Our Story

On January 1, the euro became the official currency in 12 European Union countries, and we were all challenged with trying to convert the value of a € from the old £ to the new. 

New was the theme of the year - Arekibo was created. Yes, the company with a name inspired by ET and a satellite dish in Puerto Rico called Arecibo was entering the game. 

We were in good (or interesting) company; the Human Genome Project announced the completion of a rough draft of the entire human genome sequence; the soccer World Cup, which Japan and South Korea would co-host, was the first to be held in Asia. The term ‘axis of evil’ was coined by President George W. Bush, significantly influencing global geopolitics. The International Criminal Court (ICC) was established, Big Brother and Survivor entered our living rooms, we lost Richard Harris and a robotic vacuum cleaner was released by iRobot called the Roomba, introducing consumer robotics into the rest of our house. We were listening to “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, walking “A Thousand Miles” to avoid the earworm by Vanessa Carlton, as well as being bombarded by Nelly’s “Hot in Herre”. 2002 was filled with interesting new stuff - Monsters Inc, 28 Days Later, Minority Report, and Gangs of New York hit the big screen. Oh also the yearMichael Jackson dangled his baby out of a window in Berlin. But the balance was returned with Elvis Presley’s A Little Less Conversation Remix - the old and the new would continue to bring synchronicity to the year.

For Arekibo, it was kick off, launch, go, go, go - We received a call from AOL. "We need some help to design a new product. Can you help us?". The project was to redesign the AOL.com product for a global audience. Our journey began, and as our relationship evolved, we worked on numerous products, including AOL Mail, AOL Messenger and AOL Money. We have never looked back. Since then, we have helped innovative companies and public organisations create brilliant digital products and launch groundbreaking services. We also had AIB as a client, designing a member portal for their corporate banking clients.

We began our journey by forming partnerships with our clients to help them leverage digital technology across their businesses. This commitment to partnership would form the core foundation that would help us become Ireland’s largest independent digital agency in the years to come.

Thanks to Pixar for the Monsters Inc. inspiration.

2003 - lots of activity - Apple launched the iTunes Store, which will revolutionise digital music sales. You can now listen to over 100 million songs on demand. Skype, the Voip (voice over IP) service, launched and again looks like a massive disruptor, with the price of calls to friends and family immediately plummeting. Google purchased the blogging software company Pyra Labs, creator of Blogger, in February 2003 - the founder Evan Williams will return with an idea called Twitter. The MySpace social networking website was officially launched in March 2003. LinkedIn, the social/professional networking site, opens for business - Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn in 2016 for $26.2 billion.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King dominated the box office and won 11 Oscars, and Beyoncé released her solo debut album, Dangerously in Love.

At Arekibo, we started our two-decade relationship with Ibec, Ireland's business lobby, by redesigning their website. 

We began launching websites with our own CMS system, Utah, which we developed. Utah is a first-to-market CMS that enables us to create large-content websites, all of which are fully managed by our clients. Projects include the first dedicated website for Ireland Aid (now Irish Aid), Ireland's official Aid programme, and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce's new membership website. We also created the brand identity for Chica, a boutique in Dublin, while continuing to work with AOL on Instant Messenger and AOL Money.

We collaborated with the Chamber to host a series of e-business workshops called 'Under Construction'. In conjunction with the Dublin Institute of Technology (now TU Dublin), we embarked on a research initiative exploring branding among Irish companies, titled "The Power of the Brand." Conducting research would become a regular endeavour.

Thanks to Lego LOTR for the image inspiration.

This thing called 'TheFacebook' was launched by Mark Zuckerberg. Myspace was the coolest social media site and the first to reach one million users. Google launched Gmail (beta), with many thinking it wasn't real because it was announced on April Fools' Day. While in Japan, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS, and Sony released the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Apple released the multi-coloured iPod Mini and the iPod Photo with a coloured screen. Friends aired its final episode, which was watched by 52.5 million viewers. Sex and the City also ended this year. Lost, entourage, and Desperate Housewives were ample replacements.

The top movies were Shrek 2, Spider-Man 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and, let's not forget, Napoleon Dynamite, The Notebook, and Mean Girls. On the office stereo, we played Funeral by Arcade Fire, Antics by Interpol, the Killers ' Hot Fuss, Air's Talkie Walkie, Aha Shake Heartbreak by Kings Of Leon, U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and Green Day's American Idiot. Martha Stewart went to prison, and George Bush won his second term as US President while the Olympics were held in Athens, Greece.

We continued building the business while NASA landed the Opportunity and Spirit rovers on Mars. We created a new identity and name for Irish Aid called Development Cooperation Ireland. Folklore has it that we were called at short notice to ask, 'Can you create a new logo within a few days for our new name?' We did, and the results were presented two days later in Dublin at the official launch. 

We designed the official website and portals for the Office of Tobacco Control (OTC). The site was ready before the OTC implemented the Smoking ban in workplaces on 29 March 2004. The ban would be strictly enforced and apply to bars, restaurants, clubs, offices, public buildings, company cars, trucks, taxis, etc.

We continued our partnership with AOL and began working with VHI, Pfizer, and Safefood. 

