Portfolio
Sole Heaven

We've had a great time building Sole Heaven, although it is fair to say they set us something of a challenge in the design stakes! We always encourage our clients to come up with inspiration for designs, things they like which might not necessarily have anything to do with a website. When Dale from Soleheaven said he was bringing in some holiday snaps we wondered if this was going to be one of those tricky ones!
The snaps in questions however turned out to be pretty good, and we used them when making the skyline on the site.
The site includes some great use of video and the photography is also excellent, which really makes a huge difference.
Team Kenya

Team Kenya were the winning entrants to the freewebproject this year and their branding and website were completed over the weekend of April 4-7th by Orange Bus developers holed up in Newcastle's Niche Hotel.
The website provides a platform to promote the work the charity does in Kenya, whilst also giving some of the Kenyan locals a blogging platform. We also integrated a flickr photo album (so all photo's uploaded to the site are automatically added to the Team Kenya flickr album) and a youtube account, so videos can again be pulled in automatically.
The website has a comprehensive Content Management System and will be managed by Team Kenya with support from Orange Bus when required.
Eleven

When we were first approached by Eleven to tender for their new online store, our first instinct was to look for an angle to help promote their offering in a fairly crowded part of the web. That angle came with the creation of some Video Podcasts about vintage Levis denim, discussing things as weird and wonderful as hidden rivets, tags written with a big E (LEVIS) or little e (LeVIS) and many more fine details. The point of this was to promote the team at Eleven as genuine experts and enthusiasts whilst driving traffic to the website from the likes of YouTube and iTunes. Future plans are to translate the podcasts into Japanese as there is a huge market for vintage denim out there, whilst continuing the podcasts into other brands.
Currently the first 2 are available at the Eleven website which is still in soft launch mode, however it will be fully stocked very soon, at which point we will make the videos available via all of the other websites available to us.
Standing Stone

Using cutting edge 3D Flash, Orange Bus have created a stunning new website for Standing Stone Productions.
Standing Stone was launched early 2007 in the North East by award winning TV executive Tom Gutteridge , responsible previously for shows such as American Idol and Challenge Anneka. Standing Stone aim to be a major force in the TV industry both in the UK and internationally and Orange Bus are delighted to have been recognised as the web development company to help realise these ambitions.
The company website was always going to be something a little special, with Tom giving our design and technical team a free reign in exploring new ways to present information via a flash based website.
O'Neill British National Surf Championships

- Web Design
- CMS
O'Neill have sponsored the British National Surf Championships and held them in the North East of England for many years now. Orange Bus were commissioned to create a stand alone site for the event and an associated VW Rally held nearby.
The website was frequently updated with key event information by O'Neill staff whilst also selling event tickets and had a live scoring facility which was accessible from mobile phones ensuring people on the beach had up-to-date information on the progression of the competition.
The projects are mini sites running for a limited period of time before and after each event.
Say Something PR

Say Something are an established PR firm we have worked and partnered with on many occasions.
Providing Public Relations services to a wide range of clients both in the North East, Say Something have proved themselves over the years to be one of the best at saying the right thing at the right time! We're delighted to have been commissioned to update their website which sits on our Content Management System.
O'Neill

- Email Marketing
This is the 3rd year Orange Bus have managed the contract for sending out bulk emails to over 10,000 O'Neill subscribers, whilst also managing the database, subscriptions, anti spam compliance and so on.
Merseytravel

- Web Design
- Backend Development
Our contract with Merseytravel is now entering its second phase, with Orange Bus continuing to work on the internal Public Transport Management Systems in the North West.
Coastal Productions

Coastal Productions produce some of the most popular and critically acclaimed drama's on British TV, which are then sold throughout the world.
With an enviable back catalogue to feature, we had to be careful the site didn't become bulky and difficult to navigate whilst it also offered more than just a history of productions. So, a blogging facility was added, used to great effect when the team went to Texas to film a special episode of Wire In The Blood, along with an Inside Coastal section offering storyboards and behind the scenes footage from their productions.
Assembly and Packaging Services

It's sometimes a tall order to make a company look stylish and sexy when what they do is far from either! You might think a company specialising in packing would be such a tough task, however we're up for a challenge here at Orange Bus and as you can see, the aps website turned out great.
The Free Web Project

The free web project is a new initiative running for the first time in 2008 offering a website to a charity or not for profit organisation free of charge - the only catch being we aim to complete it in a weekend! For more details check out the Free Web project website.
The Attention Project

