It just doesn’t get old - branding, advertising, choreographed visuals, copy, and communication material (still / motion / video) - from design brief to the world-stage and everything in between...
In front of a monitor. Leading a team. Following a mandate. I have the people and technical skills it takes to produce organized projects along with clean, industry standard files / assets that get noticed.
CONCEPTS THAT SWEETEN PERCEPTION
Helping build brands and culture from the ground, up… Designs, words, proposals, and experiences that command a second look.
Out of concern that going with a utilitarian faceplate design could create a perception that Ultrix was “just another router” rather than a pioneer in the unique product category it was creating… I was invited to collaborate in the design and brand deve for Ross’ Software Defined Production (SDP) connectivity platform.
For its market introduction, we injected a touch of lifestyle imagery and communication material inviting customers to “Catch the Wave!”. As part of our thought leadership aspirations > Early adopters that “caught the wave”, would come to realize, evangelize, and socialize the reduced complexity Ultrix delivers.
Positioning Ultrix as a means to help keep “your production above water” - its promise is to do more with less… Space, power consumption, and complexity.
A slick product design crowned with prominent wave feature helps Ultrix stand completely apart from anything else in the industry… The wave design also allowed us to integrate the new “FrameGlow” feature > a highly visible LED lighting element offering at-a-glance status or functionality, this product innovation is seen as a unique Ross product family identifier that truly stands out and resonates with customers around the world.
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Surf Concept
• Taglines
• Product Aesthetic 3D Design
• Product Renderings
• Animated Launch Videos
• Social / Web / Print Assets
• Exhibition / Tradeshow Assets
“It’s about keeping your production above water.” Brand Narrative
Produced the Ultrix Introduction Video (project management, graphic elements, script, animations, interstitials, and post show video editing for web, social and future exhibitions.) Also provided Creative Direction and collaborated on corporate positioning for annual NAB Keynote event.
3D Product Aesthetic Design and Renderings / Brand Voice / Brand Narrative / Taglines / Graphics / Copy / Content Creation / Assets for Print & Animation
ACIDCam studio cameras were a new product category for Ross. By form factor, it was being released into a sea of visually similar studio cameras, but AcidCam has a major competitive advantage > a special ability to excel at chroma keying.
Eureka! That’s it!
Propose we use the same vivid green color chroma keying is synonymous with, the product design instantly identifies itself from a distance, and effectively owns “chroma key green”. With ever-improving technology, capable of producing higher-and-higher resolutions, the hyper-realistic live key market is set to rise. ACIDCam is poised to be the first touch-point of a live event, ready to deliver the most realistic keys in the world.
This product introduction was a breakout for myself as a brander, designer, animator, and product positioner. Fortunate to work with a fantastic product manager who believed in our concept even though it was “sooo faaar” outside the scope of anything we’d done before. The concept has generated a lot of positive feedback and truly kick-started a new body of work that’s unmistakably Ross.
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• “Own Every Pixel” Concept
• Taglines
• On-Product Branding
• Product Renderings
• Animated Launch Videos
• Social / Web / Print Assets
• Exhibition / Tradeshow Assets
Was fun to watch the new camera shoot video of it’s own unveiling :)
ACIDCam, meet ACIDCam. Oh, and Own Every Pixel too.
Killer show! Ran at this massive undertaking with a real fun and highly skilled team. Grey hairs and great memories go hand-in-hand sometimes.
An optional side-plate color choice for discreet installations.
Furio SE is a floor-mounted, rail-based, robotic camera system. Furio SkyDolly is the ceiling-mounted variant….
Tasked with producing new branding along with a new product aesthetic graphics package to match it’s improved mechanical, software, and performance specs. Furio is one of my favorite collaborative projects to date.
The product development team were a passionate and deeply-engaged group. Every aspect of the design project was pragmatically debated by the developers and experts in the field… Right down to the increment design on the lift column. Just awesome!
Furio’s natural envronment is at the edge of a studio, stage, or even alongside sporting events like swim racing and track events! With the launch of a new product design for Furio SE > we built a message around the “SE” (Smart Evolution) features this new design affords while highlighting the fun factor creatives will have with this new tool. For Furio SkyDolly - We continued the branding theme from Furio SE, giving us an opportunity to pivot our message toward the precision, sophistication, and safety while highlighting SkyDolly’s ability to provide uniquely intimate visuals.
It’s been fun to follow along with the big ticket concert tours and major television broadcasts it helps produce.
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Furio and Furio SkyDolly Logos
• Taglines
• Product Aesthetic Branding and Treatments
• Product Renderings
• Animated Launch Videos
• Social / Web / Print Assets
• Exhibition / Tradeshow Assets
“Sight Control” Panhard bar spread > Furio RC
I was invited to collaborate on product aesthetics and launch package somewhere around here…
Concept, promotional assets and collateral
Corporate tagline, positioning statement, and skydiving concept. “Living Live!” is an organic statement which reflects what Ross does to help our clients deliver amazing productions to billions of global viewers every day.
The skydiver imagery draws the parallel between the excitement of jumping from a plane with the adrenaline rush live production staff feel when the show begins. There are no redo’s in live production.
