Recently the Government of British Columbia presented one of our valued clients with its 2011 WelcomeBC Day Award, in recognition of their innovative website developed by Yours Truly, the talented team here at Industrial Brand.

But never mind about us….here’s what they do that makes them special. The Immigrant Employment Council of BC (IEC-BC) provides a unique service to the community, connecting employers with motivated and skilled global talent, in a way that hasn’t been done before. Through www.tapintotalent.ca, prospective employers now have direct access to a wealth of labour market resources, including opportunities to connect with a pool of highly skilled immigrant talent.

After thoroughly understanding IEC-BC’s needs, we designed their site to be easy to use and visually-pleasing, but also to capitalize on a few key areas like highlighting a job-matching service with a database of hundreds of pre-screened, job-ready immigrant candidates, as well as the ability to post job openings at no cost. Everyone wins (and we don’t just mean awards!). We are proud to have worked on this project with a client that is a purveyor of positive, progressive change in the community.

Check out the IEC-BC case study in our portfolio or visit their website to read more about this amazing organization and all that they do.

“The Science of Lamination” used to convey the purpose and benefits of lamination from a fun, rewarding , science-oriented persective. This piece not only educates, but showcases the types of lamination available. The piece increased exposure to the company and contributed to an 11 percent growth in sales from the previous year.

Some other elements based on the concept included invitations for an open house featuring booze, machinery and Vegas showgirls and a shiny foil holiday card featuring the actual result from a fruitcake we had lab tested.

“The Christmas card that you designed for our company has been the hit of the year. Everyone wants to know who designed it and how it was produced. Like all projects you’ve done for us in the past four years, there was no doubt that it was bound to succeed.” - Rob Varnel, Owner R&M Trade Laminating

Listening to CBC on the way home yesterday I heard songs from Polaris Music Prize 2009 short list winners. The winning band will win $20,000 and be celebrated as the best new Canadian music artist.

See the shortlist here

See the longlist here

The Winners of The 2008 W3 Awards have been announced by the The International Academy of the Visual Arts today and the team at Industrial Brand were awarded a Silver for the UBC School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture website. With over 3,000 entries, The W3 Awards’ honours outstanding Websites, Web Marketing, and Web Video created by some of the best interactive agencies, designers, and creators worldwide.

“We were amazed at the caliber and quality of work received this year. Our winners continue to push the envelope of internet creativity and web design, and it is gratifying to see such great work from the smallest agencies to the biggest firms” said Linda Day, the director of the IAVA. “On behalf of the The International Academy of the Visual Arts, we are honored to recognize our winners as they continue to set a high standard of excellence for Web development.”

Congratulations to everyone who worked on this multiple award-winning website.

The winners of the 12th annual Webby Awards were just announced and the Graphex 2008 website, designed and developed by Industrial Brand Creative, was chosen as an Honoree out of more than 8,000 entries in 70 categories. To be selected among the best is an honour and we’re very proud to be recognized.

The creative tournament ladder-inspired theme exploring the connections and possibilities of good design was thoughtfully developed by our friends at Rethink Communications, who are also producing the beautiful catalogue showcasing all the Graphex winners (available at GDC.net soon). The creation of a promotional website that paralleled their campaign in a clever way was a challenge our team devoured with vigor, so this award feels really great. Thanks to Ben, Kevin, Cameron, Amanda, Leigh and Haig for making it happen. And thanks to GDC for the opportunity to do what we do best.

Having served as a volunteer with Graphex this year, the memory of a sea of tables displaying 600 submissions is still fresh in my mind. The notion of organizing, categorizing, review and judging over 8,000 entries submitted to the Webby Awards this year makes me a little dizzy. No wonder they charge $275 for each entry. Wait a second: $275 x 8,000 = $2,200,000. Oh my goodness. Someone is making some huge money.