Case Studies

Responding to Culture Online's ambitious brief we not only built the ICONS site but assembled a new organisation to go round it.

To deliver the ICONS project we:

• Undertook an extensive investigation and feasibility study
• Developed the organisational structures and planned the project in detail
• Recruited a team of eight people including a managing director and an editorial director
• Brought in Royal Designer for Industry, Malcolm Garrett, to work with our Head of Design, Colin Jenkinson on branding and design
• Assembled an independent advisory board
• Worked out an innovative scheme for handling the intellectual property rights to ensure the best prospects for long-term sustainability
• Undertook user research and surveys
• Developed an identity and brand for the site and the new organisation
• Launched a preview site
• Set up collaborations with the National Trust, Postal Museum, Mencap, Age Concern, NPG, NG, BM, Visit Britain and the Environment Agency
• Designed and built the main site
• Developed the format to enable access through multiple media gateways
• Launched the project officially with culture minister, David Lammy, on 9th January 2006
• Coordinated the associated media work including dozens of interviews
• Delivered further waves of new icons each accompanied by international press and media coverage

ICONS funding from Culture Online covers the first two years of its development and delivery. Funding for further development has to be secured by the project team. To ensure that the project delivers on its long term promise we have researched and developed ideas for further applications of the now established ICONS format. We are working to make the service self-sustaining by creating a series of spin-offs.

The Results