It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...and we plan to welcome the New Year with our very own makeover!

New year, new look...
You may already have noticed the ID bubbles creeping onto our email signatures and thanks to our Graphic Designer, Sarah, they've been popping up all over the walls of ID HQ as well!

Our brand new (and beautiful!) website has been up and running for a few weeks now, but if you haven't had chance to look over it properly, then please take a look around and see what we've been up to recently. With updated print and online portfolio sections, it might surprise you just how much we can offer you!

Plans for the future...
Our website is under constant redevelopment. Plans for the future include a glossary that shatters the wall of technical terms from our industry, plus a mailing list registration that will keep you up to date with all our news and projects.

If you are looking to enhance your company profile for the New Year, drop us an email to find out how we can help.

And finally...
Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without presents, so we've put together our very own branded desktop wallpaper calendars - with all the bubbles you will ever need! Not only will they let you keep a track of how near the weekend is, they brighten up your desktop as well.
We'd like to wish all our clients and suppliers a very Merry ID Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

ID's triumph over the mighty goliaths

Following on from the recent successes in the W3 Awards, ID have been awarded a silver award for the NST Group website in the 2008 Davey Awards.

We recently entered the NST Group website rebrand and are proud to announce that we came away with a Silver award in the travel websites category!

What are the Davey Awards?
The Davey Awards is an international creative award, focused exclusively on honouring outstanding creative work from the best small firms worldwide.

The annual International Davey Awards honor the achievements of the 'Creative Davids' who derive their strength from big ideas, rather than stratospheric budgets. 'David' references the David who defeated the giant Goliath with a big idea and a little rock - effectively paying homage to the sort of thing small firms do each year.

The Davey Awards may be for smaller organisations, but the judges have big reputations. The Davey is sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, an invitation-only body consisting of top-tier professionals from a "Who's Who" of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms. IAVA members include executives from organizations such as Condè Nast, Disney, Estee Lauder, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Victoria's Secret, Yahoo! and many more.

Winning criteria
Entries are judged to evaluate distinction in creative work.

In determining Silver winners, entries are judged on their merits based on a standard of excellence as determined by the IAVA, plus considering the category entered. Entries are scored on a ten point scale by the judges. Generally, Silver Winners receive a score of 7.0 to 8.9.

The NST Group site is visually appealling with strong links to both brand - NST Travel Group - and audience. Combining functionality with visual design, the site uses destination listings, page features and strong emotive imagery to engage the audience. Behind the scenes, our Content Management System ensures that the site is easy to use and control from NST's point of view.

Going for gold

Following in the footsteps of Team GB, Team ID came away with two Golds in this year's W3 Awards...

We recently entered the Yorkshire Water Recreation site into the 2008 W3 Awards and are proud to announce that we came away with not one, but TWO gold awards!

What are the W3 Awards?
Approved by the International Academy of Visual Arts, the W3 Awards is the first major web competition to be accessible to everyone - from the biggest development companies to the smallest firms.

Upholding a high standard of excellence, the winning entries are selected by the IAVA from a multitude of international entries. Less than 10% of entries are selected as gold winners and we were one of twelve UK based companies to receive a gold award. Each category could have multiple winners, or no winners at all.

Winning criteria
The criteria for website based entries included creativity, usability, navigation, functionality, visual design and ease of use. We won in the web-based PR and Branding categories, which takes into account all of the above, as well as the development of the marketing brand and connection of the organisation to its intended audience.

The Yorkshire Water Recreation site is visually appealling with strong links to both brand - Yorkshire Water - and audience. Combining functionality with visual design, the site uses Googlemaps, video and social networking links to engage the audience. Behind the scenes, our Content Management System ensures that the site is easy to use and control from Yorkshire Water's point of view.

A facelift for University and College travel

As a leading provider of studytours at unbeatable prices, NST StudyLink required a website that could integrate well with the values of the existing offline tools.

Using the ID Content Management System, the redevelopment included a new design that tied in with the colourful, aspirational and lively brochureware, whilst providing Tour Group Leaders with a range of contact options to initiate sales. Through using the ID CMS, StudyLink no longer need to rely upon only their hard copy brochures to communicate their offer led messages. The site offers extensive flexibility, including easy updates, clear navigation and a wealth of country, subject and tour information.

Interactivity and a wealth of information on the homepage was very important to StudyLink and so the use of a tabulated area on the homepage allowed them to present 4 times as much information that would be possible on a traditional static homepage.

Ireland based NST site receives a new look

As part of the continuing development of their online presence, NST Ltd, has been the latest part of the NST family to receive the ID treatment!

Based in Dublin, NST Ltd specialise in bespoke tours for groups to the UK, Europe and Worldwide. All types of groups are catered for, including Schools, Universities, Clubs, Societies and Organisations.

Following on from the redevelopment of the UK's NST Travel Group back in January this year, a dedicated team at ID have been working closely with NST Ltd's Communications team to redevelop their site.

NST's brief
The website redevelopment was to provide NST Ltd with the tools and back-end technology to allow customers access to far more detailed and informative content.

