Are you looking for a hotdesk near Milton Keynes, Leighton Buzzard or Aylesbury? FunkBunk, the home of Provide Design is now offering hot desks to writers, designers, freelancers, photographers, marketeers, muskateers and anyone else who needs a desk for just a few days out of the month.

In addition to full time desks being available there are 3 desks currently available for hotdesking. Prices for hotdesk spaces start from £30 per day depending on how many days you book in advance. Hot desk rental includes wireless or wired high speed broadband access, free parking and free tea and coffee.

The atmosphere here is non-intrusive, friendly and creative. With the added bonus of having somewhere to hold meetings and your own business address, hot desking at the FunkBunk is the way to go!

For more photos and information please visit www.funkbunk.com

If you would like to book a space or come over and have a look for yourself please email iwanttobe@funkbunk.com or call us on 0845 003 9559

Here at Provide Design we don’t like to think of ourselves as Party Poopers. We like to think of ourselves as Christmas Crackers – explosively good and containing lots of nice surprises (and the odd really bad joke). Today we just wanted to write about something which becomes very apparent this time of year.

We’re not being Party Poopers and there isn’t a humbug in sight, but as Christmas gets closer it seems a lot of us use it as a reason to panic and forget about what lies ahead until it is all over and we are comfortably in the New Year.

From a business perspective we have seen many Christmases where everything is rushed into the last few days. Suppliers drop the ball, clients ring expecting the impossible and there isn’t even time to think about the Christmas shopping! This is when detail is missed and our need to get the year over and done with can cloud our foresight and we forget about planning for the coming months.

This year we did it differently. We planned all our marketing activity, we booked our jobs in advance so there would be no need for Christmas Eve deliveries and we made sure that when January comes round it will be a solid continuation on from 2008. No drastic resolutions – just keep stuck to the business plan.

We also employed the assistance of marketing experts to guide us on what our next move should be. Designers and creatives we are, but as marketeers we have a lot to learn – always bring in the professionals to move this part of your business forward.

So this year we will be relaxed and comfy over Christmas knowing what is coming next. Nice feeling – works great with mulled wine.

So Merry Christmas everyone – have a great time. Unwind and if you’ve not done it already, at least mentally prepare for an awesome 2009 – it will be one!

I think it was Einstein who said; “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” , as inevitably all designers will, one way or another, draw their inspiration from a variety of sources. As graphic and web designers it’s always a good idea to keep ahead of the field and see what’s around the corner and ultimately to keep your ideas and creativity fresh.

Well, here are our favourite design related websites for 2008. We have selected these sites as they have not only inspired us, but have become the weekly read with a cup of coffee as well as useful tools and resources we call upon now and then.

Graphic Exchange

www.graphic-exchange.com

Web Designers Wall

www.webdesignerwall.com

I Love Typography

www.ilovetypography.com

Think Design Blog

www.thinkdesignblog.com

CSSRemix

www.cssremix.com

Coroflot

www.coroflot.com

Core77

www.Core77.com

ffffound

www.ffffound.com

Colour Lovers

www.colourlovers.com

The Favourite Website Awards

www.thefwa.com

Provide Design are proud to announce we are teaming up with Marketing Agency BigBird Marketing. BigBird differs from most marketing agencies by pooling the very best resources from Milton Keynes, Luton, Aylesbury, Northampton and the surrounding area and combining them into one super group.

We are surrounded by great talent in this area and BigBird have collected up the best; the cream of the crop of independent writers, designers, SEO experts, photographers, event organisers and more.

Here at Provide Design we stick to what we do best – Designing brand identities, printed materials and websites. Being part of the BigBird network has expanded our expertise enabling delivery of whole marketing solutions that can make our clients really fly.

Find out all about BigBird at www.bigbirdmarketing.co.uk (their rather special website we just recently designed and built).

Things have been crazy the past couple of months but we are now finally fully settled in our new home. We already have some room mates to share the space and the creative buzz here is certainly beginning to grow.

The local paparazzi even turned up to take a look around.

Desk spaces are still available to rent for a measly £200 per month, (depending upon requirements), in this most creative of environments and don’t forget about the free broadband, free parking and it’s über cool historical location.

Oh did I mention the option to use funkbunk as your virtual office too?

If you would like to be a FunkBunker check out www.funkbunk.com for the information you need or call us on + 44 (0) 845 003 9559.