is proud to be supporting CDP in this vital work in the area of climate change. Carbon Disclosure Project

Friday 25 July 2008

Design and the Elastic Mind

I love this online exhibition site for MoMA’s ‘Design and the Elastic Mind’. The exhibition itself highlights designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and history—changes that demand or reflect major adjustments in human behaviour—and translate them into objects that people can actually understand and use. This website has over three hundred of these works, including fifty projects that are not featured in the gallery exhibition. The navigation takes a bit of getting used to, but it does feel like an exhibition after you’ve used it for a bit. I haven’t yet picked my favourite, but there are plenty to choose from. Design and the Elastic Mind

Thursday 24 July 2008

Flash website for London agency


We have just completed a new website for design and communications agency Metier.

Not exactly ground-breaking stuff, but nicely designed and effective anyway. We like it.

As well as being Metier's digital partner, we also provide print-production and project management consultancy services to them. That's why we appear on the 'Who we are' page. Metier have an impressive roster of clients in the petrochemicals and property sectors.

Metier

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Train in Vain

The past 12 months have heralded my long-overdue introduction to the world of proper grown-up commuting. For the last 7 years I have lived a sum total of 1.25 miles from my place of work, and had the luxury of the fact that I could either walk to work to take a cab (which invariably happened much more often that the walking).

So, as a novice to this commuting thing, I am still stunned by some of the things I encounter on the journey. Some questions I have often asked myself:

Why do people feel the need to eat the equivalent of a medium sized meal on the way home? Do these people have no kitchens, or is the lure of Burger King simply so great it can’t be ignored?

Why is the woman sitting next to me picking bits of skin off the side of her fingernails with her teeth like a woman possessed, and then spitting them out into the aisle? (I think I might have to move…oh my God she’s now picking her head.)

How interested are we in the social arrangements of the girl 7 seats away, who has so far covered every banal subject you can imagine, from what she is wearing on Saturday night to what she had for lunch today?

I could rant on….but also, I have seen some really heart-warming things. Like the whole carriage that have a train party every Christmas, and invited us newbies to come along. They even printed tickets and organised food. Or the set of 4 girls who meet every morning and chat like old friends, even though their only contact is the journey to work. And the very pleasant chat I had this evening with a fellow commuter to distract me from the amazing skin picking woman next to me.

So all in all, it’s still proving to be quite an experience this commuting lark. One thing it is good for is an extra hour’s work each way….or is that a bad thing? Time will tell....

Sunday 20 July 2008

Past Masters on Motorbikes

Lavish are currently designing a small website for a friend of ours, Spencer Reeves, who is competing as a rookie in this year's Yamaha Past Masters Racing Cup (YPMRC). Billed as 'Competing on a budget - Racing to the limit' we got to see some motorbike racing action first-hand this weekend.

The boys were at Brands Hatch for the 13th and 14th rounds of the season, and unfortunately Saturday turned out to be unlucky 13 for Spencer. A blown up engine during Friday's practice session meant a hasty engine-change and a distinct lack of power when it came to race speed. That, combined with an unscheduled trip over the grass on the first race saw a 19th place finish. Unfortunately he didn't fare much better during race two, again losing speed on the straights, despite being quick through the corners.

Aside from technical troubles, we had a great day on Saturday, and were very proud to see our lovely logo loud and proud on the bike.

Spencer is scheduled for some coverage in Metro newspaper, so more when that appears. The website will be finished this week, but check out progress so far:

Spencer Reeves

Friday 18 July 2008

Interesting and Influential bloggers


I have been following the trials, tales and tribulations of my friend Alex, as she goes walkabout through South East Asia on her way to Australia, via her blog
Alex's Great Escape.

Although I don't really know Alex that well as we only met shortly before she left London, through reading her entertaining snapshots of life on the road I've certainly got much more of a sense of her as a person. Writing a diary or a blog can be so personal I wonder how long it would have taken us as friends getting to know eachother for me to have got such a deep insight into her thoughts and feelings?

And it seems that blogging is definitely no longer a boys sport. NorthxEast's list of the world's most influential female bloggers makes interesting reading. A really varied selection of some smart and sassy blogs that I would definitely recommend you bookmark.

Most influential female bloggers

Wednesday 9 July 2008

First press coverage


Metrotwin got its first bit of press coverage today, in Marketing Week. I am sure this is just the start of things to come:

Marketing Week Metrotwin article

Friday 4 July 2008

Metrotwin


For the past 5 weeks or so I have been working on the launch of a new community based website for a client, and after a lot of hard work from a very talented and visionary cross-agency team we went live yesterday with a private beta.

Metrotwin brings the world’s two greatest cities together in one space: an online community for people to share recommendations of the best places to go in New York and London.

There are hundreds of sites providing reviews, but where Metrotwin differs is that we are only interested in the ten best places to do things. So for instance, the ten best places to drink coffee, eat cupcakes or take a client to lunch. Recommendations can also be sub-location based – so within London you can find the coolest places in Clerkenwell or wherever. Every recommendation has a Metrotwin rating (a number out of 100) that updates as you use the site based on the number of times it’s viewed, commented, rated and saved.

While we are in the private beta phase participation is by invitation only, but within the next month or so the site will be open to the public and out there on the t’internet.

Become a fan of Metrotwin on Facebook. Just search ‘Metrotwin’ and join up. Or visit the ‘request an invitation page’ and put your name down to join the most exclusive, ‘in the know’ club in NyLon.

Enjoy:

Metrotwin

Thursday 3 July 2008

Ideas for entrepreneurs

One of my favourite websites at the moment is Springwise. Positioned as ‘new business ideas for entrepreneurial minds’, Springwise uses its network of 8,000 Springspotters in over 70 countries worldwide to showcase the best ideas from around the globe. Springwise scans the globe for the most promising business ventures, ideas and concepts that are ready for regional or international adaptation, expansion, partnering, investments or cooperation. Current ideas include a Dance-Powered Eco Nightclub, innovative new street advertising and a US-based nightlife mapping tool that uses GPS to reveal hotspots. Take a look at some of the weird, wild and sometimes brilliant ideas at Springwise