Long, long ago, bro….

Well last year actually.  I was introduced to a friend of a friend after the topic of costumes and props was aired at a party.  I’d always enjoyed making things as a hobby and had tackled some Star Wars props for a birthday party a few years ago.  The question was asked “would you be able to make some for a movie?”.

Roll tape and roll the clock forward to now and we’ll find that movie, titled “Hunter”, as a finalist in the Star Wars Fan Film competition!

Sasha Nixon, a Star Wars loving Hamiltonian, had plans to enter the yearly Star Wars Fan Film competition.  This competition sees hundreds of fans from all over the globe entering home made movies to be judged by their peers then ultimately viewed and judged by George Lucas himself.  Sasha had the ideas and the drive but unless he had some props the actors would be pointing their fingers at each other and shouting “peow-peow!”

What followed was many trips to the hardware store, countless late nights and a whole lot of fun.  In the end I supplied a Lightsabre, blasters, rifles, a vibro-axe, a flashing thermal detonator and countless little bits-and-bobs to flesh out the costumes.  After an actor had to pull out I ended up in the movie with one line and a quick death and with my acting that was probably for the best

Many months of editing, scoring and special effects creating later the final film has been entered, judged and found to be awesome enough to warrant a place at the top.  Sasha’s movie along with a few others are to be voted on from early July (keep checking back for a link to vote) and the winner will be determined by Mr Lucas.

Good luck Sasha, and may the force be with you!

View the movie here: LINK

Jim Mora interviews Sasha on Radio NZ: LINK

Article in the Waikato Times: LINK

Article on the Waikato Uni website: LINK

Floorsafe NZ have been client of Martians for several years.  They sell and install anti-slip solutions for contrete, tiles, timber and vinyl flooring.  They also deal with stair nosings, deck treads and anti-slip tapes – pretty much anything to help stop you, your family or workmates from suffering a slipping injury.

Recently during a photoshoot with Murray, the owner, I mentioned the new Martian Online Business Platform.  Now I wasn’t trying to sell Murray on the idea, I knew he already had a site he loved, but his ears pricked up and the next thing I know I was quoting for a new website!

The super-awesomness of the MOBP strikes again!

The new Floorsafe NZ site went live this week and is already receiving great feedback from clients and even orders through its ecommerce feature.

The platform allows Murray to manage the site content, products, faq’s new articles and see all the traffic through the site with the comprehensive reporting.  All of this he can do through the easy-to-use online administration area.

Go check out the Floorsafe NZ site and while you are there order some products or get in contact with Murray (or Julie) about the benefits of their anti-slip products around the home and workplace.  Be safe – be Floorsafe!

To find out how to get your own fantastic online business website – contact me here!

WOW!  Yes, WOW!…. April is underway and the new financial year looks set to be a record breaker for Martian.  The work has been flooding in and here’s hoping it keeps on coming.

The most popular product requested is the website.  And not just any old website.  Clients are bouncing up and down at the prospect of getting their new site up and running on the Martian Online Business Platform.

The MOBP is proving so popular that I no longer seem to be talking to clients about anything else!  Clearly the package with its content management, reporting, seo controls, faqs, news, forums, blogs, ecommerce and everything else is just too fantastic to pass up.

If you’d like to know more just contact me here.

Well enough blogging from me – I need to get back to work!

I’m still not entirely sure what to call the “Martian Online Business Platform”.  That name sounds so dull and technical.  It lacks personality.  Perhaps “Gary” would be better?

Well what ever the name is (or isn’t), it’s not stopping client eating it up!

I have only started promoting the platform in the last few months and already there are:

• 2 new sites up and running (Roma Distributors, Guild & Spence Electrical)
• 2 websites about to go live
• 4 websites in production
• 5 new sites that customers are asking for

That say’s a LOT about the product and how attractive it’s features are.

Make sure you keep and eye out for all the new websites using Gary, I mean, the Martian Online Business Platform”.

If you’d like to adopt a Gary of you own, please contact Martian here.

The new Guild & Spence Electrical website is up and running.  It is a vast improvement on their old site, allowing them to maintain their own pages, FAQ’s, News Announcements and Project Lists.

On top of all that they also have in-built reporting and access to online email marketing and customer management – all through the one easy-to-use administration area.

