The Electric Design Company

Electric is one of those small but perfectly formed agencies that hasn’t just stood the test of time, we’ve moved with it. When there are new forefronts, we’ll be at them. And whilst we continue to evolve, we’ll never forget our roots. It’s the same today as it was 20 years ago - solid, dependable client service and innovative, creative design.

Too busy to explore our beautiful site? Here is the all important number: 0113 287 9900

Established in Leeds in 1991, we're a full-service design and marketing agency with a client portfolio that reflects our expertise. And we are experts - every member of the team is a specialist in their field. But we don't go blinding people with science, using agency speak in some pretentious attempt to impress. That's just not our style. In fact, we much prefer to let our work do the talking (although we're always up for a quick gossip about last night's telly).
CSSDA Winner 9th Dec 2012 CSS Winner 11th Dec 2012

From the first phone call to the end product, we work together to hand-craft something bespoke and special.

About Us

Honest, approachable and highly personable, we aim to make our customers look good - and that’s why we put everything we’ve got into every project. We’re the friendly experts who just love having satisfied clients. And that’s why we do what we do – as it makes us feel good too.

Ideas

We're always brimming with ideas and bursting at the seams to get on and do a great job. But we also throw an intelligent, measured, realistic approach into the mix. Because we know that having your head in the clouds doesn't give you the best view.

Electric

Here at Electric, we're all about building relationships. Making connections. Ensuring that we understand what results our clients want to achieve. And, the great thing about being a small, close-knit team is that everyone has a personal stake in every project. We're all (usually!) in the same place, at the same time. We don't get our diaries out or book meetings rooms to talk to each other. In fact, we reckon wandering over to someone's desk for a chat counts as exercise. Doesn't it?

Design

The influential graphic designer David Carson once said 'Graphic design will save the world - right after rock and roll does.' Well, although we can't promise that our designs will ever be able to stop a surprise alien invasion, we can be confident that they'll be crafted with love, audience-focused AND delivered to you both on time and on budget.

Management

Yes we produce innovative, creative designs. Yes our solutions are well researched and results-focused. But the thing that makes us stand out, and has endured some seriously long-lasting client relationships, is the way we manage every project with endless enthusiasm. Whatever the job - we give it our all. There's nothing that escapes our passionate approach. Oh alright then, maybe the washing up...

Artwork

Producing a beautiful, attention-grabbing design is one thing. Making sure that the design translates effectively to print materials is quite another. But never fear - we know our CMYK from our RGB and our line screens from our image resolutions. This print knowledge, coupled with our keen eye for detail, means that you can be confident that Electric will produce a print-perfect artwork file every single time.

Testing

There are tried and tested ways of doing things. That's why we try and test whole new ways, using our intelligently imaginative approach to achieve even bigger results. Our systems, our capabilities, our knowledge, our understanding...you name it; we're always looking to improve it.

Gossiping

Friendly and fun - we love what we do, and it shows. That's why we leave our high horses at home to make working with us a great experience all round. Our doors are always open for clients that want to take a break from their hectic schedule and share a gossip and a quick cuppa. In fact, it's these informal chats that have inspired some of our best work to date.

Brew

All of this lateral thinking is thirsty work. That's why we need an endless supply of hot, steaming brews to keep our creative juices flowing. Friday is also 'Treat Day' so if you fancy discussing a potential job over a Krispy Kreme donut or two, then just give us a bell.

We're not the show-off type but we are very proud of every single piece of work we do. Take a look for yourself.

Johnstone's Trade
Membership grows weekly for Johnstone’s Decorating Centre customer loyalty scheme


Sarreguemines
Electric ensures Sarregumines launch into UK market makes a big but stylish splash!


Geoplan
Design sells. So says our client, postcode software specialist Geoplan.


JP Distribution
380 pages packed with 11,000 products


Jean-Christophe Novelli
Successful brand development for celebrity chef.


It's all about translating your business objectives in to consistent, branded visual communication that people connect with.

Services

We can't tap dance whilst playing the bagpipes. Yet. But we can pretty much turn our considerable expertise to anything else our clients or indeed the universe want to throw at us. And the best bit? We absolutely love it! Most of our clients use all elements of our services in some form or other; some pick and choose - it really is up to you!

  • Print
    • Leaflets, brochures & folders
    • Stationery
    • Packaging
    • Exhibition stand design
    • Business cards
    • Posters
    • Signage
  • Web
    • Web design
    • Web development
    • Ecommerce websites
    • Content management systems
    • Writing for web
    • Responsive websites
    • Search engine optimisation
    • Website hosting
    • Analytics and analysis
  • Marketing
    • Brand workshops
    • Email campaigns
    • Copywriting
    • Campaign management
    • Market research
  • Social
    • Social strategies
    • Social design and set up
    • Social media marketing
    • Viral campaigns
    • Traffic generation
    • Social updates
  • Branding
    • Brand workshops
    • Brainstorms
    • Brand creation
    • Brand strategy
    • Due diligence
CMYK

An abbreviation of the four process colours, cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK), each colour has a separate printing plate, which, when combined means the world is your colour printing oyster.

Bleed

Or full bleed. Basically, it means when the printed area goes beyond the trimmed edge of the page. This creates a tolerance for any paper slippage on the press, as well as the odd design inconsistency.

Debossing

A cool process that adds relief and texture below the paper. Great if you want to create a luxurious feel or highlight a company name for example. Just to let you in to a secret, there are two types. 'Registered' uses ink or foil or even both and 'blind' is just where the metal die hits the paper and leaves an impression.

