http://www.digiplanet.com/
You don't go to these people when you're thinking of setting up a couple
of Web pages advertising Acme Nylon Sheets as they're already in with the
big film studios and have done sites for Stargate, Caspar and Apollo 13.
Despite the fact that they know what they're doing and are on top of the
latest tricks (if you're using a PC, Netscape 2.0 and have a handy little
plug-in, you can view a groovy little Shockwave movie about the whole thing
but it takes forever), they are keeping their expertise close to their chests.
This is a site which often demonstrates new technical tricks but also specialises
in obfuscating content, ie plenty of PR drivel accompanied by flash graphics.
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http://www.flicks.com
Definitely do your homework before splashing out on any equipment, but
in the meantime take a look at the Web Commander Web Server for Windows
NT and Windows 95 operating systems. There's very little to say about it
as an online advert Ü remote monitoring, pause servers, CGI executables,
dynamic documents Ü except perhaps that it's there.
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http://www.tecc.co.uk/twin/
Clean uncluttered lines and a simple explanation of its Internet consultancy
capabilities are enough to make you think that this is a very smoothly run
operation. The clients' Web pages on show are all highly individual and
well thought out. Yet another company worth considering.
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http://www.starri.com/personals/
As its name suggests, this is the place to post your free personal ads.
Theres also Cupids Corner, where you can place an ad including a photo for
$25 a year, and Fantasy Land, where you can post your very own fantasy,
free of charge. Unfortunately some of the links are out of date, and a quick
trawl through the ads on here reveals the hopefuls to be either based overseas,
completely mad, or both. Still, you never know...
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http://www.softopt.co.uk
Not only does Soft Options provide Web publishing services, its excellent
introduction is also a great guide for anyone considering commissioning
a company to put a site up on the Web. It outlines four key areas that need
to be covered Ü Web presence design, page design, site management and
marketing. Of course, Soft Options can do all these for you, and its list
of clients is kind of impressive, but expertise is evident in the look,
feel and speed of its very own home page. Next step, check the prices (also
included).
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http://www.rebel.net.uk/dnsreg
All expense-spared, dull-looking domain name service that will make
a formal application for a domain name and assign it to the Rebel Net server
on your behalf. Presumably they've decided to cut down on overheads Ü
confidence inspiring professional page design, for example Ü to give
the impression they know what they're doing, as they do it 'all in' for
a fee of £100. They say they can get you registered in under a week
and if the name's already taken there's no charge for asking them to try.
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http://www.pr-net.com
This is a service for technology companies and journos who use the Internet
for news and research. Still a fledgling, the site contains information
on about 100 IT PR companies in the UK and you can search for either type
of company. At the moment it just handles IT, but plans to cover all areas
of PR in the future. If you're an IT or PR company theres an area on the
site where you can submit your details. Although there isn't a great deal
on here at the moment, once the database expands it should be invaluable.
Watch this space.
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http://www.obsolete.com/
Any preconceived ideas you have about Web design are now redundant.
Obsolete is a consultancy that to all appearances is 'pushing the envelope'
of Web design in all sorts of exciting ways. The company works very much
in the trendy end of Web publishing, supplying structure and graphics to
stylish record labels, ezines, clubs, bands, music merchandising companies
and, predictably, clients like Levi's and Virgin have also utilised their
art school cool. Obsolete's own site and those of its clients are all powered
by Zeus server software. This is only worth mentioning because they all
seem to perform exceptionally well and are noticeably faster than many other
state-of-the-art sites. Superb!
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http://www.nation-net.com
The problem designers have, in both print media and the Internet, is
that they have to balance their design desires with clarity and ease of
use. Unfortunately, this is something that nation-net has to address. The
front page of its site may look groovy, but it's not easy to navigate and
is fairly difficult to read. Ironically, the rest of the site manages to
marry both design and easy of use. The company is responsible for the design
and management of a host of sites including Wine Cellar, CIS (Co-operative
Insurance), and NorWeb - the Blackburn Rovers site is coming soon. There's
also lots of info on prices and the services on offer from nation-net.
