I joined the growing crew of Walz Tetrick Advertising shortly after they had moved into a new and larger building. Although most of the floor had been designed, decorated, and painted to our needs, the very first thing people entering the agency saw when stepping off the elevator was a big blank wall. I was tasked with conceiving and executing a creative way to use or decorate this wall, that would fit the look and feel of the agency.

The Agency

The walls of our agency were decorated with frames prints of our work, with painted murals about our brand, with shelves and shelves of our awards and accolades, our brand colors represented in paint and upholstery choices. In all this, the one thing I thought it lacked was any representation of a human presence, and I liked the idea of clients, guests, and visitors getting a glimpse of who we are– the people who make up the company. So I began to plan ways to showcase this idea.

At the time, we numbered just shy of 60 employees, so individual portraits would be possible; a fun way to fill the space and grab visitor’s attention. One of the things to consider was that the staff of any place of employment tend to change over time, whether it’s retirement, interns, new hires– whatever I designed, we’d need the ability to change it easily. The other thing to consider: this collective installment needed to represent our company (as the first thing visitors would see), so the tone needed to stay light and friendly and fun– not too serious or cold. Only a quarter of us were creatives, and even fewer felt comfortable in front of a camera.

Environmental Design Solution

My solution for the need to change the photos was a series of curtain wires spanning the wall, using hooks to hang the photos from each of these wires. That also left a lot of versatility in the size and the placement of the photos. I took measurements, sketched solutions (taking into account the need to access the fire extinguisher box, mid-wall), and had the hardware installed.

Portrait Photoshoot

With my photography background, I felt comfortable shooting studio portraits, so I organized a time with each person at the company for a photoshoot spanning 5 business days. My solution for the tone of the photoshoot was threefold.

First, I tasked each person to bring an outfit or props that represent something they are passionate about –a hobby, a skill, a special interest– whatever they love to spend their time doing.

I wanted to make sure that everyone felt at ease, and familiar upbeat music generally helps loosen people up. But due to our diverse age range (20s-70s), one playlist wouldn’t cut it for everyone, so I organized separate music playlists for each age group to set any subject at ease during the shoot.

I provided examples of people in silly and out-of-the-box portrait poses, as well as privacy from the rest of the company so that each person could be at ease during the shoot. Last, I bought and created a collection of unexpected props, and midway through each person’s photoshoot, I had them add one of my props to their pose or ensemble.

Photoshopping

Once I had my composition, I (digitally) laid out the portraits, using the taller or wider sizes on the portraits that utilized that space.

Next, I selected each portrait, photoshopped each person and prepared the background for a color change. This included color retouching, skin retouching, slimming, fly-away elimination, and COB’ing for each of the 58 employee portraits.

Then I began to apply our brand colors as backgrounds to each of the portraits, ensuring that no visually distracting color pooling would happen. With the background colors the portraits were finished, and I was able to print them in-house and spray mount them on foamcore backing.

Painted Mural

Due to the way the fire extinguisher box interrupted the installation, I decided a small mural painted directly on the wall would be a good way to fill that space. There were already a few painted murals on the walls of the agency, and together with the team we came up with the right words, “You can’t start a fire without a spark” to accompany the portraits while keeping with the messaging of our branding, where we are represented as a torch.

The associate creative director and I painted the mural ourselves, and when it was finished, we hung the portraits according to my composition.

Social Post

After the installment was finished, I was tasked with creating a social post about it for our social media. I tried a couple video sweeps of the wall, but the poor light and the shape of the hall made it difficult to really appreciate all the portraits, so I created a small storyboard for a video, and got to work.

I flashed back from the mural –showing a few words at a time– to the portraits, showing each one briefly, but long enough for the viewer to get the impression of fun. Our writer wrote “We are the spark” for the post content, helping to connect the dots– the employees are the spark that light up the torch that is Walz Tetrick Advertising.