This is where we tell you what we do

Making your home work for you is really important, it’s your space and needs to help you function as a family and relax when you need to. We’re here to help our clients turn their home into somewhere they love being. We try to find out what they are passionate about (Music, Travel, Wine, Films, Keep Fit, TV, Family, Entertaining etc etc), how many people and pets live there, what they need out of the spaces and then develop everything around that.

Interior and exterior design is especially important for your business. Both have a huge impact on the client experience and their perception of your business. Therefore getting it right is essential to the success of building your client base, as well as your brand.

Exterior signage and window displays ensure you have a visible presence and announces your existence in the market place. Your signage contributes to your brand and will therefore only add value to your brand if it is well designed and produced. An eye-catching window display communicates directly with your potential customer, promoting key messages about your retail offer.

Interior styling can reaffirm a client’s impression of your business. Colour schemes, décor and layout, or space planning, all work in symphony to influence how your client feels. A professional and calming space will make your client feel like they are in professional hands and relaxed, or at ease when doing business with you. Ultimately the aim is to make the customer experience an enjoyable one that they’ll want to repeat.

We can arrange to visit your premises, where we will photograph the interior and exterior and take measurements. We’ll even talk to staff and customers and use their feedback to develop our ideas. From this visit, we’ll create layout plans and a technical specification for suggested work. We can then create a visual representation of our ideas and present these to you for further discussion.

Make the best use of your retail space!

Rufus is one of the only companies in the North East that specialises in retail anthropology. It’s all about the golden rules of retail space design and consumer psychology. By understanding how your business surroundings influence your customers’ behaviour and applying our knowledge, we can make your customers’ experience more enjoyable and your business more successful.

The self-styled retail anthropologist Paco Underhill, calls it the science of shopping: the point where people, products, communication and spaces all meet. And at that point, we interact with the design world at all levels… Store planning, websites, way-finding, packaging and consumer graphics can all have the retail anthropology theory applied to inform and to capture interest.

There are many factors to consider… people, men and women, colours, smells, walking paces. All have an impact on how we behave, which in turn impacts on our purchasing decisions and impressions of a company or brand name.

Our full service team can carry out a project from conception through to production and fitting. Detailed project management and off-site manufacturing help to ensure that the on-site installation process goes as smoothly as possible.

We understand that retail space is a valuable asset. Our design process is driven by the fact that our clients need to keep their space operational during any upgrades or alterations. Our theory is that if we measure the space accurately and manufacture the bulk of the fittings off-site, in a modular format, the on-site work can be kept to a minimum.

We manufacture all of the modules we’ve designed in house so that we can control both the quality and brand consistency required to create an end product which will deliver results for our clients. Everything from brand colours, fonts and graphic components is taken into account during the design process.

Our team of installation staff are involved in the initial site surveys and planning right through the design and manufacturing process so they know the job inside out before they arrive on site to carry out the project. They take a real pride in the quality of their work and pay close attention to the small details which can often be overlooked.

The up-front planning and production off site means that most of our fitting time is spent on assembly work, drastically reducing the number of days on site and therefore minimising any disruption. The majority of work is also carried out after hours, which means it can be business as usual for you and your customers during the day.

We offer a full range of services, and can organise everything from electrical work, lighting, ceilings, plumbing, carpet and floor fitting, painting and decorating and joinery. Alternatively, if you have preferred contractors that you’d like us to work alongside, we’re happy to do so.

As an alternative to a full refit, we can also provide the option of a refresh of your retail or work space. We’ll work with existing fixtures and fittings to give the area a full face lift, without the need for major building works. This reduces project timescales, lessens interruption to normal business activity and, possibly most importantly, minimises costs.

Consultation, Name Generation, Creative Ideas and more!

Rufus are a creative hub, we live and breathe creative thoughts. If it’s something you aren’t as good at, we can help! Be it developing a catchy name for a new business, a cool URL for your new website, some new ideas to promote your company or ways to communicate with your existing customers, we’re ready to bend our minds to the project.

A brand isn’t just a logo. A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company.

A company can’t control this gut feeling, but it can influence it by communicating the qualities that make its product different.

When enough people arrive at the same ‘gut feeling’, a company can be said to have ‘a brand’.

Getting your visual identity right can be crucial to the success of your company and your brand. Your visual identity is one of many components that form your brand. We like to think a lot about a client’s business, what makes them tick, and what is going to really make a difference. It’s easy to make something that looks pretty, but the key is that it works. Be it a multinational corporation, or a local one man band, Rufus can deliver practical designs which suit your needs. Using our creative expertise, we will create a company identity to best reflect your product and target market.

Consistency across all of your branded materials is essential if you want your customers to get the right impression about your business. We ensure that our clients visual presence is cohesive and projects the right message on everything from signage to point of sale and marketing materials.

In its simplest form, graphic design is the art of communication using images and type. It is the process of choosing and organising words, images and messages into a form that connects with and influences its audience.

Graphic Design is everywhere – on packaging, on billboards, in magazines and leaflets, and on this very page you’re reading.

So what can we actually create?

Deep breath…

Logos, websites, advertising campaigns, marketing materials, brochures, catalogues, booklets, leaflets, flyers, posters, vouchers, stickers, stationery packs (business cards, compliment slips and letterheads), character illustration, signage, point of sale…and anything else we haven’t mentioned!

Does a picture really say a thousand words?… We think so!

Here at Rufus we have flair and style and a keen eye for that perfect shot. We have many clients currently taking advantage of this facility, working together with us to create stunning photography across a wide spectrum of subject matters. From landscapes to aerial, product and food shots to staff, children and family portraits, we’ve helped our clients achieve a quality visual image bank for their business.

In addition, we have access to a wealth of stock photography and illustration and will work with you to find just the right images to communicate your brand identity and sell your business.

We can digitally polish, output, mount and frame prints and we have the facilities in-house to output and laminate large wall graphics. Our fitting services might even come in handy too!