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http://flamestrike.hacks.arizona.edu/~macdaddy/backgrounds.html
Young Chris Macbuhay, known to the Net as MacDaddy is a background fanatic.
And with more and more service providers offering free Web pages for all,
this site solves that niggle... what background should I slosh up. Solid
colours, patterns, themed images from luscious berries to Mickey Mouse to
inviting pools of water... they're all just a download away. Chris also
helpfully explains about HTML code for changing text and background colour,
as well as linking to his home page with plenty of icons and stuff to spice
up your page. Plaudits Chris, just hope you're getting out every other week.
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http://www.lime.co.uk
Lime is a new citrus-flavoured Internet consultancy and undoubtedly
it'll soon be quids in. Once it 's come up with some clients, that is. At
the moment it's all mouth and no trousers, but if the home page is anything
to go by then the team behind the project have got things sussed. The site
is fast, fresh and clean with an added attitudinal zing that presumably
comes from past years spent copywriting. It can't be long before they convince
someone to spend some money.
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http://www.houseweb.co.uk/
Buying or selling your home? Then this should come in handy. Don't be
put off by the mysterious logo, which looks like Stonehenge made from sausages;
this is a great site. Theres a section devoted to first-time buyers, with
plenty of mortgage and budgeting advice, plus stuff on market conditions,
home insurance, how to focus on exactly what you want in a property, advice
on how to handle estate agents and solicitors - there's even advice on packing
and moving. Absolutely brilliant; don't move home without it.
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http://www.denovo.co.uk/
Denovo is a partnership of designers, artists, and musicians who work
on various interactive projects. This site highlights their ever growing
body of work, including their flyer collection from the London club scene,
illustrations from David Bowie's Outside CD and work for MTV. You also get
to see this motley crew, although there is little written information on
them. As you would expect from a top design company there is plenty of flair
and creativity on view. Examples of this can be found on each page and on
Netscape's title bar Ü which carries some very interesting messages.
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http://www.de-sign.net
If you're interested in what an online design company does then this
is one place to go. The information bar will take you on a tour of everything
you could possibly want to know, from maintaining a site to marketing it.
There are also samples of virtual reality pages, but you need the right
plug-in to view them.,(I don't know what that is because I didn't have it!)
and, in my opinion, the green box logo is naff.
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http://www.chd.co.uk
CHD is design consultancy working with print, multimedia and the Internet.
Certainly, after a trawl round this site you'll have confidence in the company,
just from looking at the beautifully designed pages themselves. CHD will
help you transfer and re-engineer your existing corporate information so
it can move over to the Web or onto CD. The site is still in its early stages,
so there are plenty of under construction notices, but it looks like another
one to keep your eye on.
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http://www.pavilion.co.uk/alextarling/
Full marks for initiative and superb self-promotion Ü Alex Tarling's
Web site hints at technical brilliance and suggests an inordinate amount
of suss. Nine years in the industry, a background in Unix with C, C++, shellscript
and Perl programming, he's worked in various areas of multimedia (PC platform)
prior to becoming a freelance Internet boy. According to this he's recently
had a hand in Web sites for Planet Internet, Imagination, Jolly Rancher,
Gspot magazine and the Sussex Tourist Board. If you're looking for someone
with hands-on experience of Web design, then take a wander round Alex World.
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http://www.netnames.com/
Extra smart scam to contract out the registering of Internet domain
names Ü that's the address bit that comes after @ and before .com or
.co.uk. Doh! If you haven't got time or don't know how to do it, NetNames
will sort it all out for you Üæat a flat fee of £150. That
can't be bad now, can it? Nice work if you can get it, eh?
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http://www.arawak.co.uk/
Not your everyday interactive multimedia and marketing co-operative,
Arawak has a funky finger in the Microsoft corporate pie. Visitors to MSN
will shortly enjoy Arawak's unique coverage of UK events (Euro 96, The Grand
Prix, Gay Pride), piped from its very own mobile unit Ü 12 Pentium
notebooks, telephones, modems, scanners, digital video and photographic
equipment, 'broadcast' from a double decker bus. More conventionally, Arawak
does big exhibition CD-Roms, eg the one for the Windows 96 show. Any company
which says ñcomputers suck, people are coolî has got to be
cookin' on gas. Get on board!
