ID help launch a future thinking initiative for Dstl and BAE Systems

Autonomous Systems Underpinning Research (ASUR) is a Dstl programme which aims to develop an underpinning science and technology base to facilitate the research, development, production, deployment and operational use of intelligent unmanned systems by UK Armed Forces.

ID, the NorthWest's first digital agency, was the natural choice for BAE Systems for a the delivery of a business agreement platform for the initiative which streamlines the proposal submission process and helps promote the programme.

Delivered quickly and efficiently, on budget and worry-free for the client with a branding, design, build, support and hosting agreement for the life of ASUR it demonstrates how we take hassle away from busy clients who have much more to deliver. We worked closely with the client to firstly develop the brand, a holding page was then quickly put in place to get the brand out there while we worked on the website and required functionality. Working with an agency should be a pleasure - rather than a hassle.

The site is responsive to work well on mobile devices and it captures the proposal business agreements of companies wishing to take part in the programme.

It's a consortium lead project involving BAE Systems, MBDA, QinetiQ, Roke, Rolls-Royce, Selex ES and Thales all working together to satisfy the Dstl requirement to develop capabilities within the supplier base in the area of intelligent systems.

Visit the site on http://www.asur-programme.co.uk.

For more information on ID visit http://www.interactivedimension.com or call us on +44 1772 632800

Milano Pro Sport

Milano Pro Sport may not be familiar to you unless you are more than partial to a few teddy bear rolls. But Milano is one of the world’s leading companies supplying gymnastics clothes and garments, since 1991, when you buy a leotard from Milano you don’t get just get a leotard. You get a piece of sporting history hand-made with care and excellence in their factory in the UK. Clothing Olympic gymnasts such as Beth Tweddle and Lewis Smith and Britain’s Got Talent winners, Spellbound. Milano also have a cheerleading range and recently have branched out into a fun and vibrant cycling shirt range.

The huge popularity of Milano makes it one of the busiest websites Interactive Dimension look after. As long-standing clients of ID, the North West's first digital agency, they have given us the task of building, maintaining and updating their websites for the past 10 years. And excitingly this year, Milano asked us to create their brand new website for them. The third we have delivered for them.

The new website is clean, minimalist and user friendly. Clearing the way for Milano’s vibrant ranges to do the talking. Furthermore users will now be able to access Milano's ranges for their tablets or smart phones with much more ease. As the website now adapts to a variety of different platforms with it's responsive build.

Multiple social sharing platforms are also now utilised in Milano’s website so now customer can share their favourite styles and designs with friends on social media sites.

In the first week of launch the new site turned over more than half the amount the previous site had in the first two months of the financial year.

Go on have a browse through Milano Pro Sport's range and release your inner gymnast!

Feelgood Factory & ID... the perfect partners

Last week Liverpool PCT came to see us, and by the end of the week we'd delivered our first job for their Feelgood Factory initiative. A massive project charged with revitalising the community and NHS infrastructure by improving organisation efficiencies whilst improving general health levels in the area.

The first of many (hopefully!) projects was a stand presence which was needed for this week, we took the brief, designed and produced the end result in a matter of a few days.

The next steps will be to look at ID's other services, including website design, social media strategy and search expertise to ensure messages get across and the overall campaign is digitally supported and in some cases digitally lead.

As a full service agency with a strong digital pedigree ID are the perfect partner for the NHS, one port of call for support across any channel.

Being the first digital agency in the NorthWest helps a lot, the experience gained over that time means our clients benefit from a vast amount of best practice know-how without having to engage a bulky city centre agency with overheads to match. And if they need print or exhibition services, no need to look elsewhere.

Latest Projeqt for Staniforth

Yesterday we launched Staniforth's new website. An elegantly simple but effective site based on TBWA's Projeqt product.

It was a challenge to take the storytelling platfrom and create user journeys and website'esq content within it, but the end result is an original site which embraces an unusual approach yet feels easy to use and tells the Staniforth story well.

It's the second in a three site launch Interactive Dimension, Preston's digital agency, are involved in for Staniforth and we're looking forward to growing our strategic relationship in teh coming months.

Have a look at the site and you'll quickly grasp how to use the platform, and you can sign up for a beta account too on www.projeqt.com.

Today we will be launching their new company blog, keep your eyes peeled for that one.

PR Media Blog goes live... part 1 of 3!

We're working on a series of projects for Staniforth, part of the TBWA group of companies. Staniforth are one of the leading PR companies in the UK and their PR Media Blog site runs a commentary on the PR and Media industry as it happens. It's a really popular site and the task for us was to bring it up to date whilst maintaining it's excellent positioning in Google and other SEO factors.

