About us
Richard Quick Design is a Cornwall-based web design company that focuses on creating websites that help our clients make money. Our work is extremely high-quality, both in the design and technology we use. We know our clients are in business to make money, so we produce websites which help them to achieve this goal. We’re 100% focussed on our clients' ROI.
What makes Richard Quick Design different?
Most web design companies come from one of two angles.
Either they’re “geeks” or “creatives”.
Geeks are very clever. They know all the latest programming languages and tend to create websites which are technically very good … but they don’t usually understand (or even care) how to produce a website that makes money for their client. Geeks are hard for business people to talk to, as they use lots of technical jargon, often lack social skills and they don’t really understand business or what a business person wants from their website.
Creatives, on the other hand, want to produce attractive sites which look great on their portfolio … but that’s all they care about. Creatives tend to produce beautiful websites which make little or no money. Creatives can also be awkward to work with, as they’ve got big egos and they always think they’re right.
At Richard Quick Design, we aren’t “geeks” and we’re not “creatives”. We’re business people. We know our clients would rather have an ugly website that made thousands of pounds than an attractive one the made nothing. Not that our websites are ugly, of course! We don’t talk “geek” and we don’t throw hissy-fits. We talk the language you talk, the language of business. We want the same from your website as you do – we want it to make you money.
Of course, we’re also highly-talented and experienced web designers, but we see web design as a means to an end (making money for your business) rather than an end in itself.
Building a relationship
Successful websites aren’t built overnight, they evolve over a period of months and years. So, it’s important that as a business you have a web design company you can work with over a period of time.
At Richard Quick Design, we see ourselves like your accountant or your lawyer. We’re a trusted partner you can turn to for advice, not somebody who takes your money, does your site, and runs.
By working with our clients over a period of months and years, we can gradually make improvements to your website, each time helping you to sell more products or get more qualified leads.
We want to be “your web designer” – just like “your bank manager”, “your accountant” or “your lawyer”.
What makes a good website?
A good website makes you money. It’s that simple. If done well, your website will be the best salesman you’ve ever had. If done badly, it’ll cost you thousands of pounds and you won’t see a penny in return.
We’re experts at creating websites which make money for our clients.
The team
We're a small, talented team of designers and developers based in Falmouth, Cornwall.
Between us, we’ve worked on projects ranging in size from single page websites, to multi-million dollar website redesigns. There’s very little we haven’t done before and nothing we can’t cope with.
The core members of the team are:
Frederick Habbe
Managing Director
Frederick is a fully-qualified Google AdWords Professional. Before he began working on the Internet, he worked in sales and management for companies in Germany, Sweden and Australia, including Siemens and ran a successful retail business for several years.
Richard Quick
Creative Director
Richard’s past clients include Nestle, Which?, Pot Noodle and the Government of the British Virgin Islands. He has been quoted as an expert in .NET magazine, spoken at a number of conferences and wrote a best-selling book on web design.
Thomas Germann
Software Consultant
Thomas’ past clients include FC Bayern Munich, BMW and VolksWagen.
Originally from Germany, Thomas moved to Cornwall from Malta.
Dan Oliver
Web Developer
Dan is an HTML and CSS specialist. We think he’s great at what he does and other people seem to agree … his personal portfolio was recently featured in Web Designer magazine.
Andy Perron
Web Developer
Andy's the archetypal “geek”. He loves all things technical and is a wizzard with most programming languages.
More about Richard Quick
Richard has been a designer for over 10 years and wrote the best-selling book Web Design in easy steps. He has worked for a wide range of clients, ranging from governments and multinationals to small businesses, schools and charities.
Some of the people he's worked for over the years, either as a freelancer or as part of an agency, include: Nestle, Which? Magazines, Argos, the BBC, the Government of the British Virgin Islands, Fidelity Investments and Pot Noodle.
He was also one of the experts quoted in .NET Magazine's recent cover article on Web Accessibility.
He studied Journalism and has written for a number of publications including The Times.
Company Skillset
Design:
- Photoshop
- Illustrator
- Quark
- Indesign
- Flash
- Final Cut Pro
- Adobe Premiere
- After Effects
- Microsoft Office
- Microsoft Windows XP
- Mac OS 9 / OS X
Development:
- xhtml
- css
- accessibility
- javascript
- php
- mysql
- actionscript
- expression engine
- magento
- shopify
- code igniter
- zend
Services
We specialize in:
Web Design
Creating websites. From small online brochures to larger content managed and ecommerce websites.
Graphic Design
Branding, Brochures, Exhibitions, Books, Packaging, Signage and any other form of graphic design.
Search Engines
Helping your website do well in Google. Organic search engine optimization as well as Google Adwords / Pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
Other services
As a full-service agency, we are also able to offer a variety of services outside our specialisms. These include:
- Email marketing
- Press Releases
- Photography
- Video
- Motion graphics
- Custom software
- Remote data backup
- Bespoke middleware (getting data from one program into another)
Richard's book
Richard had his first book on web design, Web Design in easy steps, published in 2007.
He said, "It's obviously very exciting to have been given the opportunity to write a flagship title like this, especially as I've also redesigned the whole series of books as well as the In Easy Steps website.
"Web Design in easy steps is actually quite different to any other web design book on the market right now.
Most other books on web design seem to me to fall into one of two categories. The majority teach you how to build a website, either using specific technology (HTML, CSS) or a specific program (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash). Books with titles like Create a Website in 4 and a half seconds and Building sites with Dreamweaver for the mentally unstable fall into this first category.
"There's also a smaller market for books on the visual design of websites aimed at professional designers. These books are usually published by companies that web designers will already recognize like Taschen, Rockport and New Riders.
"What I've tried to do with Web Design in easy steps is something quite different to either type of book. My book does not teach you how to code HTML or use Photoshop. But neither is it aimed at experienced designers.
"Instead, the book tries to teach novice web designers the concepts and principles they'll need to create an attractive and successful website. I cover design concepts like grids, typography and colour as well more practical skills such as writing for the web, search engines and information architecture.
"My hope is that if you read my book you'll be able to design a more attractive, more successful website than if you hadn't."
The book is published by Computer Step in the UK and Barnes & Noble in the US.
Web Design in easy steps is available to buy online from Amazon.co.uk and is currently one of Waterstones' best-selling books on web design.