SO LONDON Publishing CMS and Website Design
www.solondon.co.uk, created by SynergiDesign, is the website counterpart of the prestigious, new
lifestyle magazine 'SO LONDON' with award winning writers and an international readership
including affluent Londoners, launched in the spring of 2007.
The contract for this high profile, technically advanced website was achieved by
Birmingham based SynergiDesign through competitive tendering against many experienced
web and CMS developers.
About SO LONDON CMS and Website Design
SO LONDON's directors include highly respected members of the media world such as
Mike Ironside,
a member of the Advertising Standards Authority since 2001. Mike Ironside has 30
years' experience in marketing, advertising and the media including senior management
responsibilities at the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday and a London-based advertising
and marketing consultancy.
The magazine's editor is Christena Appleyard, a distinguished journalist who is
well-known for the original conception of 'Weekend', the Mail's outstanding Saturday
TV and Features magazine. Ms Appleyard edited 'Weekend' for some time before leaving
for a period at The Times after which she returned to the Mail for a relaunch of
Night and Day. Christena Appleyard is also a renowned and well-travelled travel
writer.
The magazine, and of course its website, targets an international readership that
includes some of the wealthiest people in the UK, Europe, the USA and the Middle
East. Published fortnightly, the magazine and website feature articles on contemporary
issues such as:
- Property
- Art, Books and Music
- Food and Wine
- Travel
- Luxury items
- Philanthropy
- Personal opinion
Featured advertisers include:
The SO LONDON website produces a complete version of the print-based publication
online, renewing content on a weekly basis through its high-specification content
management system (CMS).
SO LONDON Publishing Website design brief
SynergiDesign have created an innovative, versatile and highly functional Content
Management System and website for SO LONDON Publishing. The website and bespoke
content management software are designed to the highest .Net 2 framework and CSS
programming standards which allow for online management of the magazine including:
- magazine issue management
- articles and article ranking
- image management
- image auto optimisation and resizing
- complex banner advert management
Software technical specification requirements analysis
After award of the development of the CMS (Content Management System) software we
carried out a full appraisal of SO LONDON's software requirement by analysis of
their practical systems, the process of how the printed magazine would operate,
advised on opportunites that could be exploited on the website and whatever would
make the CMS as close to their way of working to ensure it was as straightforward
to use as possible.
We produced a technical specification document that outlined the development process
and specified all of the functionality that would be required in detail to ensure
it met SO LONDON's needs. This formed the basis of software development and has
led to the success of the software.
We drove this process to take as much burden off the SO LONDON team as possible.
Other website services provided include:
The criteria set by the SO LONDON management team have been integrated into a site
designed to high standards of technical efficiency and attractiveness. The website
design reflects the sophistication and aspirations of SO LONDON as a catalyst for
affluent society, promoting it as a dynamic property search and selection site and
informed knowledge repository. The development of an effective content management
system (CMS) was key to this project.
The SO LONDON/SynergiDesign partnership
The business qualifications and experience
of the SynergiDesign team inspired the confidence of the SO LONDON management
team to leave the development of the website largely to them, enabling the management
team to concentrate on the print version.
The launch of the magazine and website were tied to a tight deadline and necessitated
SynergiDesign meeting rigorous targets to allow the joint launch to take place
smoothly and successfully.
Find out more below about Content Management Systems (CMS) bespoke software development