The next two launches we'll be doing are Staniforth's own web presence and their blog which will be covering different subject matter than the PR Media Blog of course.

The partnership between Preston's digital agency Interactive Dimension and Staniforth PR has been announced on How-Do and other online media blogs and signals a new set of opportunities for both companies.

Keep an eye out for the follow releases :-)

Very nice site for Very Nice Things!

ID have just launched a new eCommerce site for Very Nice Things, an online retailer for all those lovely finishing touches on your home.

We've kept it really clean and simple, making it all about the products.

Very Nice Things is the brainchild of Emma Blackman and something she's been thinking about launching for some time.

We'd worked with Emma before and she knew working with ID the Preston based digital agency, she'd get excellent value for money and an eCommerce platform she can control herself easily and quickly to post new products as and when she gets them in stock.

The system has PayPal integration, top sellers, guest checkout, related products and all the features you'd expect from an online store.

We wish Very Nice Things great success and look forward to developing the site in the future with more new features as they are required.

Rewarding work? We like that!

We've just launched a new site http://www.the-last-time.co.uk in partnership with the lovely guys at The Hub in Manchester.

It's a blog based site with all the help you might need if you are trying to give up smoking in the Greenwich area. Along with the site we're running a highly targeted Facebook campaign also to drive visitors to the site.

There's something to be said for work which actually helps real people in real ways. We're very proud to do this type of work. Check it out, and if you're trying to give up the evil weed and you're based down south, hope it helps you!

A unique site for a unique event… Preston Guild 2012 website is live

As the countdown to Preston Guild 2012 starts to gather pace, the new website has been launched, created by Preston's digital agency Interactive Dimension.

The new website is closely integrated with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and will make it easier for users to have their say about events and announcements in the run up to the Guild.

The website will include information on volunteering to work on the Guild, opportunities to get involved and historical images from past guilds. People will have their photos featured on the site using Flickr, and there is a meet the team section so users can see who is working on coordinating the Guild and get in touch with them for more information. Street party packs will also be available which will help people to plan their own events for the Guild or even to celebrate the Royal wedding. It is also planned that the site will be used to sell Guild merchandise in the future.

Councillor Ken Hudson, Leader of Preston City Council and Chair of the Guild Committee, said: “The website is our international shop window for Preston Guild 2012.

“This is the first ever Preston Guild in the internet and digital world and we have to make the most of new technology. As well as finding a whole host of information about the Guild, people will be able to use the website to follow the Guild scrolls around the world, apply to be a Guild Burgess, register for one of the Guild processions and even buy 2012 Guild branded merchandise.

“I’m delighted that in the great enterprising and entrepreneurial spirit of Preston Guild, Interactive Dimension a dynamic Preston company has designed and created the website which will serve Preston well in 2012 and beyond.”



Jonny Wilde from ID commented - "This site was a major win for us, selected from a competitive pitch process we went in with ideas we'd not seen done before and an enthusiasm which obviously won the day! We're seamlessly integrating the site with the Facebook page so comments and attendees for each event are pulled into the site you can actually RSVP the event on the Guild site which will then let all your Facebook friends know, and of course this means the events themselves are fully synchronised. For us this was a perfect project to leverage Facebook for what it does best… People use it to talk about events and parties, get opinions about things and let people know what they are up to. The Guild will be all over Facebook in 2012, and we aim to make the official site the hub for that activity, it's a step change in how event sites should work in our opinion. There's also other cool bits like sms reminders, add to calendars, eNewsletters, video blogs, and all that good stuff. All the other social networks are catered for of course, but to some people moving forward Facebook is their 'social internet' so we really focussed on that".



The site will continue to be developed, including a mobile site and there's big plans to integrate Facebook Places and Deals for the Guild events…

Visit the site on www.prestonguild2012.com and check out what's coming up for Preston Guild 2012.

Preston Guild 2012 win for ID!

We've just heard we've been awarded the contract for the next phase of the Preston Guild 2012 website. Our proposals included some amazing social media integration, mobile sites and a excellent utilisation of the Guild 2012 brand developed by The Chase to make the most of the flexible and beautifully executed work they've done.

It was a competitive pitch which was thrown a googly by our Creative Director John having to speed home to his expecting wife who'd gone into labor! So it turned out to be a one man pitch, but it was great fun and we demonstrated our thorough understanding of the brief and bought new ideas and strategy to the table, as well as some beautiful calculated creative.

It's a tight schedule but we're committed to delivering the project and will all get behind it 100%.

More details will follow, and a proper release instead of this elated joyous 'just found out' type one!

The global leaders in renewable energy solutions practise what they preach

ENER-G (www.energ.co.uk) based in Manchester, designs, develops and finances energy efficient and renewable solutions on a business-to-business basis globally. They deliver a comprehensive end-to-end service – from energy procurement and efficiency expertise through to renewable and low carbon technologies and services.