Embossing

Guess what? It's the opposite to debossing. In the case of embossing, the relief is created above the paper.

Perfect binding

Great for catalogues or thicker product brochures to create a book-like finish, perfect binding means all the pages are stacked singly and glued to the cover - there are different ways to do it so it needs to be the right method for your project!

 

CMS

Content Management System (CMS), in jargon buster terms, is the back-end of a website that does all the really hard work. It essentially means the website content can be edited, updated and added to easily. There are lots of different programs you can use - some 'off-the-shelf' others developed specifically for you.

Responsive

'Responsive web design' sometimes called RWD means that a website designed in this way  does it all - you don't need a separate website for computers, tablets like the iPad or mobile phones - it simply adapts its scale and scrolling abilities to your screen. How clever is that?!

Cross-browser

The browser bit refers to things like Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) 7, 8, 9, 10, Safari or Firefox. However the tricky bit is, each one has its own interpretation of how to display stuff on screen. This means that we have to cross-browser test to make sure each website works the best it can and looks tippity top in each environment.

Analytics

Basically, it is an analysis tool that is built in to your website or app that provides access to incredibly insightful information and statistics. This knowledge will help you to: improve the experience your customers or visitors have on your website or app, better plan marketing activity and measure what is working and what's not!

 

Marketing Mix

It used to be the 4Ps, then the 7Ps and now, for the moment, it's the 9Ps. For those marketing virgins out there the Ps relate to: Price, Product, Place, Promotion, People, Processes, Physical Factors, Positioning and Packaging. Getting each element right means you will be able to present your business in a consistent way that sets you apart from the competition.

Customer journey

We see this as all points (online, in-store, office, customer service etc.) at which a customer interacts with your business. Basically by identifying and mapping them out you can see what kind of experience your customers are having. Look to streamline and develop ways to improve each point or touch point (to revert back to jargon) to ensure a seamless customer experience.

SMART

Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited or SMART! This is ideally what your objectives need to be when you write your marketing plan. Think value, volume and market share - it all helps with measurement! Don't forget to put a time limit to each if possible too.

SEO

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO for short! This is how easily people can find you in the search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. There is a lot of confusion about SEO and how to achieve better rankings in the search results. Our take on it is, if you build a website right, to current W3C industry standards, your website will be optimised for the search engines. Each search engine is always updating its algorithms (the way they index search results) and the next big thing is how active you are on the social scene. So, if you're a busy bee on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn you may be rewarded in search results heaven.

Affiliate Marketing

This is where a company rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliates marketing efforts. Still confused? Well think of it like selling someone else's products or services and the receiving commission in return. Basically the affiliate will promote the product/service using a special link/code so the sale can be tracked. As you can imagine, this type of marketing can work really well on blogs, vlogs, social networks and forums.

Social

The symbol #, called hashtag, is used on the social network Twitter as a way to categorise key words or topics in a Twitter message or tweet. A hashtag can be a word or phrase for example #HQ_electric to show that a tweet is related to a product or event online or offline. Hashtags can appear anywhere in the tweet although don't really use more than two. If you click on them you will find all the other tweets relating to this in the search results. Happy hashtagging!

Algorithm

A set of formulas developed for a computer to perform a certain function. This is important in the social world as the algorithms, sites like Facebook and Google use, are critical for developing content-sharing strategies.

 

Blog

Blog was created from two words: “web log.” Blogs are usually maintained by a business for example who makes regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, graphics or video.

Meme

Internet Memes (rhymes with team) can spread like a nasty bout of flu from one person to another at an astonishing rate. However, it's not a virus that's spreading - it's an idea. Remember Rick Rolling? That was a meme. Or the famous Dancing baby that was featured in Ally McBeal? That was another meme.

Sentiment Analysis

In social marketing. this is usually referred to as the attitude of user comments relating to a brand online. It's basically chitter chatter about your company that can be picked up on social media, forums, blogs etc. However, instead of analysing just words, sentiment analysis also looks at variables such as context, tone and emotion.

Brand

You probably don't think that this needs any 'jargon busting' at all. However, many people mistakingly believe that a brand is just a company name, or a logo. However, it's much more than this. It's the sum of thoughts and feelings that people have about a company. This may sound like a load of new-age mumbo jumbo but always remember, a brand mainly exists in the mind of a customer. You can try and influence how your brand is perceived but you can never have 100% control over it (although you can have lots of fun trying).

The 'Big Idea'

The 'Big Idea' is what lies at the very heart of your company or business. It's what sets you apart from all your competitors. Ideally it will inform everything that you do as a company no matter how small. To decide on your 'Big Idea' think about what makes your company tick. What makes you different? What do you passionately believe in?

Brand Values

This is the strict code by which your brand exists. Your brand values should guide your company's behaviour and the way it makes decisions. They're what your company stands for, so be proud of them and bring them to life daily in the way you  do business.

Brand Vision

So, where does your company want to be in the future? Does it want to be the best at what it does in this country or does it have world domination in its sights? A brand vision may be grand or large-scale or it may be something really simple. But the key benefit of having a clear brand vision is that it makes it a whole lot easier to put a plan in place to get you where you want to be.

Brand Personality

Your brand personality is how you choose to present yourself as a company. It is usually made up of a set of human traits that customers can relate to. Are you an efficient and businesslike organisation or a friendly and approachable one?  Whatever your character, it should be reflected in the tone, language and design you use in all of your communications and should be a key section in your brand guidelines.

Got a potential project you want to discuss? Don't hesitate - get in touch now. It could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

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Electric Design

Little Moorland Mill

Moorland Road

Driglington

BD11 1JY

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