Design Council Web site job leads the way

The Design Council has awarded the design and operation of its new Internet site on the World Wide Web to Blueberry New Media, a division of Blueberry Design.

The appointment comes as the first large-scale survey of commercial use of the Internet suggests retailers and manufacturers expect the medium to offer a competitive threat to their businesses within a year.

An ongoing survey by the Interactive Media in Retail Group has thrown up initial findings which suggest three out of four companies know their competitors are already on the Net. The results add to expectations of an explosion in Web site design.

Blueberry New Media won the Design Council project in a five-way credentials and proposals pitch.

The site will be up and running by mid-July. Blueberry New Media director Russ Sellers says the site will be developed to appeal to a range of users from schoolchildren to company directors. “Whatever goes on at the launch will be just the start,” says Sellers. “It will grow to be a substantial site.”

Blueberry New Media was started a little over a year ago as part of the nine-year-old graphics consultancy. Sellers says the Internet team is currently working on sites for ten clients, including one still under wraps which has a 5m budget.

The potential for graphics-based consultancies to get a slice of the burgeoning Web site design market is immense, says Sellers, as long as they are not daunted by the technical skills needed.

His views are echoed by Smosarski & Partners, another design consultancy which has set up a new media team servicing a dozen clients.

Director Chris Smosarski says design consultancies must grasp the opportunities for Web site design before technology-based service providers do so.