British Council logs on to AKQA

AKQA has started creative and technical design work on the British Council’s global website, www.britishcouncil.org, following its appointment last month.

It won the work following a credentials pitch against Icon Medialab, Nettec, AMX and Citigate Lloyd Northover. The five were shortlisted from 48 consultancies that tendered for the project, which has a total budget of £1m and a six-figure design fee.

The first phase of work is to design websites in Japan and India, which are scheduled to launch early next year, says a British Council spokesman.

The consultancy’s brief is to design a navigation system that can be implemented on all sites worldwide, and a content management system to allow countries to create their own content within strict brand guidelines, says an AKQA spokeswoman.