Whilst 2009 has been an uncertain year for everyone so far, at Milestone we're really excited about the many new things we're involved with. We're delighted to have new people and clients on board this year. And we're about to launch our new blog – Milestone Digital. It's a great way keep up with what's going on in the branding, design and digital communities and share what we're passionate about...

Daler-Rowney announced the winners of its Make Your Mark international art competition, devised and implemented by Milestone. The competition was launched last year to celebrate its 225th anniversary and to encourage artists of all levels to come together in a worldwide art community. Entries were received from more than 1,400 artists from all over the world including the UK, Philippines, South Africa, Argentina, USA, Turkey and Belgium. A high profile judging panel was signed up by Milestone including: Daler CEO Patrick Giraud; Romeo Di Girolamo, President of the Royal Society of British Artists; Annie Kevans, contemporary artist and Stephen Doherty, Editor of The Artist magazine. All twenty finalists will have their work exhibited at the prestigious Mall Galleries in July '09.

Milestone was briefed by IT accessories brand Kensington to design and produce a marketing toolkit and product catalogue in one, for its sales teams and retail channel. It was important to reflect the brand essence of 'smart made simple' using a mixture of lifestyle photography and illustration to demonstrate the new product innovations and marketing collateral. The catalogue was designed to allow for the easy creation of mini-category brochures and to provide the international sales teams with a comprehensive marketing tool kit. There are two front covers, so you can read it both ways – one as a product catalogue, the other as a marketing resource kit. "Milestone worked in partnership with us to develop and execute a truly integrated marketing communications toolkit and has helped us realise the efficiencies of a centralised marketing communications model."

The National Society for Epilepsy (NSE) is the UK's leading charity working for everyone affected by epilepsy – through cutting-edge research, awareness campaigns and expert care. Milestone has been appointed by NSE to create a range of new fundraising and communication materials, including Come Dine With ]NSE and their Annual Review. The Annual Review was designed to engage the audience in a positive and forward-looking way. Jenny Rush, Head of Communications and Information Services commented on receiving it "You did so well to turn this around so quickly, as a new client, and with such a lovely product. It's very tactile – can't put it down! Well done."

Milestone has been developing a consultancy sub-brand for leading automotive research business JATO Dynamics. To generate leads, Milestone has created an electronic direct marketing campaign selling a specialist report investigating CO2 emissions throughout Europe. The successful campaign encourages prospects to download a report extract and offers an introductory price for the full report. The campaign was also supported by a European press release, which together has generated 71 enquiries across 21 different markets.

Vehicle leasing giant Lex has just launched a major internal campaign called World Class '09, with visual elements created by Milestone. The programme seeks to identify the traits and behaviours required to be world class, find the world class individuals within the business and to motivate all 1,200 colleagues to aspire to delivering at the highest level. During workshop events, staff are encouraged to choose from a series of iconic business leaders, showbiz personalities and Lex colleagues to identity what they consider to be true world class behaviour and how this can be applied in their own roles.

On 12 February thirty delegates attended a marketing master class hosted by Milestone and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. CIM Thames Valley President, Professor Malcolm McDonald took participants through an invaluable course on marketing accountability.

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