The Attention Project, is a brand new online project by Mike Parker looking at the current attention economy and trying to carve out its own space.
Working as a client focussed web company, we’re continually asked about SEO. In fact you can switch the term SEO for “Google”, because that’s always the focus. “How can you help us climb to the top of Google?”
Mongol Rally

Jim Mann and his friend "Dog" have decided a perfectly good way to spend some time is to buy a 1959 Morris Minor and drive it to Mongolia. We think they're mental but were happy to provide a place on the web for them to record their exploits and attract sponsors, all in aid of a good cause of course.
Litterboss and Bettakleen

A new look for an existing customer of ours, the Litterboss website has been given a more up-to-date feel and also incorporates a new business recently acquired focussing on interior cleaning. Both sites are managed through our Content Management System whilst still having their own unique URL's.
Dean Street

Dean Street Limited is a company established by experienced private equity investors in order to service a community of like-minded experienced investors and entrepreneurs, providing a wide range of services.
The Dean Street website is naturally powered by our Content Management System and contains a secure area for investors and members to access specific information.
We have 7 projects in progress
O'Neill Loyalty Card

- CMS
- Backend Development
- E-commerce
- Web Design
O'Neill are launching a loyalty system later in 2008, with Orange Bus chosen to create the website and manage the data transfer from the ePos systems within the shops to and from the site.
Got the Tee Shirt

- E-commerce
- CMS
- Web Design
Got The Tee Shirt is an innovative new social networking website with a twist - due for launch sometime in March. More information to follow very soon.
Rural Development Initiative

- Web Design
- CMS
One of our most challenging commissions this, not because of the complexity of the site itself, more the location of the client - who moved to New Zealand half way through the project!
Fortunately through the use of our project board for all communication, and sending videos for training, the site is almost complete and due to be released very soon.
Power System Engineering Services

- Web Design
- CMS
Orange Bus are delighted to have been awarded the contract to produce a new website for rapidly growing company PSES (Power System Engineering Services).
The site will showcase the businesses services whilst also acting as a repository for key client documents. Orange Bus will also be using the website design process to design and print new stationary and rebrand the company Intranet site to ensure continuity of corporate identity.
Blog
Panoramic Ski Sunday torunn Apr 30
Strangely enough, my dad wasn't too proud the first time his baby girl (me) called him "daddy". The first time I named his favourite mountain, on the other hand, stands as a milestone in the family history. Not that that's important in any way for what I'm about to show you, it's just an anecdote that sprung to mind as that same mountain is featured in my example picture.
This panoramic view of Hallingskarvet, a mountain that stretches 37 kilometers from Finse to Ustaoset, is made up by 6 shots which have been stitched and blended by the fantastic Photomerge tool in Photoshop. It only took a couple of minutes while I sat back and relaxed with a cup of tea. It is truly like magic!
We're hiring! mike Apr 21
Yes you read right. Orange Bus is continuing it's growth and are looking to add to our team.
So here's what we're looking for:
Front and backend Web Developer
Do you live for the code? If you're someone who codes 9-5 and then goes home and does something else, we're not looking for you! If on the other hand you can't bear the thought of not being with your computer, then you may be the person we're looking for.
This position is salaried not hourly. We're not clock watching, and we don't expect you to. You do however need to be prepared to work whatever it takes to hit deadlines when they arise.
We are a great company to work for, the hours are flexible, everyone is friendly and we're about to move into the coolest office in Newcastle.
The money bit: Depends on how good you are 16k - 25k (plus an Apple MacBook Pro and 25 days holiday a year).
Essentials: PHP, HTML/CSS, Javascript, Appreciation of beautiful code.
Desirables: Drupal, Python / Ruby / some other dynamic language, Flash (as3).
Other: Bonus points are awarded for any past involvement in open source projects.
Still reading? Interested? Then send your C.V. and a short email detailing why you'd like to come and work here, to stuff@orangebus.co.uk
A Tea & Coffee Obsession* torunn Apr 14
I wouldn't call myself a tea and coffee specialist yet, but getting closer as James at Ringtons invited me over to the HQ for a full day experience, which he rounded off with a lesson in how to make a perfect cappuccino. I've got to be honest, best coffee I've ever tasted. We started out with a tea tasting session (macro photography heaven for me) before a tour of the factory. I had lunch with Ringtons marketing manager, and in the afternoon I joined Raymond on his door-to-door delivery route. All in all a great day which gave me a good understanding of the company's brand values, and I'm confident we'll make a website which successfully communicates those values on all levels.
Can't wait to get started (brain has already done so)...