Thanks to Napoleon Dynamite for the image inspiration - We voted for you.

2005 was a year for innovation, music, and culture. 

YouTube was launched by uploading its first video, “Me at the zoo.” Who would be interested in uploading videos online? Time would prove the naysayers wrong. Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany, marking the beginning of one of the longest leadership tenures in European history. 

While we experienced innovation, 2005 also had tragedy with Hurricane Katrina, the London 7/7 Bombing, the Kashmir Earthquake and the spread of Avian Influenza. After 26 years as Pope, John Paul II passed.

But there was hope; the Live 8 Concerts were held, aimed at pressuring G8 leaders to address global poverty, especially in Africa, with concerts in London, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, and Paris. 

Facebook ended its restriction to Harvard students, and expanded to more universities across the U.S. - the global domination was underway. Hey, who would be interested in this…again, many would be proved wrong. Microsoft launched the Xbox 360, MySpace reached over 20 million users, and Google Maps and Earth were launched. Firefox reached over 100 million downloads, and the concept of Web 2.0, focusing on user-generated content, interactivity, and social networking, gained traction in the tech community. 

A chap named Banksy gained broader global recognition following high-profile stunts, such as placing a fake prehistoric cave painting in the British Museum. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Batman Begins, Brokeback Mountain and Crash kept us entertained at the cinema.

At Arekibo, we were also embracing innovation by listening to Coldplay’s X&Y, Kanye West's Late Registration, Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor, Gorillaz's Demon Days, and The Killers' Hot Fuss.

It was super busy; we began working with the Irish Sports Council to create their digital presence, undertaking a comprehensive redesign of their website to communicate their role and commitment to athletes and sport in Ireland. We kicked off redesigns with the Employment Appeals Tribunal, Companies Registration Office, the Office of Corporate Enforcement, and the European Social Fund on their online presence. We continued to work with the Office of Tobacco Control, Irish Aid, and VHI, while investing in the development of our CMS, the Arekibo IMS.

While Mr. Brightside, Speed of Sound, Feel Good Inc., and Gold Digger kept our feet tapping as we prepared for an exciting new year. 

Thanks to Gorillaz for the image inspiration.

Nintendo Wii was launched with revolutionary motion-sensing controls, which caused many TV sets to need screen repair. Twttr, or later to become Twitter, launches in July - we wonder how influential or disruptive this new platform will become. Elon Musk purchased it for $44 billion in October 2022 - Later renamed 'X' by Elon. The Shopify platform was also launched this year.

Germany hosts the FIFA World Cup, with Italy winning the tournament, but you will probably remember Zinedine Zidane's last act as a player to headbutt Marco Materazzi in that game. Daniel Craig debuts as James Bond in Casino Royale, his first of five Bond movies. Taylor Swift released her debut album, 10 further original studio albums, and four re-recorded albums, selling an estimated 114 million albums worldwide.

Anyway, back to Arekibo, another year of growth. 2006 begins with the commission to develop the Heritage Council's new initiative, Heritage Week. Failte Ireland, the national tourism agency, partners with us to design and create a new website that promotes business tourism in Ireland. Both sites will be launched later this year. We also commence working with and launching websites for the Dublin Convention Centre, Realex Payments, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, the Ombudsman for Children, and EY. We also began to redesign the Patents Office website, a huge redesign project for our team.

We have been shortlisted for four awards in the eGovernment Awards and for Best Agency at the Golden Spider Awards.

Thanks to Mr Bond and Mr Zidane for the image inspiration.

As of January 1, 2024, Apple has sold more than 2.3 billion iPhones, its first smartphone. Amazon Kindle makes e-books mainstream. The Sopranos concludes with its famous, ambiguous final scene, while Rihanna’s "Umbrella" dominates the charts worldwide, and Don Draper enters as Mad Men premieres, showcasing 1960s advertising culture.

Our Ibec partnership continues with several new websites for their business associations. We also launch Funda.ie the Irish version of the revolutionary Dutch property search.

New websites have been launched for the Commission for Energy Regulation, as well as campaign sites for World AIDS Day, Our World Global Schools Awards, and the Ombudsman for Children's Big Ballot.

We co-sponsor the eGovernment Awards and have been nominated for several Golden Spider Awards, the largest digital awards in Ireland.

We begin working with the Irish Management Institute (IMI) to redesign their online proposition.

Thanks to Picasso for the image inspiration

2008…what a year. Most notably, the global credit crisis helped bring the country's property boom to an abrupt halt, and banks went into meltdown.

The Irish voted 'no' to the Lisbon Treaty, and we bid farewell to the much-loved Dubliner Ronnie Drew, whom you would see in and around the city. An unknown person named Satoshi Nakamoto published a paper introducing Bitcoin.

The iPhone App Store was launched in July 2008, with predictions that it would generate $1.2 billion in revenue for Apple the following year. The App Store's consumer spending reached $89.3 billion in 2023. In September, the Chrome browser was first publicly released, officially as a beta version,  introducing another browser that needed support. In 2023, 63% of internet users chose Chrome as their desktop browser.

