bd2 has designed and developed a new website for Wigan Council’s ‘Way to Work’ initiative. The site is designed to make it easier for local people and businesses to access work, training, education or volunteering opportunities, and business support. These services are delivered by a number of different agencies, schemes and providers across the Borough and the site aims to bring all this information together in one place and make it easier to access. To help users find their way through the wealth of information available, we have developed a ‘pathway’ device that leads people to relevant advice and information through a quick series of simple questions that relate to their circumstance or query. Behind this sits a large directory housing information from all the service providers and their contact details and on support such as grants or training which can also be accessed directly. Users can register to the site to store information and retrieve it at a later date.
The site incorporates a full content management system which allows the Council to update the directory and other sections such as news and events. Additionally we have developed an extranet which is accessed by the Council and its partners to share information and files remotely, helping with internal communications and collaboration which has often proven difficult with so many agencies in different locations. The extranet incorporates an internal diary, internal contacts database and internal news and events. Further phases are planned to enhance the site’s functionality and content.
www.way-to-work.co.uk
Pentagram’s new logo for the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art [SECCA] in North Carolina uses multimedia to provide a literally moving experience. The logo is animated with the initials of the organisation - an art gallery with a constantly changing collection – floating laterally and sometimes overlapping before moving in opposite directions. Conceptually it’s a neat solution which does beg the question: is multimedia changing branding?
The idea of non-static logos isn’t new, TV identities such as MTV and Nickelodeon have used motion for a ages, but the acceptance that the most important presentation of a brand will be on screen, challenges the designer’s priorities. That’s not to say printed graphics are redundant and in this instance the brand works on printed items such as stationery with randomly captured versions of the logo.
Branding is inevitably affected by the constantly evolving digital world and Companies naturally want to appear forward-thinking by taking advantage of new technologies and new techniques so animated graphics are an innovative way to achieve it. However, it does throw up some technical issues, for example Pentagram’s SECCA logo uses Flash technology which looks great on the website, but Flash isn’t supported on ipads or ipods proving that you do need to consider all the angles.
http://pentagram.com/en/new/2010/08/new-work-southeastern-center-f.php
According to new research by UK Online Measurement company (UKOM), UK web users are spending 65% more time online than they did three years ago with the average surfer spending nearly a day 
- over 22 hours on the net – each month. Nearly a quarter of the average users’ time online is spent on social network sites such as Facebook, or blogs but communication [email] and playing games are also popular activities. Time online breaks down as 22.7% on Social networks and blogs, 7.2% on email, 6.9% on games, Instant Messaging is 4.9%, Classified/Auctions 4.7%, Portals 4%, Search 4%, Software info/products 3.4%, News is 2.8% and finally adult content is 2.7%. Which shows that people now spend more time on news sites than they do on adult content belying the digital myth that everyone online visits adult sites, that said, it is still in the top 10. The rise of social networking is due primarily to its organic nature which just mushrooms and mushrooms as more and more people plug more and more of their lives into it.
Internet phenomenon Twitter has this weekend acquired Tweetie, a Twitter client for the iPhone and Mac platforms. Tweetie is one of the best mobile Twitter apps and will now be offered for free, instead of the £1.79 it currently costs in the App Store. Which doesn’t matter that much at the moment – although Tweetie for free isn’t a bad thing – but with their own mobile client, Twitter would be able to provide whatever updates or features they want – a URL shortener and photo uploader would logically be next. And if Twitter does acquire all the necessary components and offer them as a package, they’ll have total control of the medium.
It’s virtually 10 years [18th May 2000] since Boo.com – one of the most high profile dotcom era businesses – went bust. Online clothing retailer Boo.com famously burnt £125 million in less than 18 months at the height of the dotcom bubble, when seemingly any business called something ‘dotcom’ had extra noughts added onto it’s valuation. There were lots of reasons why boo.com was always going to end in tears, but this, not to mention countless other spectacular dotcom disasters, led many seasoned commentators to write-off the potential of selling clothes online ['surely you need to try it on, to touch the fabric, to feel the quality?'] and even to question the potential of e-commerce itself. Since the bursting of the dotcom bubble, which was an inevitable and much needed dose of reality, we’ve seen the sustainable growth of online sales underpinned by the spread of broadband and increasing acceptance of e-commerce across virtually every sector, not least fashion. The sale of Net-a-Porter [which sells high-fashion designer clothes and accessories online] at the end of last week for £350 Million is evidence, if any were needed, that the wheel has turned full circle. Natalie Massenet founded the business 10 years ago, pretty much as Boo.com went and despite the detractors: ‘people won’t buy a £5000 dress online’. But she has proven the value of e-commerce if you’ve got a strong business idea, excellent product, g
ood marketing and a well-built website.
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