This project became a marquee initiative… The corporate skydiver video was proposed to a (very creative) Senior Management Team as a simple script I read aloud with the proposed footage and music playing on my monitor - a few collaborative adjustments later, and the script and skydiver imagery quickly became the face of the brand.
The versatility of the voice-over and onscreen graphics translates to the environment the video is played at. It can be used at events without audio and can be translated in multiple languages for use around the globe.
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Skydive Culture Alignment Concept
• Taglines
• Launch Videos
• Social / Web / Print Assets
• Exhibition / Tradeshow Assets
“3, 2, 1 Go!” Culture Alignment > Ross Video Corporate Branding
Ross Corporate Placement Video - Living Live! > Brand Promise
“Finding Each Other” Culture Alignment > Ross Video Corporate Branding
Living Live! > Corporate Stationary
Living Live! > PowerPoint Decks for all Corporate and sub-brands.
Living Live! > Small Event Signage
Living Live! > Major Event Still and Large Format Video Screen
Carbonite Black, Solo, Solo USB Injest, and Ultra have always held a special place in my journey to becoming what I am as a designer…. As one of the first product launches we produced entirely with renders - the newly adopted workflow has proven to be a powerful new way to design creatively.
Outside of being a blast to learn and work with, adding 3D rendering technology to our workflow completely changed the way we approach product releases... For the better.
Photos and video still play an important role, but a render can help bridge a product availability gap. With proper rigging and lighting, a hyper-realistic render can rival a photo - especially if the added step of introducing details like micro-scratches, dust flecks and other nuances are baked into them.
Through learning how to properly include pixel-level details, I started to get comfortable with the new tools, and have come to develop a fresh design-style around the high-quality visuals we have been producing…. The success with the initial Carbonite Black launch video created new opportunities for me at Ross, which has led to an ever-increasing responsibility for visuals and choreographed launch videos with a style that command a second-look.
“Production Wizardry” Brand Alignment / Promise > Carbonite Ultra Product Aesthetic Design and Brand Concept
Keynote style video to introduce our newest production switcher control panel before our CEO covers the details.
The concept continues the production switcher wizardry theme started with Carbonite Ultra.
Carbonite Black > Product Renders and brochure design
Carbonite Black > Product Renders and brochure design
Serious hardware for serious productions. All-in-one studio in a box…. The design brief called for a message built around the performance benefits a hardware-based all-in-one production system has over software-based solutions.
We decided on “production vehicle” as it offers everything a professional needs to produce a high-end show. “Bad-Ass” was the echoing term presented during initial discussion about the specs the Graphite chassis would be decked out with.
Our “production vehicle” overflowed with a bespoke promise of power and the scenes were designed to heighten intrigue. This is what came to be…..
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Live Production Vehicle concept
• Taglines
• Product Renderings
• Brochure
• Animated video
• Web / Social / Print assets
“Make your Mark” logo / icons > Graphite Branding (unselected)
“Leave your Mark” Brand Promise > Aethetic Design Pitch (Unselected)
Graphite “One more thing” introduction moment.
“All-in-one Production Vehicle” Desktop Image > Graphite Product Software
The reality of marketing extremely complex products…. It becomes a race between engineers attempting to (literally) deliver a product to a major tradeshow and marketers, desperately trying to get the photos and videos needed to develop launch collateral. Often times a prototype, unfinished good or uncontrolled environment require problem-solving skills and a can do attitude.
Oh the fun :)
Physical product was running late from product development team and we were only going to have access to it for an impromptu hour > With insufficient time to produce a polished video for keynote… A DSLR, slide dolly, and creative use of tracking and the lens flare in After Effects was able to mask the fact that there was a missing module or two in the video. Photoshop took care of the photos for web and collateral.
Adding a level of difficulty to the challenge was the high-gloss finish on the product’s modules… Like photographing mirrors, no matter where the shots were taken from, it’s surroundings reflected into all of the photos requiring a significant amount of patience for touch-up.
Through resourcefulness, and a few heroic suppliers Ross was able to unveil the new switcher on-time, and with a full complement of collateral and web assets.
Showcasing the beauty and passion that was engineered into this big-budget control panel, the Acuity brochure was arranged, written and designed to address the creative, business and technical challenges it can help solve. Acuity has become one of the most recognized names in high-end, live event production. In fact, you’ve likely watched a production made with an Acuity production switcher already!
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Brochure
• Drama Video
• Photographs & Videography
• Web / Social / Print Assets
• Exhibit Graphics
4K Spread > Acuity Brochure
We injected a lifestyle theme into an otherwise technical marketing piece to entertain and build culture. This example from an extreme sport event - demonstraties in simple terms, the benefits of a 4K production workflow in a way a lucky few can relate to or aspirationally dream to be involved with.
Behind the scenes at our annual industry keynote event. A rear-projection video production, it made for an interesting perspective seeing things reversed (flipped image) after watching it in forward so many times during it’s animation.