But it was another busy year. Some highlights include:

We designed new websites for the National Museum of Ireland to cater to its four museums across Ireland. We also designed and developed a digital portal for the IMI (Irish Management Institute), continued as Microsoft Partners, and completed new projects for Chica, a groundbreaking boutique in Dublin and London, including the development of their e-commerce website and Heritage Week, the annual celebration of heritage in Ireland.

Other client projects include William Fry, A&L Goodbody, Ordnance Survey Ireland  (OSI) and Irish Aid's Africa Day campaign, and we selected Comhlámh as our CSR project for 2008.We also began to redesign the Irish Revenue Commissioners website undertaking a gigantic information architecture and content migration project.

"Comhlámh is delighted to be working in partnership with Arekibo as their corporate social responsibility client for 2008. We look forward to creating a dynamic and exciting new website for our volunteering options programme and appreciate the opportunity of working with Arekibo on this important project for our organisation." Siobhan Sleeman, Training and Information Officer.

OSI's new website won two Golden Spiders awards and an Innovation Award as one of the year's most innovative public sector projects.

Thanks to the Regular Show for the image inspiration

NASA sent a missile crashing into the moon's surface, demonstrating that water (in the form of ice) was on the moon. The Android mobile OS was launched after the terrible experience of Microsoft Vista; Microsoft launched Windows 7. Facebook launched FarmVille in June, and within a year, it had amassed over 83 million monthly users.

Obama became the 44th president of the United States of America. Hannah Montana: The Movie is released, Glee and Modern Family air their first episodes, and we all rush to see Avatar at the end of the year.

Michael Jackson dies at the age of 50, and Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift during her VMA Video of the Year acceptance speech. 

While Sony sold 12 million floppy disks in 2009 and stopped selling them altogether the following year, we made the annual Deloitte Fast 50, ranking as the 37th fastest-growing company in Ireland.

We begin working with Magee Clothing to launch their e-commerce website and Mercury Engineering to design their global web presence. We redesigned the corporate website with a new information architecture and online proposition for Ibec. We created the new portal website for Qualifax, which was only redesigned in 2023 - now that's design value. We also collaborated with the HSE, Ireland Health Service Executive, to redesign and develop their official website, HSE.ie and collaborated with the End of Life Forum to build their online presence. The Forum would engage all sectors of society in the development of a vision of how modern Ireland can address the challenges of dying, death and bereavement.

On the award front, Today FM and OSi are nominated for Golden Spiders. Megazyme's innovative e-commerce website continued to deliver for the business and won the Small Firm Association's Innovation award. 

Apple releases the iPad, and Instagram is launched - both to become dominant in our day-to-day lives. Imagine taking pictures of everything you eat, wear and think about and posting them to Instagram; oh yes, that is now a norm - by 2022, there will be over 2 billion users.

The Arab Spring protests began across the Middle East, and Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, was released. What an amazing soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. Spain won the soccer World Cup in South Africa. The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupted air travel across Europe, while Flash Mobs disrupted the globe. In music, Eminem’s album Recovery was one of the best-selling albums of the year. Kesha’s TikTok was the Billboard song of the year. No, not that TikTok, that's coming in 2016

In 2010, we acquired Clearscape, the award-winning digital agency. The Department of Taoiseach commissioned us to design and develop the Irish government's official news service. The website would be known as MerrionStreet.

MerrionStreet.ie serves citizens, journalists, and an international audience. It provides daily updates on government activities in a single online location.

We partnered with the Department of Taoiseach (Prime Minister) to deliver a dynamic and progressive digital service built upon WordPress. This publishing platform would enable all agencies and departments to release news and announcements on demand.

“The idea is to have a single place where people can access all related Government news and share it with the world,” a spokesman told Siliconrepublic last week. “This is a Government site. We believe it will stand the test of time very well and will be a key asset for any Government.”

The site was used until 2025 - not a bad investment for 14 years.

Thank you to Roy Lichtenstein for the image inspiration.

Siri made her grand debut on Apple’s iPhone 4s, introducing the world to virtual assistants. This signalled a future where speaking to your devices would feel as natural as talking to a friend. Meanwhile, Google+ launched and (briefly) attempted to shake up social networking. Could it outpace Facebook? Nope, it closed in 2019. 

In March, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan. A tsunami generated by the quake arrived at the coast within 30 minutes, overtopping seawalls and disabling three nuclear reactors within days, a sobering insight into the power of nature.

Microsoft launched Office 365, and Adobe released Creative Cloud, a cloud-based suite of software for web development, graphic design, animation, video editing, and photo editing. Thankfully, we won't need to look for installation CD-ROMS anymore. Snapchat, Trello, and Zoom launched, and Netflix introduced its online video streaming service.

Responsive design began to dominate as Ethan Marcotte’s principles gained traction. With mobile internet usage soaring, creating websites that seamlessly adapt to various screen sizes has become essential.

Adele’s 21 soared to the top of the charts, with Rolling in the Deep becoming a global anthem. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 brought the wizarding saga to an emotional conclusion. At the same time, Lionel Messi continued his streak of brilliance, scoring 73 goals across the football season for Barcelona.

At Arekibo, we designed and developed Dublin Airport's first mobile app, which was released for Android and iOS. We also launched iConnect, the daa's intranet. We support MSD - Merck Sharp & Dohme Biologics with the development of several innovative online campaigns.

