Over the last few years I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the problems caused by the web design and digital marketing industries.
These issues include:
- The environmental impact of websites (our digital activities contribute around 3.7 per cent of global emissions – on a par with the aviation industry)
- Invasive tracking and personalised targeting
- The default mindset that we should be constantly chasing more views, more reach and growth at all costs rather than at a sustainable pace.
The unethical practices that have become the norm for doing business in the digital age have lead me to try to forge a better path.
While this has been the driving force behind PJWD for a while, the time has now come for me to embrace this more formally. As part of this, I have decided to rebrand the PJWD studio to better suit the values I care about. Let me introduce you to Root: sustainable web design for businesses that care.
Welcome to Root
The aim of Root will be to focus on:
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- Low-carbon web design – Reducing the environmental impact of websites and educating others as I continue to learn.
- Collaboration – I’ll be working closely with a graphic designer and a copywriter, plus other independent creatives, to offer a more rounded service.
- Organic growth – Encouraging businesses to grow at a sustainable pace, using SEO to find the right audience, not just a bigger one.
These principles, and the values that underpin them, called for a fresh new look. With collaboration as a key value, I called in one of my long-time collaborators Charlotte of Creative Wilderness to help. Together we did a deep and fun exploration into what is most important to me (trees were held, questions were answered…). Then Charlotte did her thing and developed a brand book to translate all of that into shapes, fonts and colours to convey the “brand essence” of Root.
Branding is about more than looks. How a brand sounds is as important, so it was time for Becky from Comma Chameleon to help with tone and voice.
The resulting brand book has been key in the rebrand, helping to create a consistent feel to the brand which makes it clear what Root is all about.
Read more about the Root rebrand in this blog
Paternity leave
The Root rebrand isn’t my only baby! In the coming weeks I will become a Dad, and in preparation for the new arrival I’ll be out of the office on paternity leave from Friday 14th October until Monday 28th November.
I’m still supporting existing clients, albeit at reduced capacity, and my 1-2-1 training and consultancy services will be back in the new year.
In the meantime, remember you can always still brush up on your SEO knowledge with my self-paced video course. Subscribers can use the code PJWD-SEO to save £30 at the checkout.
As always, thank you for reading my newsletter and supporting PJWD.
Until next time,
Paul