Melissa and People of Resource have a brief but vivid history together. When we’ve needed extra hands and brains on deck, Melissa has enthusiastically pitched in. Her talent and intelligence have been a boon to us and we were honored that she would trust us with the fabrication of her lamp prototype, a project many months in the making.

The video above details some of the work that went into bringing this piece to life. For more on the concept, see Melissa’s description below:

“I started out trying to create a lamp that would also function as a calendar. Wanting to get something that dealt more with form than numbers, I thought for a long time about the ways that we’ve marked time throughout history, and how we experience time in seasons. I also didn’t want to limit the accuracy of the lamp by location, and in the end what sifted out was the concept of the solstice. It’s just so wonderfully ancient, and the length of the day marks our lives in an innate way that transgresses barriers of culture and location.

From a form standpoint, it breaks the year into two segments of continuous movement as we move closer and further from the sun. The diameter of the nested hemispheres reflects the eclipsis, (the arc of the sun through the sky) which becomes measurably longer and longer, as the length of the day increases.”

From a very early age, Alex King has been interested in machinery and tools. For Alex, this interest is more than just a predilection, it’s in his DNA: Alex got his start making machinery for his father’s company and grew up with a grandfather who worked for Lockheed, the Oakridge US Arsenal, and the CDC.

Fast-forward to 2010: Alex King has been in the manufacturing and fabrication business for over 20 years in the Atlanta area. During this time, the web has become a critical source of information and interaction for society. Despite having nothing in the way of a web presence, Alex has built Precision Fabrication into a successful business through hard work, talent, and satisfied clients. Alex realized that even a business like his, rooted in physical manufacturing, couldn’t continue to grow without approaching the internet as a channel for new business.

Solution

With our feet planted in both the digital and physical realms, People of Resource were uniquely suited to understand the realities of Alex’s business, as well as the challenges of translating his value proposition to the web.

Our first priority was in communicating the breadth and depth of his facilities and project experience. Doing this in a simple, powerful, and visual way was the grounding of this project. The outcome of this initiative is an interactive video piece that directly presents Precision Fabrication’s capabilities to each visitor. This device is supported by a flexible, easy-to-update framework that clearly supplies vital information and allows Precision Fabrication to keep a fresh, current web presence.

Results

Using the visual and captivating language of high-quality video, the website serves initially as an interest-grabbing platform. However, the site is much more than just a pretty face: Alex is continuously adding new work and experience to create a deep, living catalog of his firm’s track record as leaders in their field. This visceral demonstration of their prowess has resulted in the fruition of our goals for this project: increased sales and interest in the company. Alex has reported back to us with a pronounced uptick in business. What’s even more exciting is the fact that the majority of new leads are coming to Precision Fabrication through their new website.

To pull it off, we drew on our network of talented and enthusiastic design and production mercenaries.

We owe a hearty thank you to those who heeded the call: Michael McReynolds, Mark Montgomery, Melissa Cullens, Michael Gluzman, and Jason Travis. As the midnight oil burned, these individuals were rock steady.

After more than thirty years of designing award-winning massage chairs, Human Touch wished to be better understood. Although they had experienced great success throughout their history, they felt that their approach to products made them much more than just “a chair company.” In fact, they defined themselves as a wellness company and brought that approach to their entire product line.

With a new, game-changing product ready to debut, the time was ripe to reassert Human Touch’s identity as a wellness company.

To implement these ideas, HT contacted our partners at Info Retail for strategy and design of showroom and tradeshow environments to be deployed in Las Vegas. When video emerged as an integral part of the project, Info Retail tapped People of Resource to concept and produce the necessary video assets.

Solution

Although the stimulus for this project revolved around the debut of a new product, the opportunity to make Human Touch better understood as a wellness company was also great. Thus, instead of just filming a product demonstration video for Human Touch, People of Resource pitched an illustrative branding piece for the company. While the chairs were vital to manifest the company’s intent, the ideals and values behind them transcend individual products.

To point more to the idea of wellness, as well as introduce the innovative HT Connect features, the video we pitched was a person-centered story of using and benefiting from Human Touch technology.

Results

By underlining, literally, the importance of the experience of rejuvenation and therapy offered by Human Touch products, the video was able to show more of the identity of the company and it’s values instead of just one chair. It also illustrated the effectiveness of the unprecedented HT Connect technology.

The video can be seen in rotation in Human Touch’s flagship store in Las Vegas.

Malcolm Fontier’s eponymous modern travel accessory line was an instant darling upon its debut. Well-deserved nods from noteworthy publications like Wired, Dwell, and Lucky are a regular thing for MF’s clean, stylish, and vegan-friendly carryall line.

Nevertheless, the designer’s success begged a question: what next? How could his brand’s solid reputation translate into new products? How could the audience for MF products increase? What would those moves look like?

Solution

To answer these questions, Malcolm Fontier again turned to People of Resource. Our relationship began several years ago when Malcolm tapped People of Resource to fabricate his trade show displays. We count it as an honor that he continues to trust us as a collaborative partner.

To gain increased control over interaction with his customer base, we initiated a two-pronged video campaign that would demonstrate the products’ usefulness and also convey Malcolm’s modern explorer brand message.

To reward loyal retailers and, again, tighten control over direct communication with customers, we developed retail displays that use high-quality materials in creative ways to keep production costs low.

Through a series of creative workshops, we worked alongside Malcolm’s team to research, understand, and expand upon the opportunities that laid in front of the company.

Results

As a result of our video and retail display work, we were able to deliver more meaningful connections between the Malcolm Fontier brand and its fanbase.

As a result of our product design workshops, we were able to expand Malcolm’s audience by creating new bag designs that increase his product offering variety. Further, our design for a new, lower-priced bag, delivers a broader audience while maintaining his reputation for top notch quality.

A PDF Booklet we created about the project is available for download in the sidebar of this post.

You can check out a full set of behind-the-scenes documentation on Flickr. A link to this content can be found to the right in the sidebar.

We’d like to give a hearty shout-out to our actress, Claire Christie, and to our friends at Info Retail for selecting us as collaborative partners on this project.

You can find a link to the resulting video in the sidebar of this post.

David commemorated the presentation with a group photo which you can see above.