Arekibo won the IIA Net Visionary Awards 2011 for best Web Design, and our client, the Arts Council, won the Best eGovernment Award. ‘It’s brilliant to win the award and get great recognition from our team. I would also like to congratulate the Arts Council, with which we have been working since 2007, for winning the Best eGovernment award,’ said Martin Casey, MD at Arekibo.

We launched the digital campaign for Trócaire’s Lent Campaign and released the Soarview website for RTE, as well as a new corporate site for Fyffes PLC. We developed the Employment Law mobile app for Ibec and supported the launch of Electric Ireland, with whom we will continue to partner, releasing their new website in 2024. We also launched the RTE Radio App and Heritage Week app.

We continue our Teen series with our white paper by Jack Connery, a 16-year-old intern, with insights into his peers’ use of modern digital technologies.

Thanks to Lionel and Harry for the image inspiration.

2012 marked our 10th year in business - nothing stands still. Technology, trends, innovation, and ambition drive us forward. Here's to the next 10.

The smartphone war intensified with the debut of the iPhone 5, which introduced the sleek Lightning connector. Meanwhile, Samsung’s Galaxy S3 pushed Android into the limelight, proving it could compete with Apple in style and performance. Google Chrome surged ahead on the browser front, overtaking Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser worldwide.

Flat design replaced skeuomorphism as one of the two major visual trends championed by platforms like Microsoft’s Windows 8. Simple, clean, and lightweight visuals set the stage for a minimalist user experience (UX). At the same time, parallax scrolling emerged as the second trend, delivering, in many cases, overengineered visual explosions that pushed the boundaries of user engagement and patience.

2012 was also the year of Gangnam Style, with Psy’s viral hit becoming the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views. The Avengers assembled on the big screen, establishing Marvel as a cinematic powerhouse and a revenue leader. At the same time, Usain Bolt proved his dominance as a real-world superhero, winning in style at the London Olympics.

Our CSR work continues with the launch of the website for 3Ts (Turning the Tide of Suicide). Arekibo Ventures is founded to invest in and support Irish start-ups.

We began our +12-year collaboration with CRH by launching the global Plc's corporate and investor relations website for Ireland’s largest company. We collaborated with An Post, Ireland's National postal service, to develop a multi-channel strategy to support their sponsorship of the An Post Rás (Cycling Tour of Ireland) and redesigned their corporate website.

We released a new design for the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. To promote commerce, we launched 'The Loop', a new online store for Dublin, Cork, and Shannon airports. We also launched the European Union's dedicated website to support Single Market Week, marking 20 Years of the European Single Market.

Bitcoin bursts into public consciousness, with its value skyrocketing from a low of $50 to surpass $ 1,000 by the end of the year. Bitcoin will reach $100,000 by the end of 2024. Apple continues its yearly launches by unveiling the iPhone 5s and introducing Touch ID. Sony and Microsoft continue to lock horns and split the teen market with the releases of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the first in eight years. It was also the year of the Internet of Things, the continued fall of BlackBerry, the promotion of the potential of 3d printing, the possibilities of wearable technology and the release of Google Glass. 

Content-first design emerged as a leading principle, with developers prioritising functionality and accessibility over flashy visuals - see what parallax did to everyone last year. Meanwhile, single-page applications (SPAs) like AngularJS deliver smoother, app-like experiences in the browser.

Elsa and her band of Frozen friends warmed hearts worldwide and drove parents mad with the earworm Let It Go. Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" provides a rest bite, blending retro funk with modern dance, and Iron Man 3 dominates the big screen. In football, we wave goodbye to Sir Alex Ferguson, who retires from Manchester United after 26 years as the boss. Can the success continue for United…

Edward Snowden gained international fame for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information.

At Arekibo, we launched the augmented reality travel app 'Discover Ireland' in partnership with Failte Ireland (watch the launch video). We continue our collaboration with KPMG to support their Budget campaign.

We are pleased to announce that X Communications, Ireland’s first digital agency, which was founded in 1994, has been acquired and has joined Arekibo. We launched a new design and website for NoNonsense, the discount car insurer. Dublin Airport wins an award for its social media presence, and we launch a dedicated app for Shannon Airport on iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

We end the year with four nominations at the Spider Awards for No Nonsense, Discover Ireland App, Shannon Airport App and Best Agency and four nominations at the Appys (app awards) for Book of Kells iPad App, Discover Ireland and an in-house developed photo sharing app called PhotoQ.

Thanks to Ziggy Stardust for the image inspiration.

Pharrell’s “Happy” dominates the charts, and Frozen’s 'Let It Go' mania persists. Guardians of the Galaxy became an unexpected hit, with its great soundtrack and introduction of Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord and Drax. 4 movies were to follow, grossing $2.48 billion.

We lost comedic genius Robin Williams and Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. The Facebook Ice Bucket Challenge takes over the web, raising awareness and money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Flat design took over web design, with Google’s Material Design adding subtle depth and motion to otherwise minimalist interfaces. HTML5 became an official standard, empowering the creation of richer, more interactive web experiences. Apple Watch marked Apple’s foray into wearable technology, blending utility with high-end fashion.