ID, the Preston based digital agency, have been working with ENER-G for over 5 years now and with their rebrand on the horizon and new requirements for the site it was time to re-scope and re-develop. Or so we all thought.

ENER-G had already invested in the initial website and CMS so the approach was planned to recycle the CMS and just develop new templates to represent and support the new brand. So in terms of renewable solutions this project delivered that promise always made when clients are looking at website development which is rarely delivered against. The site you buy will be able to be redesigned without having to buy a new website or starting from scratch.

There's been new features added to enhance the online presence for ENER-G like a jQuery hero area on the home page:


...and a deep linking SEO type footer which acts as a method of navigation when at the base of the page and highlights where the user is in the site. And obligatory social media sharing options handled by an AddThis widget:


A lovely jQuery based map of Europe helps promote their growing international portfolio via the CMS without getting caught in the messy Flash map scenario getting in the way of SEO and updatability:


And because this was ID's CMS in the first place coupled with our excellent development skills it didn't mean the system hindered the evolution of the site, which can happen with some CMS products. ENER-G could have exactly what they wanted.

ID created the online design after Happy Creative (www.happy-creative.co.uk) in Blackpool did an excellent job with the rebrand, having worked many times with 3rd party branding agencies and extending the clients brand online for the likes of United Utilities and BAE Systems this was an ideal project for Interactive Dimension.

"This is a demonstration of how important long term relationships are these days. 2nd and 3rd generation websites for clients is great for all involved, no need to get another agency up to speed and maximum cost effectiveness for the client and repeat revenue for the agency, it's a win-win situation for all.

"To top it all off, we're very happy with the site and feel it works well in our portfolio, they have a great team over there at ENER-G", said Jonny Wilde at ID.

You can have a look at the site on www.energ.co.uk.

New website from ID turns the spotlight on Preston

A new website promoting Preston as a modern, creative, innovative European city has gone live.

www.prestonvision.co.uk features links with popular social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr, allowing Preston people to get involved in discussions about the planned transformation of their city over the next decade.

As well as expressing their views on current projects and initiatives featured on the site, the public can contribute videos and photographs which celebrate the area’s beauty, heritage and personality to help raise the city’s profile as part of the bid to attract investment.

The fresh, sleek, clean website was designed by Preston creative agency ID and commissioned by Preston Vision Ltd, the regeneration company which is driving forward proposals to transform the city.

Preston Vision’s head of marketing and communications Emma Blackman said: “The website is a key part of our strategy to market Preston in a comprehensive and far-reaching way, bringing together the city’s best attributes and proudly showing them off.

“Preston is a vibrant, compact city with fantastic transport links and a lot of personality, this website will give Preston a new platform to stand alongside it’s European counterparts, showcase development opportunities and highlight Preston’s strengths in sectors such as advanced manufacturing , knowledge and design.

“The website is fully integrated in terms of social media so that Preston people feel part of it and, most importantly, can contribute towards telling the world what a great place it is to live, work or visit - it’s a celebration of Preston. Feedback from local people about our proposals now and as the projects are rolled out is also crucial.

“These are potentially very exciting times for Preston and its people as the city positions itself as a 21st century centre of knowledge and innovation.

“We were delighted to find the creativity and technological expertise needed for our website right here in Preston with the ID creative agency.”

Strategic Account Director at ID Jonny Wilde said: “It’s been a privilege to work on such an important site for the City of Preston. The new brand was easy to work with, and the client was great!

“Integrating so much social media into the site means the community can contribute and that’s something we’re interested in observing, to see how the social media and website channels blend - it should be very interesting.

“We’re very pleased with the final product and have enjoyed the follow-on opportunities with Preston Vision such as exhibition systems and email marketing, it’s a great relationship, and one I’m confident will only grow over time as we work closely moving forward.”

The site was developed using ID’s content management system (CMS) with several enhancements such as:

- Social media integration, including Twitter (both account and search related feeds), Facebook, Flickr (particularly the header on the ‘Preston is Evolving’ page which is made up of images drawn from Preston photographers), YouTube, Delicious and LinkedIn

- Pages tailored in terms of colour and style according to the user journey

- RSS feeds from tourism and property sites are to be integrated making the site a hub of information for the whole of Preston

- Site map footer which acts as the breadcrumb trail highlighting where the user is on the site, and delivering great linking into the content of the site

- Newsletter subscription which feeds directly into the email marketing platform

The site is built with search engine optimisation (SEO) in mind and features SEO tools in the CMS and rich keywords all over the site giving natural search success, especially relevant to the recently launched Google Instant.

