CASE STUDIES

• Add Juice
• AG Design
• Altcom Ltd
• Atlantic FM
• Business Cornwall
• Channel Computing
• Clarity
• Design for Sport
• German IT Development
• Go24
• InfoTeam
• IntoArt Solutions LLP
• Leap Media
• Niddocks
• Richard Quick Design
• Roskear Holdings
• Sea Communications
• Webfooted Designs
• Wild Card PR

REPORTS

ICT and Media

Richard Quick had spent over eight years freelancing in the world of web design, learning new skills and working for an extensive client base. But in 2005 he decided it was time to take the plunge and be his own boss. "Having freelanced for so long I had not really had much direct client contact and found being the third party was increasingly restrictive. I really wanted to build something, to grow a business and also have something to show for all my work. So I thought setting up my own business would fulfil these ambitions."

Richard Quick Design was set up in 2006 in Kent, but Richard always had a burning desire to return to Cornwall where he grew up. "I always knew I wanted to bring the business to Cornwall and it was always in the back of my mind. Setting up in Kent was hard work as the creative community is not that strong there, making it hard to secure business, plus you were competing with London.

"Cornwall is the complete opposite. The design community here is growing so quickly and while we are theoretically competitors there is a big market need, both locally and nationally, for web and graphic designers, so there is plenty of work to go around." The business specialises in web design but also provides print, photography, motion graphics, digital video and copy writing. Richard not only runs his own business but has also recently authored the book "Web Design in Easy Steps" published by Computer Step. When Richard was commissioned to write the book he also redesigned the entire Easy Steps series at the publisher's request.

"I have really enjoyed the challenge of writing and designing the book. It's meant my first few months trading have been extremely busy. I have not stopped as I had to split my time between web design and writing! However, it has been great to do something different; an additional bonus has been that it has led to a number of new clients."

Clients
Richard Quick Design WSI has a variety of clients both around and within the county including KTS PLC, Computer Step Publishing, MWP Film Books, Sedgeman Scaffolding, Cornwall Hospice Care, Roskilly's, Rosehill Lodges and the Society for Storytelling. In the past Richard has worked for various large and international clients including Nestle, Which? Magazines, Argos, Fidelity Investments and the Government of the British Virgin Islands.

Workforce
Richard Quick Design WSI currently employs one designer, two web developers and a search engine expert full time as well as one part time member of staff. The company also uses around five freelancers for various aspects of projects such as branding, photography, copywriting and server-side development.

Support
Richard Quick Design WSI has taken advantage of some of the business networks Cornwall has to offer, saying "In Cornwall it's essential to get your name known. The networks are a very effective way of doing this."

Technology
Richard uses design packages which include: Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Quark, Indesign, Flash and Final Cut Pro. In addition Richard uses development languages such as xhtml, css, javascript and php. All his websites are built using Web Standards techniques and are accessible to disabled people.