9th September 2016

Show, don’t tell: Studio Makgill’s new website

We’ve been thinking a lot about websites recently. Probably because we’re in the process of building a new one. (What? Didn’t we tell you? That’s because it’s our super-secret mystery project that’s going to be utterly awesome and change the face of Zetteler forever but we can’t tell you about. Yet.)

It’s no secret that a lot of people, creative types included, suffer from a common complaint – they’re rubbish at talking about themselves (lucky for us, otherwise we’d be out of a job). Here’s an example: we take a lot of pride in knowing how to talk about people and projects, distilling down the essence of what they do, knowing the most compelling points to drill down upon, bigging things up by cutting them down to the bones, but writing the ‘About’ page on the Zetteler site was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done.

When you’re trying to describe yourself or your brand – whether on a website, a CV or in awkward party small talk – it’s tempting to try to say everything at once; every detail seems equally important (‘Of course my Duke of Edinburgh bronze award has to go in – what if someone out there is looking for a PR company that can light a fire from twigs on a rainy Scottish heath?’), and the result is mess of clutter, a labyrinth of detail, a morass of complicated sentences with multiple subclauses that, in their unnecessarily complex circumlocutions, struggle to make the relevant point.

Which in this case is: making websites that get the message across is a bitch.

So for anyone out there currently fighting with that urge to overload, here’s a master class in how to make a little go a long way: graphic designers Studio Makgill have just relaunched their site and rejigged their identity. And it’s glorious. Take a look now.

See? If you remember their old site, this is more evolution than revolution, but the change reflects the way the company has developed over the years, and the very selective portfolio of their work that it showcases (G . F Smith, Boxpark, It’s Nice That, H Furniture et al) does a great job of conveying the range of design skill and expertise that Studio Makgill provides in a few well-chosen words and pictures.

In other words: Studio Makgill’s site does what they say they do: beautifully simple design.

Over to founder Hamish Makgill:

“Like everything we do, our approach to the new website is one of reduction, both in the design of the site itself and in regards to what we wanted to show. Trying to reduce nine years of work down to eleven projects was no easy task, but we feel the site is better for it, offering a clear and succinct insight into the studio.

We also wanted to get across the energy that goes into what we do. We are a studio full of different people and passions, each helping to push things forward and the way we talk about our work reflects this: our work is simple, but never at the expense of personality.”

Job done, Hamish. We’re well jealous.