Using AI to speed up design production without losing quality
Learn how experienced designers integrate AI into design production workflows to accelerate repetitive tasks while maintaining brand consistency and quality.
As Toast’s Managing Director, I wear many hats. I am responsible for the overall commercial side of the business, its direction, marketing and how we get to where we want to be next.
Despite this, I am still very hands-on with the work and frequently get directly involved in WordPress projects for our clients.
I am an Art School graduate with various artistic slants, including an HND in illustration and a BA(Hons) in Graphic design.
I set Toast up with my co-founders in 1997, six months after graduating with my degree.
I built Toast’s first website in ’97 and have worked on every kind of project imaginable, from creating brands to designing brochures, magazines, and reports.
Around 2008, I moved our company sites to WordPress and started to use WordPress for all our client web work. I now work exclusively in bespoke WordPress development, creating a unique bare-bones theme with my developers.
Toast is now one of the top graphic design agencies in the UK. With a staff of 16 and a seven-figure turnover, we’re in the top 10% of UK design agencies.
As an experienced designer, WordPress developer, SEO expert and business owner, I think I bring a lot to the party that can help our clients grow their businesses, not just make things look nice.
I’m straight-talking and focusing on improving our clients’ bottom line using creative thinking and delivery.
Outside of work, I enjoy biking (the kind with a motor), blogging on my personal site (daveforeman.co.uk), and doing things that most people enjoy.
Ba(Hons) Graphic Design from Brunel University.
Branding, WordPress development, website planning and optimisation, search engine optimisation, AI automation, Replit, Zapier, Hosting, website technical optimisation, DNS, Website design, copywriting, strategy and growth hacking.
I set up Toast when I was 23, so my previous agency experience is nonexistent besides a few freelance gigs. In addition to running Toast, I co-run a successful SEO agency, work as a freelance illustrator, and create colouring books for kids (you can buy them on Amazon).
I also co-started the UK’s first AI-generated image library: impossibleimages.ai.
Probably my most notable experience is working in organic SEO, where I got Toast to the top of the search results for hundreds of commercial-intent keywords. I’ve also done the same for my personal and client websites.
Learn how experienced designers integrate AI into design production workflows to accelerate repetitive tasks while maintaining brand consistency and quality.
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Everyone knows that a website needs to be optimised to rank better, but where do you start?
Brand guidelines, corporate identity guidelines or a brand book?
If you are working remotely, you can still improve the effectiveness of your website – all you need is an internet connection!
Inktober has become a global event in the illustrator’s calendar since it’s small start back in 2009.
The internet is full of big-budget rebrand success stories, but is a rebrand always the best strategy?
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We always try to do at least one work experience placement a year at Toast.
Sometimes when we’re working on a brochure for instance, the client notices some white space on the page and feel they need to fill it with something.
You’ve received the first draft of your new brochure from the designer and want to make a few changes. How do you go about giving them amends?
If you’ve ever briefed a designer to create a promotional brochure for your company they may have asked you for your logo as vector-based graphics, but what is this?
Our clients come to us at Toast asking us to design their logo or brand but what is the difference?
You brief a design agency to create your company brochure for you. You’re really happy with the results, however, later down the line you need to update some of the information and make edits. How do I edit my brochure?
With so many hosting companies to choose from, how do you pick what’s best for your site?
If your site isn’t as quick as you think it should be, we can improve your site speed with managed hosting.
If you are thinking about getting a new website, read on to find out how a good website planning process will make it more effective.
If you’re a design student or currently looking for your first design job, sketchbooks can make all the difference at an interview.
Tuner Fish lug locks are an essential bit of kit used by professional drummers worldwide to keep their drums in tune.
How you plan your new website is crucial to make it work hard and win you new business.
We quite often get asked to quote for moving WordPress to a new theme.
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If you’ve been handling all of your marketing, design and web presence in-house so far, it can seem like a huge jump to be joining forces with another company.
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Based in the centre of Banbury, Oxfordshire, we work with B2B companies to improve their digital marketing.
We’re not a small agency, and that makes us perfect for larger clients that have a need for full-on graphic design support that’s quick and won’t let you down.
Making your website responsive will have a beneficial effect on how hard it works for you.
While the platform is perfectly at home as a CMS for many enterprise-level businesses, it’s also a perfect starting point for any small business site – it provides a rock-solid platform, allows you to manage your own content and can be scaled up as your online marketing grows.
Some good brands have developed by chance, but the great brands haven’t.
It’s very easy to get all excited about the prospect of a new website, but content planning comes first.
We have had a recent rush of companies coming to us and asking “how do I get more from my WordPress website?”.
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Two of the top questions we get asked by companies we meet is “How much should I spend on SEO?” and “What should I be getting from my SEO budget?”.