Walker, Newcastle: Me and the Ringtons van.
*Ringtons strapline
The Free Web Project's a Success mike Apr 9
Well after a really tough weekend a team of 3 from Orange Bus, Me (Mike), Kwok and Torunn and Julian (4) successfully completed the challenge to build a website free of charge for a charity in the space of a 72 hour weekend.
The fruits of our labour can be seen over at Team Kenya. This wasn't just any website either, it has a mix of web 2.0 features, such as blogging, commenting, rss feeds. We couldn't really call it web 2.0 unless we did a bit of mashing-up, which we did by integrating tightly with Flickr and Youtube.
How did we build it so quickly? Well first off the Team Kenya charity, came up with all their content ahead of time, they prepped 3 Kenyan's, Vincent, Lisa, and Booniface to be available on the Monday to blog 'live' from Kenya, and we used Drupal an Open Source Content Management Framework as the foundadtion.
All in all we're really happy with how the weekend went, and think we've given Team Kenya a great looking, and functional website, that they have complete control over.
Want to see the weekend as it happened? The take a look at the Ticking Clock over at The Free Web Project
Ringtons Choose Orange Bus julian Apr 4
Ringtons, who have been manufacturing and delivering tea throughout the UK and beyond for over 100 years, have chosen Orange Bus to completely overhaul their web presence ahead of several top agencies.
The contract involves all aspects of the Ringtons brand, including door to door, catering and speciality tea and coffee.
More details of the project will be announced very soon!
Ringtons Horse and Cart
FreeWebProject Venue Change julian Apr 2
Due to some unforeseen problems surrounding temporary broadband in the Turnbull Building we've had to switch venues at the last minute. Many thanks to Niche Hotels for providing us with a conference room in their Grey Street Hotel in central Newcastle. The project will now launch on Friday 4th April at 6pm and run to Monday 7th April at 6pm, at which point we will launch the completed website!
The FreeWebProject Winner is... julian Mar 13
We are delighted to announce Team Kenya as the winners of this years Free Web project. Team Kenya support young people in one of the most remote poverty stricken parts of Kenya with a 77% rate of absolute poverty providing them with computers, access to the internet via VSAT technology and digital cameras. Further information will appear on the Free Web Project website over the coming days and weeks, leading up to the event itself on the weekend of the 4th of April.

One more for the Orange Bus mike Feb 27
We're very excited to welcome the newest addition to the Orange Bus team, Kwok Hou So. Kwok, a resident Geordie, joins Orange Bus as a web developer, after completing an MRes in Bioinformatics at the University of Newcastle.
So please joins us in welcoming Kwok Hou So to Orange Bus!
Get Cool with Kuler torunn Feb 26
Adobe Labs offers a great tool for us graphic designers. Kuler provides a quick and easy way to develop colour schemes. I've uploaded the Orange Bus scheme to Kuler, it's called (surprise, surprise) "Orange Bus".

Kuler: The Create Window
We do video too... julian Feb 15
We've had a great opportunity to pitch an idea we had to Budweiser recently, so we thought rather than sending a few slides down by email, we'd team up with our friends at 21st Century Media and do a short film. Once completed and edited the film was then encoded into flash and placed on the side of a 3D cube, which span each time a new slide was presented to the viewer. This was then hosted on the web for anyone with the appropriate username and password to view.
All in all a great way to get our passion and ideas across to a potential client, whilst also demonstrating some of our skills, without having the opportunity to meet them!

21st Century Media Studios: Orange Bus directors Julian and Mike
This is Orange Bus
Orange Bus is an innovative web design and digital strategy company based in Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne providing services to clients throughout the UK.
Our web design and development clients include well known names, such as O'Neill and Coastal Productions, providing them with a reliable, creative and cost effective service.
All of our web projects are driven by our intuitive and easy to use web Content Management System and we specialise in using video, podcasts and other media on the web.
To learn more about our Clever Web Stuff, why not have a browse through our website, call us on the number below or fill in the contact form and someone will get straight back to you.
Contact Orange Bus
Orange Bus Ltd
105 St Georges Terrace, Jesmond
Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 2DN
Tel: 0845 3899372