Philae, the robotic lander, makes history by touching down on the comet - 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Germany is triumphant at the soccer World Cup in Brazil, and not to forget Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's wedding.

While the wedding planners were preparing for their wedding in Italy, we were busy at Arekibo. Danone’s Nutricia won gold in The Appys 2014 for Best Medical App, being recognised as the most comprehensive dietetic calculator for specialists currently on the market. The Medical Council, Parnell Square Cultural Quarter, MKC, and UCD Careers are nominated for Web Awards. We are also shortlisted for ‘Web Development Company of the Year’ at the Tech Excellence Awards.

The Paris Climate Agreement sees 195 nations pledge to combat climate change. Bill Gates joined Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking in expressing their fear of AI. Tesla rolled out its semi-autonomous driving car, Hyperloop is a reality, and Google announced that all its core businesses would become subsidiaries of Alphabet. 

Adele's album 25 and single "Hello" dominated the charts and broke streaming records, but let's not forget "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, which topped the charts in 19 countries and reached the top 10 in 15 others. Star Wars: The Force Awakens revived the franchise and welcomed back Han Solo and Chewbacca. Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar for The Revenant. After seven seasons, 'Mad Men” ends, and we wave goodbye to Don.

Instagram has exploded with 400 million active users, surpassing Twitter in popularity. Mobile live-streaming became all the rage—Meerkat took off, quickly followed by Twitter's Periscope app. Microinteractions have become essential for making websites feel more intuitive, and Google’s Mobilegeddon algorithm forces businesses to embrace mobile-first design—hallelujah!

While we were converting customers to the need for mobile-first design, we continued at pace.

We acquired the Irish digital agency KCO. We won the Best Universal Design Award at the IIA Awards for our work with Electric Ireland and their new Sitefinity-powered website. In 2024, we redesigned this site, which is still on Sitefinity. 

We released a first-to-market Budget App for KPMG on Apple and Android, as well as a dedicated Tax app for their clients, developed on WordPress and still in use as of 2025. We worked with CarTrawler to compare CMS platforms to determine the pros and cons of OpenSource versus proprietary - interesting engagement.

We were shortlisted as the best web development agency at the Net Visionary Awards. We launched the Loop e-commerce website for Auckland Airport in New Zealand. Our relationship with FBD Insurance, which began in 2008, involved the design and development of a new mobile site for the insurer. We also began working with AON's Centre for Innovation and Analytics, and started collaborating with Invesco, a pensions firm, on their investment portal as part of the KCO acquisition. We worked with Croke Park, Ireland's largest stadium and the home of GAA, on their website, stakeholder consultation and digital strategy.

Thanks to Don Draper, Star Wars, and Adele for the image inspiration.

The UK voted to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum, and Donald Trump won the US presidential election. 'Fake news' infects Facebook, but CEO Zuckerberg insists it wasn't a problem. Time will tell.

Justin Bieber and Drake are at the top of the music charts. Pokémon GO has millions of people outdoors, hunting for digital monsters. Hamilton brings American history to Broadway, and Stranger Things premiered on Netflix. According to Audi, Tesla, Uber, and Lyft, self-driving cars are expected to become the norm.  The FBI sues Apple to gain access to an iPhone owned by a terrorist - Apple resisted. Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos come tumbling down.

The Chicago Cubs broke their 108-year drought to win the World Series, and Portugal, with Cristiano Ronaldo, won the UEFA European Championship. 

But this was to be the year of VR—Facebook's Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive, and Sony's PlayStation VR made their official debuts. Snapchat is a force to be reckoned with, and its Spectacles were released. AI is starting to gain traction in digital design, with tools like Adobe Sensei, a set of intelligent services designed to improve the design and delivery of digital experiences dramatically. Blockchain has become a thing, with banks and big tech announcing numerous projects.

At Arekibo, we start the year by launching the Irish American Chamber of Commerce website. We are nominated for DMA awards for our work with Dublin Airport, their analytics and data strategy, and Electric Ireland's mobile-first website. We are also shortlisted for the Digital Strategy Partner of the Year award at the Tech Excellence Awards.

We launched a new corporate website for ESB Group, which we will redesign in 2023 and continue to manage on Sitefinity. We also launched an updated mobile design for the Medical Council, which will remain live in 2025. We released an updated design for Dublin Airport and new accessible websites for ESB Networks, which we will redesign and launch with ESB in 2024. We continued our partnership with Danone, launching a new portal for low-protein supports for the UK and Irish markets.

We end the year being shortlisted for the Eir Spiders - Large Agency of the Year.

Thanks to Adventure Time for the image inspiration

#MeToo movement shakes Hollywood, revealing systemic abuse and empowering survivors. Emmanuel Macron becomes France's youngest president. HBO's Game of Thrones reaches its climax, sparking discussions, while Harry and Meghan announce their royal engagement —more of their own Game of Thrones to follow.

Apple releases facial recognition with the iPhone X's Face ID, and smart home voice assistants gain popularity. Ed Sheeran's Shape of You becomes Spotify's first song to reach 3 billion streams by December 2021. Warren Beatty famously hands the Oscars' Best Picture award to the wrong film, and Get Out becomes a major hit.

