We were approached earlier in the year to develop a new identity for Meynell and South Staffordshire Hounds. The identity needed to reflect a change in perceptions by the group, who were previously involved in fox hunting and now want to focus on the development of dog skills and training. They wanted to portray themselves a high-end organisation that installs the traditional values of the group into a forward thinking organisation.

Our brand checklist is a free and easy way to make sure that your brand image is suitable for your business and is strong enough to compete against others in your industry.

Why do I need a good brand image?

A strong brand image is essential in captivating your audience and communicating your brand's key values to your target audience. A strong brand image also makes sure that you have consistency throughout your business and it's promotional materials, this helps existing customers and new customers able to instantly recognise you. If your advertisements are inconsistent along with your business cards and letterheads, your customers will not know where each different thing is coming from, for all they know the materials could be coming from different businesses!

To take our test, click here.

We've adapted our production to focus on areas that we can help businesses with during and after the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown. We knew that our web design and printing services could come in handy to help businesses market themselves to rebound after the lockdown, as well as helping ensure safety in their workplaces. To do this we have been:

• Helping customers build an online presence and shop, to help adapt their business practises.
• Designing and printing safety products, such as sneeze guards, pavement signs and floor stickers.
• Supplying free digital posters incorporating a business' logo, for them to print off at home.
• Advising customers on how they can market themselves to come back with a bang.

We're doing our best to support local businesses, you can see one of our sneeze guards in use in Equatorial, a shop in Ashbourne that sells fairtrade goods:

If you're looking to re-open, or even if you just have a business, there will definitely be a way that we can help you. Get in touch to find out how we could do this. We can build a website, develop a new business identity and logo and also provide your business with any printed products that you might need, including leaflets, flyers, business cards and stickers!

We were approached recently by MGR Landscape Gardening, a landscape gardening service based in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. They were a start-up business, and wanted to improve their brand image, which was lacking consistency and was very basic beforehand. They were also looking for a set of business cards to hand out to customers.

We re-imagined their brand image, taking factors from their previous logo, and making it sharper, more consistent and most importantly, more professional. The typeface we chose to work with reflected the caring nature of the small business, placing emphasis on the people behind the business, which we also reflected through the design work in their business cards. The colours used immediately grabbed the attention of the client and got them thinking 'gardening', which was the client's aim.

The client was exceptionally happy with the outcome, and we are too. You can take a look at their new image, as well as their business cards below.

We love working with start-up businesses, this is because we love working alongside passionate business owners who want to see their business thrive and develop. We help businesses target the right people through design work and promotion, and this project was no different. We undertake research in every project we carry out, meaning that your branding, web design or print work is sure to capture the right audience.

A few ways we could help your business are:

• Branding - We love creating a new brand image for a business, and can provide your business with a logo, brand guidelines and all of the promotional material with it!
• Web Design - Creating websites is a really rewarding part of our jobs, with our websites proven to deliver results of a 300% increase in clients.
• Printing - With an extensive range of printed materials on offer, we can help your business with everything from stationery, to signage, to vehicle graphics.

If you'd like to learn more about how we could help your small business or start-up, give us a call on 01335 368 272 or email us at info@springfieldcreative.com.

There's a lot of conflicting news, advice and stories circulating surrounding what should and shouldn't be done when re-opening your shop, pub or other workplace after the lockdown is over. In this post, we hope to shed some light on the subject, and provide you with an insight into how you can make your workplace safer for you, your staff and your customers after the lockdown caused by COVID-19.

Without a doubt, one of the main ways you can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in your shop is to make sure that you are keeping high hygiene standards. By making sure that hygiene levels are improved and exceed what they would normally be, you are reducing the likelihood that you have COVID-19 lingering on your counter-top, shelves or products. You can also increase the hygiene of your workplace by putting physical barriers in place between yourself and your staff.

​How can I make my workplace more hygienic?

• Purchase one of our Sneeze Guards, which forms a physical barrier between you, your staff, and your customers. With areas for transactions of goods underneath, they cause minimal disruption to your workplace routines. They are also fully customisable, meaning your sneeze guard shouldn't stick out like a sore thumb, and can be printed to match your brand image.
• Set up, or increase your cleaning timetables. If you don't already have a workplace cleaning schedule - get one! If you already have a workplace cleaning schedule - double it! By increasing the cleaning of your shelves, products and floors to more than once a day, you can help prevent the spread of COVID-19 inside your workplace.
• Reduce points of contact. This means optimising your workplace for contactless transactions, and making customers aware that they shouldn't touch items unless they intend to buy them!

We've heard nothing but 'social distancing' since COVID-19 first hit headlines, and for good reason too. Social distancing is a great way to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, as it increases the distance between yourself, your customers and your employees. By increasing this distance, the likelihood of the disease spreading decreases, as it makes coughs, sneezes or other bodily fluids more difficult to come into contact with.

What are the best ways to enforce social distancing?

• Fit vinyl floor stickers every two metres, to indicate the distance that should be kept when queueing, or looking around in a shop.
• Only allow a certain number of people inside at one time, this can be enforced with a pavement sign, telling potential customers to wait at the entrance until they're told to enter the shop.
• Remind customers to keep their distance at every opportunity, this can be achieved by displaying posters in windows and on walls, as well as printing the message onto sneeze guards at the counter or on your bar.
• Communicate via social media, or your website, with customers. This can help spread the message of the precautions you're taking inside your shop.
• Increase the space between shelves, chairs, or other furniture, to help people maintain 2 metres when passing in aisles or walking around your workplace.

Staff are a crucial element to any business. That's why it's important to consult them when making decisions like these, which may well affect their livelihood. It's important to make sure that you talk the measures through with your staff members, and find an agreement in which you can open your workplace, and they will still feel safe.

How should I tell my staff we're re-opening?

• Understandably, many of your staff members may be reluctant to return to work, especially if they feel that their safety may be compromised at work. By talking to them about the social distancing measures, as well as hygiene measures that you are putting in place, you can hopefully reassure them that you have their best interests at heart.
• Explain to staff that they must maintain social distancing measures. By doing this, you can help ensure that if one of your staff members is unfortunate enough to catch COVID-19, it doesn't spread throughout your business.

Now that you've thought about how to re-open your workplace safely, you should be ready to re-open. This is the advice from our point of view, so you will still need to let your suppliers know that you are planning to be back up and running, to make sure that your business can run smoothly after lockdown. If you'd like to enquire about any of the products mentioned in this article, see our page on our range of COVID-19 safety products.

​With the introduction of the stages meaning that places are slowly beginning to re-open, we have now starting selling these sneeze guards! Ideal for businesses which are customer focused such as shops or takeaways, these sneeze guards can be printed to match your company’s branding, ensuring that they don’t look out of place. They can also be used as a screen in offices, helping slow the spread of COVID-19. Get in touch for a quotation or visit click here.

I think we could all probably do with a haircut right now, speaking of which... we recently created this logo as part of the brand identity for Bootleg Barber, an independent barber who wanted to brand their business and ensure that they stand out from their competitors. Focusing on straight razor shaves and warm towel treatments, the vintage style barber’s brand is based on themes from prohibition era America and “bootlegging” featuring elements from the early 20th Century including the classic barber shop pole. You can see how this logo works across different mediums in this post. 

We do a lot of design work for start-up businesses, as finding a great solution for your business is often difficult to do. We take pride in our methods and outcomes backed by research to deliver great results. The client was very happy with this outcome, if you're wanting to find out more about how we can help with branding, web design, printing or marketing, give us a call or send us an email!