Abstrakt & Sandbox Studio Visit
I got the chance to visit both Framework and Abstrakt studios, both located in the centre of Nottingham.
Abstrakt is more based on UX/UI design and mainly does digital services for their clients. They started out with graphic design services before realising that most of their clientele is digital and wanted to shift their focus towards website design. Their team consists of front-end coders and back end as well as designers, infrastructure designers, illustrators, SEO, branders, copy writers and data analysts that can plan and assist in the overall functionality of the website for the clientele’s brand.
I found their website interesting as well, on their main page they mentioned how they like to experiment with coding and said that they coded the whole animation of the moving ribbon. Meaning that they have more freedom to change how the ribbon appears and interacts on the page as opposed to using a default 3D model pre-coded.
They also use analytical software such as ‘Hotjar’ to see where people click and stress on to get more data to improve their user experience for that website’s users.
They are a B-crop company and associate themselves with ‘Ecologi’ which is a global platform for climate change and the pledge to the ‘SME Climate Hub’ that plans to achieve net zero by 2050 as the company reports their carbon footprint each year. They host their websites using Digital Ocean in London that runs on only renewable energy. Another way they plan to reduce carbon footprint is by using web development software such as ‘Craft’ that reduces the amount of energy and time used to write codes for their websites.
Abstrakt have started incorporating carbon aware website alternatives, many companies are requesting this now. This is where they create two websites for one company, one that option is the standard site that includes animations, photos and pictures and many features and the other one consists of the simplistic, first-generation type of website. This means that less energy is used to run the site, but it still offers the basic information needed for the user if the user is not in need of any images. This is their website: https://weareabstrakt.com/impact
Sandbox on the other hand are a graphic design branding agency that offer services such as brand development, visual identity planning, branding and placemaking and sensory branding. When they introduced themselves, it was interesting to see how they approach recruitment in their team. The founders took us through to meet each sector of their team and how they cooperate on projects together.
The founders spoke about how it’s great that remote working is more available, but in your beginning days in a company it is best to immerse and involve yourself with the space as much as possible to fully understand the working environment and the procedures, as well as get more guidance on how you can adopt to work as part of the team.
They took us through the copywriters, the marketers, the UX designers and their graphic designers. We were advised by their lead copywriter on getting a mentor, saying that it helped him get into the industry in the best way possible for him. A copywriter is someone who sets the tone of the client’ company and brand through the literature of the brand.
The graphic design team said that they value simplicity, as that works better than complicated designs to resolve the pain point of their client. This also allows users and the client's audience to have an easier time remembering them and leaving a more substantial trance in the market.
Their UX design team try their best to make the user journey as easy and pain free as possible for public use. They try to optimise their SEO as much as possible in order for users to find what they are looking for fast and with ease, without confusing the client for a different website.
This is their website - https://www.sandbox-studios.co.uk/about
