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News Release

Last modified: Thursday, October 23, 2008

IU’s Office of Creative Services wins three silver W3 awards for innovative Web sites

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 23, 2008

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- For the third year in a row, Indiana University's Web sites have been recognized by the prestigious "W3" Awards -- this year, with three silver awards.

The winning Web sites, all designed, created and programmed by the IU Office of Creative Services, are:

• Celebrate IU, Events Category (https://celebrate.iu.edu/)
• e-Science 2008, Events Category (https://escience2008.iu.edu/)
• Kelley School of Business Department of Marketing site, School Category (https://www.kelley.iu.edu/marketing/)

Web site entries were judged on creativity, usability, navigation, functionality, visual design and ease of use, a standard of excellence determined by the International Academy of Visual Arts.

The W3 Awards, presented by the International Academy of Visual Arts, honor creative excellence on the Web and recognize the creative and marketing professionals behind award-winning sites and marketing programs. Last year, IU won one silver W3 Award for the Creative Services Web site (https://creativeservices.iu.edu/) in the Self-Promotion category.

This year, the competition's third, the W3 Awards received more than 3,000 entries from organizations that included ESPN, Abercrombie & Fitch, Greenpeace UK, Nike Air, Reebok and Accenture.

"As a fee-for-service unit, it's critical for us to showcase the talents and abilities of our staff," said Rebecca Salerno, associate director of Creative Services. "Receiving these three awards shows that we are on par with some of the top interactive agencies in the world."

Salerno explained that before starting a new Web project, the Creative Services team works with clients to understand their needs and the needs of their primary audiences. The office then constructs an information architecture for the site and does usability testing to ensure ease of use.

"Our first goal is to make sure people can find information quickly and easily, and then we focus on what we can do from a creative perspective to make the site memorable," said Salerno. "In our creative process, we look for opportunities to do something different that will resonate with audiences. As a creative manager, I feel fortunate to work with a talented team of individuals who understand effective Web communications at the highest levels."

Kathleen Chmelewski, an art director at the Office of Creative Services, said her Celebrate IU Web design was inspired by the concept of celebration. "This annual event is a marker in time to pause and look forward and back at both the tradition and trajectory of excellence at IU," said Chmelewski. "I used traditional typefaces and graphic marks coupled with Internet video and contemporary digital semantics to reflect Indiana University's current position in the annals of time with a celebratory flair."

In 2007, the Office of Creative Services won a "Webby" Award for the best School/University Web site for its "Ten Ways IU is Red Hot" Web site (https://www.redhot.iu.edu/). Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, the Webby Awards event is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video, and Mobile Web sites.

This year, BusinessWeek reviewed the Kelley School of Business Web site, also created by the Office of Creative Services in collaboration with Kelley, in its survey of Web sites from the top 20 full-time MBA programs. The review stated that the site "is one of the more pleasing-to-the-eye of the group."

"As BusinessWeek points out, the Web is often the first place that prospective students go to learn more about a school," said Salerno. "It's important for Indiana University's Web sites to deliver a satisfying user experience."

For more information about W3, see https://www.w3award.com.

For more information about the IU Office of Creative Services, see https://creativeservices.iu.edu/.

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