Progressive web apps (PWAs) emerged, and Facebook's AI chatbot developed a new language and devised a way to deceive humans. Ok...

Snapchat IPO and Disney acquires 20th Century Fox. Fortnite, YouTube TV, Google Home, Lens, and Meet were launched. Google's EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust) search changes began affecting many websites.   Twitter expanded its character limit to 280, Microsoft introduced Teams, and Nintendo launched Switch.

Trying to keep up with Google's momentum, our CEO, Martin Casey, and Head of Operations, Luke Tritschler, cycled from Paris to Nice across France to raise money for the Laura Lynn Children Hospice.  ESB.ie wins the Progress Sitefinity Website of the Year Award. ESB Networks was nominated for a Government Award, and we released our research report on social media marketing trends in Irish business, in which we surveyed 100 firms.

We completed redesigning the Central Bank of Ireland website, including a significant content architecture, UX design, and implementation of a mobile-first and accessible website developed using Sitefinity. The site is still being used in 2025, a testament to a comprehensive and best-in-class redesign process. 

We conducted a comprehensive strategic review of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) digital presence and developed a set of strategic recommendations for its future digital and technology investments.

We supported Fintan O'Byrne, our then Head of UX, in holding a magical art exhibition of his work, all in aid of Jigsaw—the National Centre for Youth Mental Health. We also released another Teen report, with Jim Xi Johnson, a sixteen-year-old intern who surveyed 50 of his peers.

Thanks to Disney and the Magic Kingdon for the image inspiration.

Apple became the first trillion-dollar company to lose its top spot to Microsoft shortly after its record-breaking announcement. Elon Musk sent a Tesla Roadster aboard the huge Falcon Heavy rocket into space. The Spectre/Meltdown processor vulnerabilities affected nearly every computer in use, and NASA’s InSight Lander made it to Mars.

Deepfakes became a thing, and by the end of the year, Google allowed victims to have material removed from the firm's search results. Oh no, the risk of AI is really on the way.

5G trials commence globally, and the Facebook Cambridge Analytica scandal emerges. Google also has its issues, including the sexual assault, harassment, and inequality policies brought on by the #Dontbeevil campaign.

Fortnite became a cultural phenomenon, with dance moves spilling into everyday life. Marvel continues its superhero onslaught and earns its first Academy Award nomination with Black Panther. Harry Weds Meghan, Spotify goes public, and Childish Gambino’s 'This Is America' and Ariana Grande’s 'Thank U' are huge hits. Unfortunately, we lost Anthony Bourdain and Aretha Franklin. Electric scooters arrive on our streets, beginning the phenomenon of Scootergeddon, Scooterpocalypse and Scooter Wars.

It was another busy year at Arekibo. The redesign and development of Ibec's online presence was a significant project that commenced in 2017 and was completed this year. The redesign and migration to Sitecore from Lotus Notes was a considerable project, and the fruits of the investment have lasted the test of time—the website and design are still in use in 2025.

Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) was another significant project. We redesigned the international paper and packaging company's online presence, delivering a global multilingual redesign developed on Sitecore. We continued with the redesign and platform migration for RCSI, which was followed by the launch of the new online presence for RCSI Bahrain. We launch the global website for World Meeting of the Families, the Roman Catholic Church congress that was held in Dublin in August.

There was a flood of award nominations at the Spiders—SKG's new website was shortlisted for best UX design, and we got one for best large agency. We also sponsored the best B2B category. Our cyclists raised €23,000 for Laura Lynn, again riding from Paris to Nice across France.

We continued our teen research with the launch of our 2018 report, which provided another fascinating insight into teens' behaviours and preferences. and further developed our partnerships and certifications with Sitecore, Kentico, and Progress Sitefinity and became Microsoft Azure partners.

Thanks to Peanuts for the image inspiration.

Disney+ and Apple TV+ join the streaming wars, challenging Netflix and reshaping entertainment consumption - just in time for something in 2020? The Cybertruck and its memes are launched. The Notre Dame Cathedral fire shocked the world, spurring pledges to restore the historic landmark in record time. The US wins the women's football World Cup, and we are introduced to the climate activist and teen Greta Thunberg.

Marvel is back with Avengers: Endgame, wrapping up over a decade of Marvel storytelling. Snapchat released its baby face filter, Jennifer Aniston joined Instagram and became the fastest to reach 1 million followers in just five hours and 16 minutes, Frozen II was released, and The Joker made $1 billion at the global box office.

The rise of dark mode in web and app design is becoming a thing, catering to users with preferences for reduced eye strain or just a 'valid' reason for designers to create darker products. In meetings, intelligent chatbots, GDPR, push notifications, and increasing cyber awareness across organisations are frequent topics. The latter is helped by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre finding that 123456 was the most widely used password on breached accounts.

Our team continues to roll out RSCI's digital transformation, and the results bag them a Spider Award. We miss out on Large Digital Agency, and Dublin Airport is nominated for best universal design. At the UX awards, RCSI receives another nomination for Best Interface Design, and ESB Networks is recognised for UX Achievement in Productivity and Utilities. At the DMA Awards, Smurfit Kappa, ESB Networks, and World Meetings of Families are among the nominees.