The guys at Guild & Spence Electrical are thrilled with the site and I hope to see them updating it regularly and to see it grow as their business expands.

If you would like a website that you can self manage and use to grow your presence online, contact Martian Design here.

Cafe Melba has been expanding since they originally met the Martians to talk about their website needs.  They now have 4 Cafe’s in Auckland and one Espresso Bar and also supply their own coffee blends for sale.

Cafe Melba in Ellerslie has just one the prestigious Metro Magazine Best Cafe award for 2010 (Ellerslie Area).  Congrats guys and keep up the awesome work!!  If you are in the area you definitely need to pop in and see why they one.  If you are not in Ellerslie then check out their other cafes in Vulcan Lane, Queen St, Hardinge St and Hurstmere Rd.

Here is the Cafe Melba site for more info – there are even menus to you can make a choice before you walk in the door!

I’ve just made dome updates to the current CM site and had a chat with Shawn, (CM Big Daddy), and he is dead keen to upgrade their site to something a bit more interactive.  I smell a Martian Internet Business Systems site in the making!  (well here’s hoping).  The MIBS would be great as it would allow Shawn to sell his coffee blends (and more) online should he wish to branch out inn that direction.  Either way, look for a post about their new site in the coming months.

All this talk off good coffee has made me realise than my nasty cup of instant is stone cold and needs reviving.  When are they going to open a Cafe Melba Tauranga?  :)

Wow, you may be wondering where all the posts for November are?  Well, like quite a few “spare time” jobs, they have been relegated to the dusty corner of the Martian Lab.

Where has November gone?  Well it’s all been a blur.  I am currently working with Richard at Satechs on some awesome upgrades to the Hikoi online store.  These should be coming online over the next few weeks.  Keep an eye out for the Hikoi December promo too – you will be able to score some GST FREE and FREE FREIGHT deals when it pops up.

I’m also working on 3 new sites that will be using the Martian Internet Business System (MIBS, Will Smith not included).  This is a biggie as I’m hoping to use this platform for most of my future web work.  It is truly awesome and I’ll post links to the sites as they come online.  I’ll be moving the Martian site to the MIBS in the next few weeks and the new Martian site will include all sorts of juicy info about the system so you can see how great it is for yourselves – and then call me for a new site

New work is coming in thick and fast at the moment – it must be the end of the year drawing near that is pushing clients to cross jobs off thier lists.  Luckily for Martian it appears that some of those jobs are “website” and “marketing material”.  Brilliant.

Well back to the grindstone Martianeers, this chit chat isn’t getting the work out!

Martian has already donated to the Red Cross Cantebury Earthquake appeal and I’ve decided to contribute an additional $100 from every full website development package sold in October.

If you have been thinking about getting a website up and running then give me a call at Martian.  We can get the ball rolling and you can have the satisfaction of knowing that your decision to get your new site underway will be helping those affected by the quakes down south.

We offer attractive, easy to manage websites from as little as $1800+gst and have a wide range of option available.

Alternatively you can donate directly to the Red Cross on there website here.

For more info about websites and any print or logo design work please contact Martian today.

An awesome PrintStop sale for August.  This months you can get great saving on Rack Cards, Stationery, Business Cards and Leaflets.

Click here to view the specials and contact Martian to get your artwork designed.

Be in quick, all artwork has to be completed and sent to PrintStop by the 31st August – don’t miss out!

Well its been on the cards for a loooong time but I have finally managed to pull my finger out and whip up a new Martian website.  But of course, like all my own projects, it’s not finished.

The header is woefully plain and missing any type of graphics or illustrative goodness.  There are still pages of info and images to upload and several features waiting in the wings.

Oh for the time between client work to do projects for myself.  But if having so much work is my only complaint these days then I count myself lucky.

The site is based on the WordPress platform (no surprise there) and uses the Thesis theme for the basic structure.  Or course it looks nothing like the Thesis theme now but it’s always nice to start a site with some of the early structural wangling already done.

I am making an effort to resume blogging – a fantastic way to drive traffic to a site but yet another job that i seem to push to one side in favour of client work.

So please poke around a bit and see if there is any work you like and drop Martian a line if you yourself require any graphic design, illustration or website work – and I promise your work will be completed well before any of my own projects.