You can visit the site on www.prestonvision.co.uk.

Were you at WordCampUK?

Last weekend Louis from ID attended WordCampUK, an "informal annual gathering of WordPress publishers, designers and developers based in the United Kingdom, held at a different location around the country each year". The event was a fantastic mixture of geeks, lead developers, plugin authors, theme designers and complete beginners to the WordPress platform. Louis has been using WordPress as a blogging platform for over 5 years, but in recent years WP has turned into something that Louis and ID use for full websites, not just blogs.

The event was held at the Metropolitan Business School in Manchester over the weekend 17th-18th July.

Saturday started off with a talk by Michael Kimb Jones 'How WordPress Themes Changed the World' (slides) which was a great insight into the very profitable arena of theme development for WordPress. Some of his own sites were featured which highlighted the very versatile nature of the latest WordPress platform.

Also on Saturday 'Wonderflux' was revealed. This is a framework which "bridges the gap between developer and designer enabling the creation of powerful WordPress themes & functionality" A great session by Jonnya gave us the basics of framework possibilities. Louis came out of this session feeling excited, particularly how versatile this framework could make his and our existing WordPress sites.

The quality of the content from all the speakers on both Saturday & Sunday was fantastic and catered for all WordPress users from beginners to hardcore fanatics. It wasn't just all talk though, there were several 'tracks' and activities to choose from as well as some superb Q/A sessions and some 'Site Doctor' arenas.

If you wanted to go but couldn't, there is good news! A lot of the slides from the speakers presentations are now available online, and the whole weekend was captured on video by the lovely folks at Orange Coconut this footage will soon be available on wordpress.tv.

Overall Louis got a tremendous amount out of WordCampUK 2010. He met some great approachable people who we're sure we'll be working with in the future on upcoming Wordpress projects. WordPress has now evolved! If you think WordPress is just for blogs, think again! ID think you will be surprised which sites you visit everyday are actually running on WordPress!

Many thanks to all who helped organise WordCampUK 2010 it was a truly great weekend!

Always nice to hear about clients success!

Just had a nice sit down with a client who let us know they had reached their KPI for 'new business via their website for the year' within 3 months of it being live!

Really good to hear things like that, it confirms approach, reasoning, strategy and all those creative juices were all on-point.

In today's climate marketing spend has to be effective. Else it erodes the business and can quickly prove to be a burden rather than an investment. Talk to Interactive Dimension, the creative digital agency in Preston about your fears, aspirations, requirements around your website, intranet, branding, print or exhibition media. We're sure we can help. Today just proved it again!

Kenta is coming!

Digital agency Interactive Dimension in Preston are in the process of finishing an app which will allow Private, Public and 3rd sector organisations to benefit from being able to manage their intangible resources and increase efficiency in ways they never thought possible.

The app build is going well. It will be ready to beta very soon. ID are in the process of recruiting pilot clients at the moment and the demand is really pleasing to see.

It's is exactly what large organisations need to navigate the uncertain paths ahead and transform the way they do business.

We call it Kenta. And it's an exciting venture between Interactive Dimension and Bodyproject. Interactive Dimension bringing our extensive branding, web design and website development skills to the partnership and Body Project driving a consultancy methodology which is truly revolutionary.



Watch this space... oh, and do 'like' it if you like the sound of it. That way your organisation could benefit from it too as you'll be kept up to date by our Facebook page.




P.S. Thanks to you all Liking our Facebook page we now have the username URL of http://www.facebook.com/mykenta secured. Thanks!

The relationship grows!

Dead chuffed we're growing our scope of work with Preston Vision since they selected us for their website (ID have Vision). We're now working on advertising and exhibition materials for them.

As ever with ID it's about relationships which are mutually beneficial.

We want to win clients, not projects... and this once again proves our approach works.

Maz joins ID for a few weeks!

Marianne is spending a couple of weeks with us. She's studying photography and has been shortlisted in the War On Want Photography Award. You can see her entry here - http://www.waronwant.org/news/events/events/latest-events/16755-document-photography-award-2010.

Here's one of Maz's shots:



Some more info on the award can be seen here - http://www.documentphotoaward.org/

Marianne will find out on Thursday how she did... fingers crossed.

While Marianne is with us she's looking at effective website design and usability, finding more out about the digital channels and what steps are involved in building great websites.

We've moved!

After all the planning, clearing out and packing we've finally moved and settled into our new premises!

We're still in Preston and have found a great new office on Cottam Lane. Our new address is:

Interactive Dimension
Unit 6
Cottam Lane Business Centre
Cottam Lane
Preston
PR2 1AF

We've just about finished unpacking so why not pop in and take a look at the new place...we make a great brew!