We launched the mobile-first redesign of Dublin Airport, which is powered by Sitefinity. Sinead Quish, daa project lead, summed up the project perfectly: "We now have an integrated digital ecosystem because of our mobile-first Dublinairport.com, key marketing database and app integrations, and Sitefinity. It's revolutionised how we communicate with customers."

Our team signed up for the Tag Rugby League and avoided injuries while having a great time. We began working with Mater Private, Ireland's private hospital group, on their digital strategy, a partnership that continues into 2025. Things are looking up for a great 2020; there's nothing but smooth sailing ahead…

2020 - started with a bang, new hires, projects underway, and then you find out what a bang really is - welcome COVID-19 - WTF. Like an asteroid on its way to Earth, its arrival began the never-ending shockwaves for the rest of the year. Everything turned upside down; bedrooms and kitchens were converted into offices. We all dug in to limit the impact on our clients and colleagues. You’re on mute, I can’t see you. I’m just setting up my desk. Is that your kitchen? It became the kickoff conversation as we all moved seamlessly to working from home. Zoom, Teams, and Hangouts became our conduit for shooting the breeze, conducting meetings and workshops, as well as hosting weddings, quizzes, and family check-ins

E-commerce boomed, and with platforms like Shopify, families and friends had no choice but to pivot their businesses to digital storefronts, saving and rescuing whatever they could. Dark mode became ubiquitous, reflecting a growing preference for minimalism and reduced eye strain as screen time continued to skyrocket. It was open season for digital innovation, and we were locked to our monitors, phones, tablets and TV to figure out what could happen next. The daily infection count, the masks, sanitisers, social distancing…wow, it was unrelenting.

Our team were also unrelenting, focused on helping our clients quickly pivot, creating new features, content and support for their customers. We also commenced the redesign and platforming of the Road Safety Authority's (RSA) new online presence. The site would be launched a year later, delivered end-to-end with everyone working from home. We also redesigned Matheson, the leading legal firm’s online presence, while supporting the day-to-day needs of our clients and their communications, technology and business teams. 

2020 forced transformational change on every business. For Arekibo, the year delivered significant change, team members moved back home, scattered across Europe, while ensuring there was never any interruption in service to our clients. The team’s bond was further cemented, making us stronger, united, and determined to be focused, helpful, and empathetic.

We prepared for 2021 with optimism, perhaps having weathered the asteroid's impact and its repercussions. Let's see what next year delivers, but onwards and upwards!

After 2020, 2021 continued the uncertainty but it was the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. SpaceX sent civilians into space, Facebook rebranded as Meta, and Joe Biden became US President. Pop culture introduced its new additions with Greta Thunberg, Squid Games, the Queen’s Gambit, NFTs, WandaVision, and, the #FreeBritney movement. 

Fortnite kept those with teenagers busy, and TikTok became the social platform of the year. The Ever Given container ship blocked the Suez Canal for 6 days, causing a global shipping crisis with estimates suggesting that it cost the global economy around $10 billion daily. 

Italy won the UEFA Euro Soccer, Messi left Barcelona, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics began a year later than planned.

For us, all projects continued as normal; RSA and Matheson were coming together, and we completed a new education hub for Goodbody, projects for BNP Paribas, ESB, Dublin Airport, Cork Airport and Shannon Airport, RCSI Online and Mater Private. We also began working with Tourism Ireland to consolidate and redesign their global web presence. Sitefinity would be their new DX platform, and work started in the late summer of the year. We all continued to work from home with a slow return to the office for a few socially distanced special occasions. Things were looking up for everyone, Arekibo and our clients. The light seemed to be getting brighter at the end of the Covid tunnel, and optimism, renewal and eagerness to return to normal looked possible.

As 2021 was wrapping up, we launched RSA's new online presence - www.rsa.ie - a monumental project, delivered during a pandemic, delivered 99.9% working from home for every single member of the project - ours and RSA’s - it was a proud moment for everyone involved. Through thick and thin we all kept the project inching forward and delivered a beautiful, elegant and commendable website. Happy. 

2022, here we come.

After two years of uncertainty and enforced isolation, 2022 brought a sense of optimism. We craved the ability to get back to normality. NFT hype dominated the start of the year, with brands like Nike, Adidas, and Gucci diving into digital assets; however, enthusiasm waned as crypto markets crashed. Artificial intelligence took a huge leap forward, with Openai’s DALL·E and Chatgpt showcasing how AI-generated art and writing could disrupt creative industries. The questions began to be asked: Will AI replace designers, writers, and developers? These questions would linger into the future

Who cares about AI? A celebration was in order. 2022 was the year of our 20th birthday. We reached the milestone - 2 dacades. That went fast - onwards upwards.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February, sparking the largest conflict in Europe since World War II; the results - a global energy crises, inflation, and supply chain disruptions - oh, when Covid made things less complicated. Queen Elizabeth II passed away in September, marking the end of a 70-year reign. Kate Bush’s ‘Running up that Hill’ was introduced to the TikTok generation due to its prominent feature in Stranger Things. Taylor Swift’s Midnights shattered Spotify records, with over 186 million streams on its first release day. Top Gun: Maverick was eventually released as the sequel to the 1986 movie. 