As the website had not been redeveloped for several years, NST Ltd also wanted to bring the website up-to-date with a fresh new feel, much more in keeping with their current branding.

New features
ID's Content Managment System allows NST Ltd to keep their content up-to-date and as relevent to their target market as possible.

Fresh, clean new layouts allow NST to provide information in a more logical and concise way.

Kim Purcell, Product Development & Marketing Coordinator of NST Ltd, summarised the finished product, "I'm very happy with how the site has turned out and really impressed with ID's professionalism & the work they have done".

We would tell you...

...but we can't! For the past few months, we've been working on several bespoke projects at ID headquarters, but they're so top secret that we've been asked not to tell the world about them.
In true James Bond type styley, several of our clients ask us to respect the fact that they don't want to disclose the details of the work they ask us to produce. And that's fine with us!

What can we tell you?
Calling on our agent's talents, we have developed a number of bespoke internal applications, including an online briefing tool for employees and a system designed to formally identify and award employee's ideas for improving business. Ooh, the mystery!

We've also just finished work on a powerful intranet for a leading insurance company and are now working on another top secret mission for one of the UK's biggest companies.

Non-sensitive projects
Rest assured it's not all confidential files and secret meetings here, we're also working on lots of new projects that we'll soon be able to shout from the rooftops about!

Watch this space for updates over the next few weeks.

New faces...

With new business coming in all the time, as well as continuing work with current clients, the time is right to start expanding the ID team...

As we're a small team, personality is just as crucial as the qualifications you hold. We have a dynamic that works well, so our goal is to find new staff who contribute to that set-up and really add something to the team.

Introducing...
Rob Carlow has joined us a web developer. A recent graduate, Rob has spent a couple of years working as a software developer before joining us. Under the guidance of James, our Web Development Manager, Rob will become an integral part of the team responsible for maintaining and supporting our current web portfolio.

Hannah Dornford-May is our new Marketing Executive. Working with the project management team on internal and external projects, she is also responsible for the management of the ID website.

Project Manager, Rebecca, is pleased with the new additions, "Both Rob and Hannah have settled in really quickly. They've each had a steep learning curve, but have taken it in their stride and made real contributions to our work. It already feels like they're part of the furniture!"

Want to know more?
Head on over to our meet the team page where you can get the lowdown on all the ID people - old and new!

It's twin girls!

Hannah Oddy, our Project Co-ordinator, has become a Mum (to two beautiful kittens)...

Once upon a time...
Izzy and Bella (then called Jill and Purdy) didn't have the best start in life. Born as part of a small semi-feral colony living in the garden of a Lytham hotel, it looked likely that they wouldn't have had the chance to become the fun-loving cats they are today.

Luckily, the hotel's owner took pity on Izzy and Bella, their mother and two other littermates, by feeding them and gave them a place to stay. When the kittens were two weeks old, the hotel owner grew concerned about their future and took them to Easterleigh Animal Sanctuary in St Annes.

Once at Easterleigh the kittens were well looked after. It wasn't long before Hannah and her partner, Adam, came for a visit and fell in love with two pairs of beautiful blue eyes! As the kittens were only 4 weeks old, Hannah and Adam had to wait an agonising 3 weeks before they could come home.

"It was like waiting for Christmas to arrive!! I've always wanted cats of my own, but because my Dad was allergic I wasn't allowed any. Since buying my own house in January I've been planning for them, we only planned in adopt one kitten, but on seeing these two we fell in love and couldn't choose!!"

When brought home, the newly named Izzy and Bella were incredibly shy, but it didn't take long before they were exploring every hidey hole in the house... and trying to climb the curtains when nobody was looking!!

...and they lived happily ever after
Izzy and Bella are now 5 months old and have come a long way since they first arrived. Both are now no longer shy kittens, and love nothing better than to roll around on your lap for some belly tickles. They are also particularly fond of tucking into a plate of tuna and taking the odd nibble of unsuspecting toes!!!

Can you help?
Easterleigh Animal Sanctuary is run by a small group of volunteers relying on donations and support from the public. If you're looking to adopt a pet, or think you could help out in some other way, please visit their website for further details.

Craig's big day

Some couples prefer the traditional church, some like to keep it simple with a registry office, whilst others go a little crazy and leap off a bridge tied to a bungee rope.

Not so for Craig, our IT Support Manager. Whilst the rest of us were busy working on March 10th 2008, Craig and Amy were half way around the world in the Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. Hosted by the Iberostar Costa Dorada hotel, the wedding was signed and sealed by one of the town judges. Craig and Amy exchanged vows yards away from the sea and sand, in the company of friends and family. Craig summed it up well... 'It was the best day of our lives. We wanted to have a wedding that was out of this world and had been planning this for months. When the day finally came, everything fell into place and it'll stay with us forever'.

The day was captured by the hotel film crew, which meant Craig and Amy could share the day with the ID crew on their return... with wedding cake! For friends and family that couldn't make it to the Domincan Republic, the couple held a reception party in the UK on March 22nd 2008. And best of all, Amy got to wear her wedding dress a second time!