A new FRONT DOOR

At Design Contact our work is applied to an array of events, trade show booths, corporate meetings, exhibits, etc.  Over the past few years we have added projects in a sector that truly resonates with all our strengths, BRANDED INSTALLATIONS.  Two notable environments under our belt are the MERCK VACCINES GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS LOBBY located in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and the ADOBE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTER in San Jose, California.

The MERCK VACCINES LOBBY INSTALLATION was designed to reconnect employees to the purpose of their work and the key role that focusing on customer focus plays in the company’s success.  The installation provides a series of consecutive chapters that unfold
the story of the MVD Customer Experience.

Being in the ADOBE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE CENTER feels gracious and elegant, as if you just walked into a sophisticated townhouse, decorated with art and digital experiences.  The design elements are delicate yet they encourage engagement without being overtly promotional.  

 

 

Features included a gallery of devices- designed allow hands on experiences; a portal to the AMDM virtual museum site; exploration of educational initiatives; and examples of print to digital magazines.

In early September 2012, Freeman Co. asked us to join them in creating a branded CUSTOMER CENTER FOR CVS CAREMARK attached to their pharmaceutical facility outside Chicago and we were up to the task.  This is an on-going project so is still under wraps.  We eagerly await the day when we can show you all the unique details of this advanced technology experience.  Stay tuned.

 

2013 Walmart Celebration

Celebrate Your Successes.  This is a mantra we should all keep and Walmart designates a handful of days each year for just that.  Walmart's Shareholder, International, and Associates meetings celebrate the company's diverse successes with special guests, musical performances, and powerful presentations by top executives.

 

 

 
The 2013 Associates celebration needed a design that would highlight the vast opportunities Walmart provides around the world for its associates and customers:  career advancement, women's empowerment, education, and savings for customers, contributing to communities, and sustainability.  To do so, Drury Design asked us to join forces with them to create a dynamic set that was uplifting, powerful & progressive.

 

 

During the Shareholders Meeting, special guest MC, Hugh Jackman, kept the 15,000 attendees engaged and excited throughout the show.  He introduced a star-studded lineup of musical performers such as Kelly Clarkson, John Legend & Jennifer Hudson, actor Tom Cruise, and was able to perform a bit himself.

 

 

For those of us who weren't able to attend the meetings in Fayetteville, Walmart offered a live, online telecast so anyone could witness the event.  We learned about Walmart's impressive progress in many areas, including their green initiatives such as the plan to have their headquarters in Mexico be 100% sustainable in 2017 (currently they are at 80%...pretty great!).

Can You Hear That Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger Sizzle?

Claim Your Taste Promo pops up in Union Station.

 

 

Wendy’s called on Eventrex Productions to draw attention to a new online game called “Claim Your Taste” and to promote their new Right Price Right Size value menu.

 

Claim Your Taste allows customers to have a direct role in the promotion of Wendy’s productions while also promoting themselves and their personal tastes via social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.  Wendy’s wanted to illuminate how eating is an experience so their new menu has given the menu items a nice dash of proverbial spice through saucy nicknames like SIZZLE, FRESHY, POW, and CRISPY.  It is these nicknames that have strengthened consumer-based marketing for Wendy’s and broadened the scope of their audience.

 

 

Brad Shaw of Eventrex Productions approached us to bring these creative ideas to fruition through engaging, innovative design.  The program was executed on a very short turn around and our communication with Brad throughout the entire process allowed for streamline ideas, effective design and efficient build requirements.   

 

In order to bring Wendy’s ideas to life, we designed a number of fun activities that promoted both onsite and social media engagement.

 

 

Tasty Trio Toss, was a grown-up version of the carnival beanbag game.  One side of each panel has the new Experience Name (POP) while the other has an image of the menu item (Soda).  The idea was to familiarize the public with Wendy’s Experience branding AND to encourage guests to play their results online at www.claimyourtaste.com for a chance to win!  And get this!  The grand prize winner will become the official virtual spokesperson for Wendy’s Right Price Right Size menu.

 

We also designed a photo op area where people got to claim their taste in another way.  While enjoying a fun, cut-out photo scene, people chose any 3 of the 18 menu items to be featured in their photo then either Post, Send, or Print the image; a colorful keepsake from this food-full-fun event.

