Starting this September, we're launching a monthly deal for our customers to grab themselves some awesome savings on our top-quality design and PR services. To ket things started, we're giving you the chance to save over $500 on a Startup Pack.

If you've started a new business and you're needing branding and a website, or if you're existing business could do with a refresh, our Ultimate Startup Pack is perfect.

Including a new website, logo, business card and letterhead design, and an hour of digital marketing training, this pack has everything you need to hit the ground running.

For more information, or to grab a startup pack for your business, head to rippledesign.nz/the-deal or get in touch with us.

We're excited to begin working with a new client, PACANZ (The Performing Arts Competition Association of New Zealand) on their new website. Keep an eye out on the Ripple Blog for updates about the new site, which will be up and running to help members in time for the National Young Performer Awards later this year.

West Gore School, in Southland, has a reputation for its innovative learning programmes and strong communication with parents and whānau, and these were key messsages that we wanted to communicate with their new website.

Taking the time during the website creation to talk with school Principal Linda Fraser and other key staff members ensured that we had the knowledge needed to write about their school, and to capture what makes it a stand-out choice for parents in their community.

Two in-depth photoshoots were the starting point for our work with West Gore and included shots of a variety of learning spaces, and a headshoot of each staff member. Beginning the project with a range of high-quality images meant that from the first concept the website communicated the look and feel of the school.

A range of graphic elements have been incorporated throughout the website. As well as highlighting key messages on the site, the graphics are available for future use in a range of other mediums including printed posters and booklets.

In addition to the website, West Gore School asked us to create this poster to promote their excellent new entrant programme. Because we'd already worked on the design, copy and photos for the site, putting this together was a breeze and the finished product fits in perfectly with their website and other branding.

If you've been at all engaged with the news recently, or if you've read the numerous privacy agreement updates from your social media channels that you've been receiving, then you've probably heard of the GDPR.

The GDPR refers to the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation that has recently come into force and aims to protect the rights of individuals in the EU and enhance data protection. With increased concern from consumers about privacy, the GDPR aims to re-establish trust by giving them more control over the personal information that is held about them.

Key ways that the GDPR aims to do this include giving EU citizens the "right to be forgotten", the right to ask what data is held about them, the right to make changes to any information held about them, and the right to transfer their personal information to another business or organisation. The GDPR also requires that any gathering of data  is necessary and in line with the legitimate purpose of the business or organisation that is collecting them.

Consumers must also give consent for data to be collected, and this consent must be "freely given, specific, informed and an unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes which by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to processing".

By "data" the GDPR is referring to any information that could be used to identify an individual. Obviously this would be their name, address, or ID, but may also refer to broader location data, IP addresses, and data collected by cookies.

The simple answer is yes. The GDPR aims to protect EU citizens, but because the internet operates on a global scale, New Zealand websites could be, and are, used to gather data about people all over the world.

For example, if your site uses cookies to track site traffic for analytics and/or advertising puproses and someone located in the EU visits your site, you are most likely subject to the GDPR regulations. It is important that you consider what data you collect and hold, what this data is used for, and how relevant it is for you to gather this data in order to decide how you may address any privacy requirements.

To help you get started with reviewing your data and privacy practicies, here are some steps that you can take:

• Make a list of all the places that you gather data about people online. This could include forms on your website such as contact, booking or lead generation forms, and is likely to also include use of cookies (via Google Analytics or use of a Facebook Pixel).
• Look at the information that you gather about people in these ways. Is all of the data that you gather required and meaningful for your business?
• Check that you have provided an opt-in and opt-out opportunity that requires a direct action by the consumer for each form of communication. Opting out of communications should ideally be automated and immediate. Services such as Mail Chimp make this easy and they've created this post about the tools they've put in place for the GDPR.
• Check that you clearly inform consumers about the data that you gather from them, and do you provide them with a way to contact you should they wish to view, request a change to, or ask you to delete data gathered about them​

Our Privacy Act 1993 sets out 12 somewhat-flexible Privacy Principles. Whilst there is considerable crossover between these Principles and the Articles in the GDPR, there are some aspects of the GDPR that are not covered in the Privacy Act, and therefore NZ businesses will need to be vigilant.

The International Association of Privacy Professionals (iapp) has created a helpful post that compares the Privacy Act 1993 with the requirements of the GDPR. If you want to see what matches up and what doesn't, you can check it out here.

If you have a Ripple Design & PR website and your site uses cookies (this is usually associated with Google Analytics) we have made a small change to your website that will display a notification to any visitors from the EU, and explains that they have the option to block cookies in their browser settings. This message can be altered to show up for all visitors to your site (including those outside the EU), and if you would like this to be activated, please let us know.

Regarding your privacy and data collection practices, we must stress that you are responsible for reviewing the data that your website collects, how you use this data and the information you provide about your practices to consumers. As much as we'd love to help you, we don't have the legal expertise to ensure that your site is GDPR compliant, and if you have concearns you should approac a legal professional with expertise in this area.

As always, we are very happy to work with you, in accordance with your instructions, to make any changes to your site that you may require.
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Stitch-O-Mat is a non-profit community organisation in New Brighton, Christchurch, that's providing people with an opportunity to learn to sew, and to make a difference in their community.

Focusing on a different cause each month, Stitch-O-Mat provides a meaningful, arts-based opporutnitiy for people of all ages. From  fairytale-inspired hospital gowns for the Christchurch Hospital Children's ward to eco-friendly bags and plastic-free packaging, the projects at Stitch-O-Mat are well worth checking out.

Stitch-O-Mat is based at ​Te Kura Tawhito, The Old School, in New Brighton, and anyone can come along to sew for themselves or get involved with a community project. There is no cost to be involved, but a koha/donation helps them to continue doing their great work.

We are very proud to have supported Stitch-O-Mat with a new website to help them reach a wider audience and promote their great work.

To learn more about Stitch-O-Mat, head to stitchomat.co.nz.

When it comes to Instagram, the more you post the higher your engagement.
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A study by visual marketing tool Tailwind looked at more than 100,000 Instagram profiles in 2017 and found that those posting seven times a week experienced significantly higher follower growth than even those posting six times.

It can be tricky finding free sounds for your social media videos. We talk to lots of clients that have had trouble uploading videos because of copyright restrictions that mean they aren't allowed to use the music they've chosen.

If you've had this problem, you'll be glad to know that there's a great resource within the Facebook website that includes thousands of free-to-use music and sound effect tracks.

Check it out at fb.com/sound and make sure you've got the perfect soundtrack to your next social media video.

When creating this yoga website for our client, Jodie Marlow, we combined clean minimalism with crisp geometry in a layout that flows and draws in the viewer with subtle movements.

High-quality photos taken during one of Jodie's beautiful yoga retreats have been combined with other personalised elements such as Jodie's artist signature and a colour scheme that reflects her home and yoga studio.

When creating any website, we get so much inspiration from listening to our clients talk about their businesses, what they enjoy, and from visiting them at their places. It is our attention to detail and the time taken getting to know our clients that means they end up with a completely individual website that connects with their clients.

This site isn't quite ready to go online yet, but will be up soon. We're now moving on to create a "current classes" page that Jodie can manage herself using our simple website editor, saving her time and money in keeping her site up-to-date.

This week we've been working on a brand new website for Waimumu Arts. We've also helped them with a new logo and branding, and because they're a non-profit, community group, we've donated time to make this happen. It's our way of giving back to communities and people that promote and support creativity in NZ.

If you know of any hard-working community organisations in your area that could do with some design support, put them in touch with us.