The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) is pleased to announce the launch its newly redesigned website. The much-anticipated redesign project is an initiative that has culminated after several months of development and is a testament to the mission set forth by the Executive Board to nurture new bonds with its membership and position the organisation as the leading resource for industrial design professionals around the world.

Just over one year following the official inauguration of the Secretariat in Montreal, Canada in May 2005, the international design organisation unveiled the first step towards a strategic initiative to improve member relations and increase communications with the industry of design. “Never before has our desire to communicate with our global network been so strong,” stated Icsid President, Prof. Dr. Peter Zec. “Fifty years of collaborative projects with our members, strategic partners and other non-governmental organisations has increased the need for us to be in sync with a rapidly evolving industry. The new site is a major stride towards an increased profile of our many projects and achievements and an attempt to harness the membership to contribute to the awareness of industrial design within their own regions.”

With its partner - the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (Icograda), and the advent of the International Design Alliance (IDA), the main goal was to develop a web strategy in which a viable tool would be created based on a common website architecture between Icsid and Icograda. Implementing this joint venture will allow both organisations to keep proprietary control over their respective data. However, sharing back-end functionality of their existing websites will provide increased efficiency and cost savings within both organisations. The initiative will also serve to further solidify the vision of collaborative work between the two organisations in the spirit of the IDA. The new Icograda website is scheduled to launch before the end of the year.

The new online presence of Icsid contains optimised features such as latest membership and industry news, improved usability and navigation, and an intuitive design. Later phases of the new site will also provide members with a publishing platform to update corporate profiles, upload documents and photos, opinion polls and a blog that will facilitate peer-to-peer communication within the network. The site is also the portal to the Icsid Global Education Network – an international forum where design schools can interact with design corporations and other institutions to exchange ideas, develop collaborations and disseminate industry resources. It is also an opportunity for students to showcase their projects in the “Project Gallery” and read inspiring articles on design. Upcoming site utilities include job-search functionality (to help students find jobs and internship postings, while providing corporate members with the ability to recruit graduates internationally from our educational members), as well as focused discussion groups.

The new Icsid website promises to improve the service level of the organisation, increase opportunities for those within the global network and provide a clearer understanding of Icsid’s work.