News & Announcements

Twitter Feed

For all the latest news and happenings from Happy Monsters' Studios, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

• I support #wikipediablackout! Show your support here http://t.co/mFt8VqIm
• We're creating a poster today, for the White Ribbon Campaign (http://t.co/MgSXWdYr), a really great charity organisation.
• Happy New Year - Everyone at Happy Monsters’ Studios, would like to wish you a all a very Happy New Year. We... http://t.co/f9HVFRHs

Happy Monsters' Network:November 11th 2011

To consolidate our various activities and to take a more active role in the social side of the web, we have put together a network site, which gives people an overview of the various activities Happy Monsters are engaged in.

Each featured business includes an overview text along with a twitter feed, so you can keep a track of our various activities... if you're into that sort of thing. :)

You can visit the site at: http://www.happymonsters.net

Happy Monsters 4.0:November 16th 2011

We're thrilled to announce that the latest version of happymonsters.com is now online. This is the third edition of the Happy Monsters website, the first going online in October of 2003, with the second replacing it in June '05. In that time web technologies have moved on considerably, and for the past two years we've been playing around with fresh tricks and ideas to offer our visitors a stand out web experience.

Old Site Examples

The first version of our website needed quite some work. It was made up entirely of images (slices), and though we still have a fondness for the design (particularly the front page), it was a typical first attempt for a graphic design firm with little knowledge of web design.

The second version of our site was where we really found our feet. Going back to the drawing board and learning to hand code websites to the recognised standard, we learnt how to successfully combine our graphic and web design skills, to create a website which looked as if it was up to the job of representing a multi skilled design firm.

The current version of the site went through several heavy re-designs, with two of the designs getting close to completion, of which the closest is featured above. As we designed the site, we got cold feet over it's floating appearance. The core idea of presenting all the information in an easy to glance shell is sound, but from a visual stand point, we both felt the design was missing something.

Plans To Expand:January 11th 2011

During the course of 2009 we have been putting plans together to expand and re-organise our services, with plans for a complete relaunch during the winter of 2011. The changes will involve a greater focus on our web design and illustration services, a completely new website and a fresh promotional campaign.

See you on the other side. :)

New Offices In Gent:October 1st 2009

Happy Monsters' Studios finally has a new home. Situated on the Hundelgemsesteenweg just outside of Gent, our new building contains a professional conference area, and is furnished with all the latest design tools... and the hardest working cappuccino machine in Belgium!

New Offices

A shot of our web and graphic design computer. At present we're using a top end duel core iMac, running the latest release of Apple's OS X. Thanks to Wine, we can also run a multitude of Windows applications, including web browsers, to test the sites we design as we build them. Using Boot Camp, we can also boot the Mac into Windows, for a thorough round of web testing.

Our other computer is reserved for illustration, and is hooked up to a Wacom pad tied into Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. We also use Epson scanners and Canon Printers.

A quick shot of our drawing table, and an array of Ecoline paints which we often use to create our illustrations.

New Partnership:July 25th 2009

To keep up with our expanding client list, we have decided to work with respected UK design studio - One Man & His Laptop, who will assist us with our growing amount of web design work. Run by David Perkins, One Man & His Laptop shares many of the same goals and design philosophies as ourselves, and we look forward to a long and fruitful working relationship with them.

www.onemanandhislaptop.com

Regency Contract:April 22nd 2008

Happy Monsters' Studios is thrilled to announce that we have been hired by upcoming book publisher, Regency Book Publishers, to work on a series of children's' books, which will be written by 4 year-old Samantha Jane Johnson.

We will be providing all illustration, layout and web design work for the publisher, and the first book: "I AM 4" will be released for summer 2008.