Twitter’s future became uncertain as Elon Musk acquired the platform at a bargain price of $44 billion. Let’s see what happens from here…

We kept plugging away. The new portal for RCSI and the World Health Organisation asked us to help them design and develop the proposal documentation and online assets for their Investment Case. The result delivered A healthy return: investment case for a sustainably financed WHO.

We win Digital Strategy Partner of the year award at the 2022 Tech Excellence Awards in Dublin. This award is a great honour and recognises our work with RCSI, RSA, Ibec, ESB and Dublin Airport.

Our partnership with Ibec celebrated its 20th anniversary with the delivery of several projects, including a new website and booking capabilities for the Small Firms Association and a new site for Technology Ireland. Dublin Airport replaced its online car parking booking engine with a new platform, and our team supported the Airport and its partners in planning and delivering the migration to the new system. We also delivered a new site for BT.

The first phase of the new online presence for Tourism Ireland for the Island of Ireland was launched. Another project delivered entirely working from home. We commenced the development of ESB’s design system, and the results were delivered to the first two sites with the new corporate website, incorporating ESB eCars. We redesigned this site in 2014, and it’s great to see our collaboration delivering a new IA, design, and accessible website continuing on Sitefinity. 

Our commitment to supporting charities continues with the newly designed 3Ts website, a wonderful and important organisation that provides support and information about suicide concerns & other mental health topics.

2022 brought back optimism that Covid was behind us, but left us all in no doubt that back to normal wasn’t going to be plain sailing, but our team was united and firing on all cylinders.

Thanks to Stranger Things for the image inspiration.

Barbie and Oppenheimer - dubbed “Barbenheimer” took over the cinema. The Ukraine war entered its second year, and countries across the globe continued to welcome refugees—we welcomed Slava to our team. 

Chatgpt and generative AI tools like DALL·E, Midjourney, and Bard have begun to gain mainstream popularity, coinciding with the rise of Deepfake technology, which has sparked ethical concerns and high-profile celebrity incidents. The hype of Web3 and NFTs faced a reality check, with interest waning due to crypto crashes and regulatory matters.

TikTok continued to shape digital culture, with Gen Z driving viral fashion, music, and activism trends.TV ruled with The Last of Us, The Bear, Succession, and Slow Horses capturing our attention. King Charles III and Queen Camilla were crowned in London, the first British coronation since 1953. 80-year-old Paul McCartney headlined and ruled Glastonbury with an awesome concert, playing for 2 hours and 40 minutes. The Rolling Stones released Hackney Diamonds, their 24th studio album - so much for oldies, hey.

Spotify paid out a record £7.7 billion in royalties to artists, with notable earnings by top artists such as Taylor Swift, who received over £79.8 million.

Never a dull day at Arekibo.

Thanks to Barbie for the image inspiration.

Normality returned in 2024, with no more COVID talk, and it ended with Mr Trump's return to the White House. A year of elections with 60 countries representing almost 50% of the world’s population, holding theirs in 2024.

Apple released the Vision Pro, “The era of spatial computing has arrived,” said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. Nope, the era is a few years away...but let's see.

Artificial intelligence, or I should say AI, makes significant advancements in image generation, research capabilities, and versatile dialogue models that are becoming accessible to everyone. Chatgpt is now a thing. It is used for everything - work, searching, content creation, memes, everything.

Going to the moon became a thing again; Japan successfully landed the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on a lunar crater, transmitting data back to Earth for three months, and China returned soil samples from the moon’s far side. But we won't be going on holiday to the moon, just yet. 

Back on Earth, reality... our climate change continued with floods, typhoons, and wildfires. Things are changing quickly in politics, climate, global conflicts and the world of finance…what will 2025 bring?

However, the good news is that our own Cillian Murphy (from Ireland, not the UK) won the Oscar for Best Actor in Christopher Nolan’s (from the UK) Oppenheimer, and it also won Best Picture.

Paris hosted a memorable Olympics and became the first to have equal numbers of male and female athletes. The technology was also the first to feature cutting-edge broadcasting techniques, including using over 110 cameras, cinematic lenses, and AI-driven technologies to enhance our experience.

Oh, Taylor again, her Eras Tour concluded, becoming the highest-grossing tour ever. 

At Arekibo, we continued to advance our client relationships. The highlights include commencing work with the HPRA to redesign their online presence, as well as Electric Ireland and ESB Networks on their website redesigns—the last major ones we completed were in 2014/15 and 2015/16. Sitefinity would continue to be their DX/CMS of choice. Tourism Ireland Overseas and Tourism Ireland Trade launched.

We commenced the development of a new e-commerce solution for RSCI Online and continued work with Matheson, Mater Private Network and Goodbody.

It was a productive year for team collaboration and momentum—who knows what 2025 will bring?

The bet is it will be super interesting—times seem to be changing.

2025 is underway…lets say it’s as predicted super interesting for everyone..

Some reminder keywords so far, Tariffs, Crypto, Pope Francis (RIP), Trump, ChatGPT image creation…

We’ll be back.