Custom Projects (who does that!?)
Scratching your head about how to get something unique done on time and in budget? Give us a call to pull it together, our clients have come to us for some pretty tough, tight deadline crazy stuff and we pulled it off with praise every time. Here are some examples of easy and hard projects:
N–Sync Calling!
The Challenge: Atari, a major computer gaming client, needed a custom cell phone costume that exactly matched their N-Sync game element for the opening of the N-Sync movie in NYC in ten days. Tensions were high because Disney’s costume maker refused the job after getting the deposit check and the deadline was fast approaching on this high profile game.
The Solid Solution: We co–designed a cell phone costume that was comfortable to wear and had a battery powered cooling fan embedded in the antenna to pull fresh air into the face of the wearer. We mixed paint colors and designed graphics to exactly match the game phone element and made a custom shipping case to insure safe delivery at the final location.
The Results: We arranged for door–to–door delivery of the costume, which arrived two days early, and 25% under budget. A lot of stress was relieved and the costume was a big hit with the press and crowd at the films opening.
New IT Headquarters Needs Decorations
The Challenge: The Global IT Headquarters for a major hotel chain needed professional photos picked, matted, custom framed and hung for the Grand Opening of its new offices with minimal guidance.
The Solid Solution: We combed through hundreds of photos, carefully selecting for composition and file resolution, custom printed images, made beautiful maple frames and then hung everything in a day. To top it off we got an aerial photo of the CIO’s Alma Mater’s football stadium and printed it six feet wide for his office.
The Results: All top notch execution, within budget and delivered on time for the opening with kudos from the office manager, CIO and corporate art department (our client).
Stent Display Stint
The Challenge: A graphic design firm needed to help a major scientific company show case their new line of surgical stents at a trade show. The stents needed to be associated with the actual usage and Doctors needed to be able to touch them. Because of the competitive nature of the business environment none of the product could “walk away”.
The Solid Solution: The design firm used medical illustration to show the stents in use. We output on a high resolution digital printer, mounted and framed each piece (without glass). The stents were held securely in place by very soft, flexible stainless steel wire in a way that allowed them to be handled but not removed. The pliabililty of the wire allowed the stents to be held in place without damaging the prints surface.
The Results: The design firm’s client was so impressed with the end result that they ordered multiple units.
The Real Estate Company Pitch
The Challenge: A large New England advertising agency wanted to get invited to pitch a major NYC Real Estate Developer. We had four days to deliver the final product.
The Concept: Send the developers selection team the key to an intro kit they couldn’t forget. Send them the front door to a mansion!
The Solid Solution: We built a beautiful mini box out of maple and a real solid wood door, stained and finished it so it felt exactly like the front door to a luxury home. Every detail was covered right down to high quality solid brass hinges and hardware, a beautiful liner inside and a custom shipping case.
The Results: The agency Federal Expressed for Early Am delivery the front door key to the CEO with a letter preparing him for the next days delivery. The following day the Front Door box arrived as scheduled, announced the agency and produced the desired pitch invitation from the Real Estate Developer.
Keeping the Tiki Bar Hip
The Challenge: The client's new product launch was going to look great in a Tiki Bar atmosphere but the chrome brochure holder was a mood killer for the grass beach shack environment.
The Solid Solution: We had a surfboard made that would not compete with the client's product colors and modified it to hold four sets of brochures. Then we put the final board together with a stand that was minimally intrusive to the whole presentation.
The Results: The surfboard brochure holder fit the new product launch so perfectly the client shipped it back to the corporate office for use in the main lobby!
Art: for Marketing’s Sake
The Challenge: A client wanted their product presented as a fine art show in a Soho loft on a shoestring budget. There would be only two people to prep the space and hang the show so it had to go super smooth. The event had to be carried by the “artfulness” of the pieces for the press to buy the whole concept.
The Solid Solution: The final pieces were imaged on a nice art paper, frames assembled and packaged with common hanging specs so only simple tools and one measurement was needed to hang all the pieces. This saved a huge amount of time and allowed for maximum focus on the event catering and preparation.
The Results: The framed images arrived with everything needed to hang them and went on the walls quick and easy. The client’s comment after the event was, “Doug, the whole thing lived on the outstanding execution you provided!” Bottom line; it all went perfectly and people wanted to buy some of the art too!
