July 1, 2021
This month we’ve been designing a new sister site for a long-standing
client, building an app for a top British car retailer and reading up on
the latest Google Core Update.
We’re sure you’ve all been on the edge of your seats since last month, waiting to see who would be the winner of this year’s Fanatic T-Shirt Competition. Well, we can now reveal that the winner is… drum roll please… Sam!
Our Senior Designer won the majority of the votes with his Rude Dude Flamingo illustration, and we’re sure you’ll agree it perfectly encapsulates the theme of ‘Summer Vibes’. We’ll be sporting these in the Fanatic Studio soon…
We worked alongside our friends at Searcys to produce a new website for the hospitality and events arm of the Royal College of Surgeons. Working within the existing brand guidelines we created a flexible and adaptable website that will set the venue up for success as events start opening up again.
As with all projects involving Searcys, the highlight of the project was working with all the incredible imagery that they were able to provide. From the hi-res CGI renders of the location to the mouth-watering food and drink images, good imagery always makes a website sing.
The Halfords Electric Vehicle Cost Calculator was the first React app built and designed at Fanatic. This web app allows users to compare the costs of electric vehicles in comparison to similar conventional vehicles.
The app itself was based on an Excel spreadsheet that was provided to us by Halfords. The first step was then to translate the various functions used for the different calculations from Excel formula syntax into JavaScript and also to convert all of the data into a JSON format.
Building this app in React was a smart choice as it allowed us to take advantage of some of React’s key features, such as its component-based architecture and the Virtual DOM, to provide high application speed and performance and ultimately create a smoother user experience.
We’ve been looking into the new Google Core Update that rolled out in June. The first of a two-part Core Update (with the second part happening in July), this one is strongly focused around content and the rule of E-A-T (Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness).
As always, Google has said that the best way to ensure your site isn’t negatively impacted by the update is to ensure you’re always providing quality content that offers something valuable and new to your reader. This is a principle we always follow at Fanatic when creating content for our clients.
We’ve been looking into how we can further improve the trustworthiness of our clients’ websites by emphasising their expertise. We’ve created new Author rows on blogs and added more information to Meet the Team pages to show readers that they can rely on the information being given to them.
Kai, Digital Marketing Exec
How have you found life at Fanatic so far?
Initially it has been challenging but that’s what I expect when I start a new job. I’m starting to get more confident now though.
What were you doing before Fanatic and what made you get into Web Development?
I was working for an agency based in the city centre. I have always been into computers and into coding.
What made you choose Fanatic?
I had good feelings during my first and second interview with Ian and the others.
What have you enjoyed most so far?
I have enjoyed building a template based on a design and working with Laravel.
What are you looking forward to learning more about?
I’m looking forward to getting more confident with the company procedures and company tools.
What’s an interesting fact about you?
I got lost in a jungle, is that interesting?