World premiere for flagship production switcher with technology ahead of it’s time. Design Brief > “A beta-build Acuity is passing through the factory today, they’ll let you have it for about an hour this afternoon just before it gets shipped to NAB (Major industry tradeshow event) in Las Vegas… Get what you can”. Sigh…Highlighting the Mnemonics, PanelGlow (RGB LED buttons), and gloss black paint finish, the video was available in time for it’s unveiling.
Photography / Video / Post / Graphic Design (print & web)
openGear Terminal Equipment is a line of broadcast infrastructure within a very competitive market segment. Gear products typically function inside utilitarian-styled “frames” stacked in a rackroom, we decided to use the openGear rebrand opportunity to update the face plate as the focal point of a complete re-brand.
Looking to standout from it’s competition, we organized the design brief around the frame door, and crowned it with a new logo. The logo is a nod to the partner ecosystem that has been built over time, the line segments above the openGear name represent the various signals, functionality and the physical number of cards an openGear frame is designed to hold (x10).
For added prominence in the rack room, openGear oGx frames feature FrameGlow, a prominent LED status indicator which has become synonymous with Ross rack-mountable equipment. Designed for broadcast engineers, FrameGlow offers at-a-glance equipment status and is as functional as it is slick to look at.
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• eXtra capability concept
• Product aesthetic 3D design
• Brand voice
• Taglines
• Product Renderings
• Animated video
• Web / Social assets
Produced the oGx Introduction Video (project management, graphic elements, script, animations, interstitials, and post show video editing for web, social and future exhibitions.) Also provided Creative Direction and collaborated on corporate positioning for annual NAB Keynote event production.
“Marks the Spot” Tagline
oGx > Complete Product Launch Asset Package
3D Product Aesthetic Design and Renderings / Brand Voice / Taglines / Graphics / Copy / Content Creation / Assets for Print & Animation
As a technology leader, Ross put an early stake in the ground with our IP research and development work as well as a move toward Software Defined Production (SDP) solutions. Although an emerging technology, the costs are going down and the interest is ratcheting upward.
IP and SDP adoption in the the broadcast industry is set to grow exponentially.
Tasked with designing a look to accompany the IP and SDP ecosystem our Infrastructure Team had envisioned, and a name the product developers had conceived… I was given the name “Raptor” and began designing a logo ecosystem based around mutated or evolving creatures to sidestep being seen as primitive or under-developed. The next project was introducing a compact line of “go-anywhere” modules, so continuing the theme, I produced a family of little critters brimming with attitude baked into their design, and accompany slogans like “Grab hold and never look back”.
A really fun project with an enthusiastic team!
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Critter Concept
• Product Labelling
• Product Renderings
• Animated Launch Videos
• Social / Web / Print Assets
• Exhibition / Tradeshow Assets
Smart Production > IP Ecosystem Print Advertisement for Trade Publication
iggy (IP Audio Converter) Logo Design > Product Ecosystem Brand Continuity
Best seats in the house from the production side of the curtains, as long as a mirrored image doesn’t bother you :)
XPression (Real-TIme 3D Motion Graphics system) needed a dramatic print ad and detailed brochure to help gain mindshare and understanding in the live broadcast industry. With software and hardware that was imminently due for update, we chose to showcase the XPression logo for brand awareness, displaying it in several dramatic chapter spreads throughout the brochure to foreshadow the visuals a customer should expect to achieve for their own brand(s).
We wanted the viewer to imagine what they could do rather than give examples of other’s work. Effort was made to capture the attention of a creative users, and backed with brochure content aimed at answering the technical and business value-proposition.
PivotCam was a quick and fun project - A product that resonates with a spectrum of markets, from News production it affords new shot angles and increased studio coverage, to concert productions and podcasters with a need to add dynamic camera angles and ease of operation with their smaller budget / staffed productions.
The logo was developed with a traced path design. The V showcased as a carrot, inserting itself into the product name and as a fan with arms raised in support of their favorite performer.
PERSONAL DELIVERABLES
• Pivotal Moments Concept
• Taglines
• Product Aesthetic 3D Design
• Product Renderings
• Animated Launch Videos
• Social / Web / Print Assets
• Exhibition / Tradeshow Assets
PivotCam Product Renders
PivotCam Product Renders
A few things I’m not sure how to archive… Always changing, this page may contain rough sketches, logos, ads, animations, splash screens, ideas and more.
This was a collaborative concept conceived with Frank Grenier (creative and digital marketing Guru). With minimal budget and maximum freedom to develop ideas to grow mindshare, this is what we came up with.
A storytelling-style built around an engaging photo, with an entertaining story about the moment and the equipment being used to create the viewer experience. Flowing down to the lower section, a featured product gets an overview while the graphic calls attention to other products in the portfolio, followed by the corporate boilerplate and branding.
The company now has over 20 different product lines and services. I’d like to think that some of that growth and success stems directly from collaborative projects such as this.
Looking back… Time flies by in seasons as you immerse yourself in the demands of content creation.
Branding projects become a high for me when creative people come together and pour passion and skills into it. Thankfully, the path to my current position has been filled with super-talented subject-matter experts from many fields over the years… Its been a truly rewarding career choice for me…ツ
