Provision of Specialist Design and Brand Communication Content for IDS

The IDS is a cross-government service that is creating a central hub of high quality, accessible data for use by accredited researchers, primarily within local and national government, as well as academia. The IDS is the first of its kind and offers a step change in the way that data is shared and linked across the public sector. The nature of data sharing across government, with consideration around key topics such security, ethics, and anonymity etc., mean that communications need to be clear, concise and accurate. IDS often has the challenge of communicating complex topics and policy and this is where we have identified the need for a specialised video agency to provide support and expertise.

The IDS is evolving into the delivery phase of the programme, where analysts are now being onboarded onto the platform, and data uploaded. This is a critical stage in the IDS success, and video and animation communication has a key role to play. Please be aware that the ONS has an in-house design team that operate as the IDS brand custodians, working alongside the IDS communications team, the appointed agency will be expected to work closely with the designers and within the framework of the existing brand guidelines.

It is coming up to two years since the IDS brand was developed. This work was undertaken using an existing supplier and following the initial brand development, a number of communications products were produced, such as infographics and slides. An updated brand guidelines document is currently being developed by the ONS designers, which will include further guidance on the topic of video and animation to assist the chosen supplier. The winning supplier will be granted access to these brand guidelines upon initiation of the contract. The expectation is that the supplier will be expected to build and develop them further.