Building Ireland's Only Steel Industry Association From the Ground Up

Full Rebrand

We started with a complete rebrand — new logo, colour palette, typography, and iconography. The existing branding didn't communicate the scale or seriousness of the organisation. The new identity was designed to be immediately recognisable and to work across digital, print, and event materials. The team were initially apprehensive about moving away from their old logo, but once the new brand was in place it quickly became synonymous with Irish Steel.

Website Evolution: Wix → WordPress → Astro + Directus

We first moved them from Wix to WordPress to establish a more capable platform. As the organisation grew and their needs became more complex, we rebuilt the entire site using Astro, Svelte, and Directus CMS. This gave them a highly dynamic, fast website with a content management system that doesn't require a developer to deploy new forms, events, or content. New events, training sessions, and publications are entered into the CMS and the website updates automatically — no manual layout work, no code changes.

Membership System & Payments

We built an online membership onboarding system with integrated payment processing, modernising what had been a largely manual process. This included tiered membership structures and automated communications for renewals and onboarding.

The Irish Steel Awards

One of the most significant projects has been the Irish Steel Awards, which we helped create from scratch in 2023. This annual award ceremony recognises outstanding work by steel fabricators across Ireland. We were involved from inception — building the entire digital infrastructure for nominations, voting, sponsorship, and event registration.

The awards website is highly dynamic, reacting to each phase of the awards cycle (nominations open, voting live, shortlists announced, ceremony). We built a system where registrations feed into Google Sheets connected to Canva, which automatically generates bulk documents — place names, booklets, and hotel order menus. Attendees select their meal choices during registration, which means the hotel knows in advance exactly how many of each dish to prepare. This increases efficiency on the night, eliminates guesswork, and reduces food waste.

Each year we produce a 250-page PDF document showcasing all shortlisted projects with write-ups and imagery, designed to help member companies attract votes. We also create a 180-slide presentation for the ceremony itself, highlighting every shortlisted project along with runners-up and winners for each category. We started with 23 award categories and have since refined this to 15–18 categories. We even designed the physical awards trophy in Blender 3D and helped source its production.

We've now delivered three award ceremonies successfully. Attendance has grown from 220 at the first event to 300–350, with increasing sponsor interest and a growing number of companies submitting projects for nomination each year.

Social Media & Content

We took over full social media management — content planning, graphic design, caption writing, and scheduling across all major platforms. We took Irish Steel from minimal engagement to a consistent, professional presence that keeps members informed and positions the association as the voice of the industry.

Document Design, Email Marketing & PR

Beyond digital, we handle all document design — industry reports, event materials, membership documents, and branded PDFs. We manage their email marketing and produce press releases for major announcements such as new industry reports, pushing coverage to relevant news sources. We also produce promotional videos for the awards and other key events, and handle all print materials for ceremonies and conferences.

Training System

We modernised their training infrastructure, making it easier for members to discover, book, and attend training courses through the website and CMS.

Over the course of our partnership, Irish Steel has been completely transformed as an organisation. What started as a basic website and limited digital presence has become a fully operational, professionally branded industry association with sophisticated digital infrastructure.

The Irish Steel Awards has grown from a first-year event with 220 attendees to consistently attracting 300–350 guests, with increasing numbers of sponsors and nominated projects each year. The awards have become a highlight of the Irish construction calendar.

Member engagement has increased significantly across all channels. The organisation's social media presence went from near-zero engagement to a consistent, professional output that keeps the community informed and connected. Email marketing, press releases, and industry publications have further cemented Irish Steel's position as the definitive voice for the steel fabrication sector in Ireland.

The move to a modern tech stack (Astro, Svelte, Directus) means the organisation can manage events, training, publications, and member communications independently, without developer involvement for day-to-day operations. This has dramatically reduced the operational overhead of running the association.