About
We think it’s no coincidence that more than one of our clients refer to us as their “secret weapon”. For nearly 20 years we have been working with organisations large and small, across the UK and local to us here in the south west, without the razzmatazz or the costs and trappings of a larger agency, but with energy and unswerving dedication, a wealth of knowledge and hands-on experience. We go the extra mile for our clients – you – getting to know your business and building a relationship which allows you to tap directly into the creative process as and when you need. So much so, many clients have come to treat us as an extension of their marketing team.
Designer and photographer Geoff Belben, one of the two original partners when Belben Wells was founded in 1999, remains at the helm as creative and first point of contact for the agency. With more than 25 years in the industry, as creative director, production manager and print buyer, there are few hats that Geoff has not worn. Projects are handled in-house, though when required we draw on a talented array of specialists in every field from copywriting to illustration, web coding to image sourcing. We don’t take on more projects than we can handle – deadlines are never missed – and we make it our mission to deliver value as well as creativity for every brief.
brand creation and development
Deceptively simple, the best brands lodge in the memory effortlessly, without fanfare or fuss. As such they can appear relatively easy to create, but with so many audiences to appeal to – customers, management and staff, shareholders and all the other interested parties – the process is rarely straightforward. We understand that getting it right means starting with the basics: listening, exploring, refining, to create and hone an idea and a personality that everyone will get behind. Get it right, and everything else will fall into place.
design for print, display and media
We cut our teeth in the world of ink on paper: brochures, advertising, direct mail and packaging, and expertise in these remains a core strength. What we create today might also be destined for retail or workspace interiors, exhibitions or touchscreen, but whatever the medium the principles and purpose of design remain constant: to communicate your message effectively and memorably with type, with images, with colour and scale, directly to the audience you want to reach.
photography – studio and location
Photography is an integral part of our creative toolkit.
As designer, Geoff knows what he wants an image to achieve, how it will crop and where it will fit within an overall design; behind the camera he can paint with light, angles, focus and composition. So whether shooting on location, or in our well equipped studio, these dual skills enrich, integrate and streamline the overall creative process.
But we don't just create photos for our own designs – often clients will have layouts in place, or require images for use across multiple projects, and here our design sensibility and ability to engage with the brief add value to the images we produce.
digital editing and retouching
No longer the ‘smoke and mirrors’ mystery it once was, digital post-production is nonetheless a critical stage in the preparation of imagery for print or other media – for colour adjustment, modification to improve the legibility of text, or for removal of backgrounds and blemishes. We work on our photos or yours, to extract the most out of every pixel in flawless, high resolution images.
print management
Our relationship with printers, display makers and exhibition manufacturers across the country, in many cases with years of collaboration and developing solutions together, allows us to source and manage the production of projects from the largest catalogue to the simplest business card, with the highest quality of print, excellent service and competitive pricing.