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http://www.workhorse.co.uk/productions/whhome.html
Glasgow School of Art graduate, Ian Clydesdale, is Workhorse Productions,
but the company is far from plodding. Ian is Mr Multimedia and Mr Web Design
rolled into one and in the process of touting for work he ably demonstrates
just what he can do. Top equine animation! Based in Glasgow, prospective
clients please call round.
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http://www.speedware.com/cgi-bin/send?autobahn
Taking you straight to the hub of something you Web providers might
want, Speedware has created Autobahn to help you create your html 'on the
fly'.
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http://www.blueberry.co.uk
Virtually a whole hotlinked environment that'll help you start off round
the Net. Blueberry Hill houses the Surf Shack, Net Tower, the Coliseum,
Meta Pier (for fun and games), Merlin's Search Engine and the Design Centre
as well. As a way of getting to know a company and how it works, nothing
beats it. What's great about this concept is that it demonstrates consultancy
Blueberry's own Web design, authoring, setup and overall site management,
without making you sit through the hard sell.
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http://www.magicnet.net/~tkearns/
Another load of expert looking pages from a company called Global Media
Design. Content is fairly old-school lists, ie some of our favourite links,
but check their overall design philosophy and especially that of design
co-op the Radiation Group, which is also housed here.
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http://www.freerange.com/
These days, it seems like anyone with a modem and a basic grasp of HTML
is setting themselves up as an Internet consultant. These people are professionals.
FreeRange is Seattle-based, so not necessarily convenient, but it still
has some good hints for those thinking about their own business site.
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http://www.mcb.co.uk/pcdoctor/index.htm
Bradford-based Web specialist PC Doctor is advertising its services
through these proficient, if a little, unadventurous pages of their own.
The Good HTML Guide gives away some really useful secrets, but it's the
knowledge of football and enthusiasm for including it on the site that really
rivals the interest in Web design.
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http://www.ethereality.co.uk/
Another Web page publishing outfit for all your Web advertising needs
blah blah... Best bit of all is the introductory offer. They'll put you
up on the Web for a whole month for free.
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http://www.iconnect.com
Another company offering to meet all your Internet needs, this Midlands-based
consultancy can help you get up and running on the Web, but you'd better
speak to them about the details!
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http://www.razorfish.com
If you're looking to improve your learning curve on all the latest online
trixie visuals, then look no further than this extra foxy New York Internet
and software design technology corporation. Check out the Blue Dot for proof
that 'client pull' is as effective as the name suggests.
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http://www.initiative.co.uk/media/
This site is designed for that wet-behind-the-ears Internet business
user taking a few first stumbling steps around the Web. Offering an extremely
basic marketing analysis of some of the traditional media's transition onto
the Internet, Initiative then explains how uniquely placed it is to help
boss-eyed businesspeople exploit this wonderful new medium themselves. Hurrah!
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http://www.eborcom.com/
Things are really going major-league corporate when you can pay a company
to do all the fun things on the Internet for you. This slick online service
not only promises to publicise your Web pages, via the PR mechanics of the
Megaphone, but to create them and research resources for your own customised
links on the Net, too. Probably walks the dog as well.
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http://www.bluewave.co.uk/bluewave/
Business-like, no-nonsense service offering Web page creation, design
and maintenance. Not particulary 'cutting edge', but looking at some of
its clients' pages, it appears to do the job. All practical information,
including pricing, is rather helpfully available. Just a case of liking
what you see, or not, and mercifully avoiding the hard sell.
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http://www.artewisdom.com/
Web page design-and-build service, where work for past projects and
current clients can be assessed immediately by looking at them online. Good
innit?
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http://www.webmedia.com
Nice looking pages from a cool company specialising in the design, construction
and maintenance of a growing number of Web sites. NB Home to Ivan Pope.
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