 

The event was such a success that it is now headed for a country-wide tour!

 



BIG thinking + INTEGRATED disciplines + REAL WORLD applications

This is worth a closer look  - CNN's NEXT LIST -  a great piece on architect Bjarke Ingels as well as a blog contribution by him.     CNN NEXT

BIG thinking + INTEGRATED disciplines + REAL WORLD applications. Three things that rarely come together in one place. I think his energy and insight are refreshing and if his approach is can be grasped and practiced more widely even the smallest design projects can be elevated to a more meaningful place. 

Have a look.

SOLVE THE RIGHT PROBLEM

"Wow, that was the easiest meeting we have ever had with the client". 

"The account team was astonished that the client liked what we presented on the first shot".

While we were very happy to take the compliment after the fact, the real groundwork for success was laid well before those meetings.  And it started with listening at the input session. 

• Not only to the list of "needs"  - which were dutifuly recorded
• Not only to the budget challenges - which were clear and present
• Not only to the logistics issues - which were typically complex

But to the one or two very essential elements that would constitute success for the client.  Defining what success looks like is the primary step to achieving it.  Many very handsome solutions can fulfill the bulleted needs listed above, but fail to succeed for the client.

So for us understanding the real problem is half the battle; often times it’s two-thirds the battle. We employ a rigorous process of discovery to look at problems from different perspectives, define the right objectives, and uncover solutions in what may seem like unexpected places.

Drop us a note to find out how, with FREEMAN, we helped NCTA and CTIA set their eyes on new solutions for 2012.

DESIGN IS ART IN THE SERVICE OF COMMERCE

We share our building with music studios, film production companies, a trendy fashion magazine and architects.  Jay Z even has a studio called Rock the Mike.  It's a pretty creative place.

And like any creative space, it has it's share of creative types utterly fed up with the business realities of design.  A common refrain in the elevator - "we don't do art anymore" - but I ask - did we ever?  This is not a new question - it has been asked for centuries.  Oxford University Press has a paper on the subject in its Journal of Design History discussion the issue in the 18th century.  In it I found the core of the issue...
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"The conflicts arising from the different objectives of commercial success on the one hand and the protection of [creative] standards on the other" has vexxed creative types since the time of the Greeks.

Of course we create- and often with beautiful results, but it is for the benefit of another -and that is what makes it "design" and not wholly "art".  When commissioned to solve a problem on behalf of a client or customer our immediate challenge is to solve an aesthetic problem on top of practical and economic ones.  

Perhaps one of the most inspiring lives in design was lived by Buckminster Fuller... who best summarized our philosophy toward our work:

"A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor, mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary strategist.

When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong"    - R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER

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We take the creation of a beautiful solution very seriously...  and we seek to create experiences that deliver more than just beautiful spaces. We create experiences that serve your business objectives and net you concrete results.

Ours is the art of the aesthetic solution:

Bottom line – our success is measured by your success in the marketplace.

DESIGN TEAM CONTINUES TO GROW

 
Elke Schnittker and Ann Bartek came to us from very different paths.  They each have recently taken on direct design roles at DesignContact, working with Principal Tony Castrigno adding fresh ideas while drawing on the combined 50+ years of experience Tony and managing partner John Moyik bring to the work.

The team draws on the talents of designers like Elke Schnittker (top left) – whose architectural training brings a studied aesthetic as well as a critical eye on design to her work. Elke contributes to the design, creative development, ideation, and visualization on the projects she leads as well as those she collaborates on with the principals. These skills are complemented by her abilities in 3D and CAD, where she helps assure ideas and concepts become the drawings that bring them to life.

Bringing a theatrical sensibility to our studio is designer, Ann Bartek, (top right) whose critical mind is always seeking the “why” behind every detail and who brings a fresh perspective to our design solutions. She looks for the design to tell a visual story – be it branding, product or narrative – and that becomes the foundation of her thinking. Ann is also critical to the DesignContact workflow that assures a continuity of concept ‐‐ from idea to reality ‐‐ that is unparalleled in our business.

Please look for them as we introduce them to projects in their new roles. In the meantime, find them at:

Elke.Schnittker@DesignContact.com   or +1.212.792.2948

Ann.Bartek@DesignContact.com    or +1.212.792.2943