Wall to Wall

Red Crown Productions, a New York-based development and production company founded by Daniel Crown and Daniela Taplin Lundberg that produces independent and studio-partnered high-end films, debuted Goats at the Sundance Film Festival.  Red Crown also launched the company's website, www.redcrownproductions.com, in concert with the film premiere at Sundance. The website was designed and developed by Wall-to-Wall Studios and includes the integrated branding firm's custom content management system (CMS).

Goats is directed by Christopher Neil, written by Mark Jude Poirier and stars David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Graham Phillips, Justin Kirk and Ty BurrellIn. The film's storyline has fourteen-year-old Ellis leaving his unconventional, luxurious desert home to attend the rigorous Gates Academy, where he reconnects with his estranged father.  Read more about Goats in the Sundance Film Guide or the Red Crown website.

Almost all of us are subjected to advertising, branding and marketing messages on a daily basis, whether we want it or not. Most say this type of messaging is annoying noise that clutters our lives, and much of it ends up being forgettable.

Consumers are able to tune out a “hard sell” message and ignore or skip it completely. However, making an emotional connection can often have the opposite effect: A consumer may choose to remember the brand or messaging, because it perhaps was unexpected, made them laugh, or even made them cry.

On Wednesday, January 25th at the IABC Pittsburgh PD After 5 event, partner and creative director from Wall-to-Wall Studios, Larkin Werner, will share some client case studies that utilize humor, emotion or wit to stand out against the competition.

Register for the event at the IABC Pittsburgh website.

Wall-to-Wall Studios is pleased to announce the addition of Levi McCallum as interactive developer in the Honolulu office. Prior to joining W|W, Levi, a native Australian, founded FutonMedia, a web development firm working for non-profit organizations. Levi has worked on interactive projects for Eezy (Brusheezy.com), Blue Planet Software (Tetris) and Loosecubes Inc. In addition, Levi has produced open source themes for Wordpress. But one of his first contributions to a W|W Client project was this voice-over for the Ballet Hawaii's Nutcracker TV spot. Good job, mate.

Wall-to-Wall Studios is seeking a Motion Graphics Designer/Animator. This is a full-time position in our Pittsburgh, PA location.

Job Description for Full-Time Candidate: 


The Motion Graphics Designer/Animator will be tasked with strategic direction and design development and technical execution. Assignments will include a wide variety of video and online marketing projects (TV commercials, corporate presentations, short films, web animations, etc.) for a broad range of clientele. He or she will work closely with creative directors and other team members to deliver quality results under high pressure deadlines. He or she displays an exceptional sense of visual design, passion for typography and a clear interest in motion graphics and related technology. View some past Wall-to-Wall Studios motion graphics/animation/video projects on our YouTube channel.

Responsibilities:

-Designing concept mood boards, storyboards, animation sketches, an sample animatics, including music and voiceover


-Designing and producing final motion graphics involving typography, photography, live video and/or 3D animation


-Producing projects ranging from end tags, bumpers, 30-sec commercials to longer format corporate productions


-Working closely with creative team, project managers, third-party collaborators and clients to deliver completed projects

Requirements:

-A minimum of 3 years related education or 3 years motion design work experience

-Serious attention to detail with a strong working knowledge of motion/design-related applications
-Ability to articulate creative ideas in verbal and written communication
-Focused creative thinking while multi-tasking on several assignments and overlapping deadlines
-Collaborate closely, yet remotely, with our creative team across the pond in Honolulu, HI

Technical Skills:

-Advance knowledge of After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Cinema 4D preferred

-Moderate knowledge of Final Cut Pro, Mac OS, and Quicktime

-Advanced knowledge of 2D and 3D animation

-Moderate knowledge of VFX (motion tracking and creating track mattes)

-Must be self-motivated, able to multi-task and work well with others and as part of a team

Perks include:

-Great learning environment

-Benefits including retirement plan, medical, dental, vision, life & disability insurance

-Rootbeer on Tap
 

About Us:
Wall-to-Wall Studios is an award-winning multidisciplinary creative and branding agency. Founded in 1992, we are a full-service strategic firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a second office in Honolulu, Hawaii. Our work spans many industries, and our clients are just as diverse - big, small and in between; local, regional and national. We have experience representing the full emotional and aesthetic spectrum.

To apply, please view our Resumator job posting here.

Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.

Congratulations to Wall-to-Wall Studios very own Dr. Science, Mr. Scott Werner and his small gaggle of geeks for being selected as one of five finalists for the 2011 Virgina Tech Manufacturing Innovation Competition. Their entry, a surge protector that communicates per outlet power usage to a web site, enables people to monitor their power usage and power costs on a per device basis and also turn the power on or off remotely. Can't find that at your local Home Depot...yet

On Oct 16, 1992, James Nesbitt drove his slightly rusty Volvo down from Boston (filled with artwork, art supplies, a fax machine and dirty laundry) arriving at the doorstep of Bernard Uy's tiny apartment on Walnut Street in Pittsburgh (filled with cheap furniture, Mac IIci + 13" color monitor, coin-op laundry machine) to launch a partnership that was a mash-up of fine art and communication design.

About 10 days later, we chose a name for this startup. Our very first self-promo postcard was designed to (a) be cheap to produce, (b) amuse ourselves, (c) make best use of the labcoats we had just purchased for important meetings, and (d) was pretty much inspired by this.

Some trivia for those of you who are still reading this:

W|W's first paying client: Pittsburgh Dance Council.
First assignment: Mikhail Baryshnikov & Twyla Tharp at the Benedum Center.
Budget for design + illustration: +$500
B&W (300dpi) laser printer: –$1000
Art supplies: –$30
Groceries & toilet paper: –$50
Starting a business to earn less than minimum wage: Priceless.

Nineteen years, many clients and two office locations later, I'm still proud to say that this has all been made possible because James thought it would be a cool idea.

Thanks James.

Thanks everyone, especially our amazing Partners and incredible Team.
Happy 19th Birthday, Wall-to-Wall Studios. 

-Posted by Bernard.

P.S. "And remember, there's never a fee until we bill you."

The Wall-to-Wall Studios sponsored "NOISE" kicks off tonight, August 25th, at the Lava Lounge. NOISE is a concert series showcasing musicians with day jobs that relate to design, web, advertising, printing and more. The inaugural NOISE event features:

يصم الآذان أردية الفج: An ethnomusicological obscurity from the far corner of the cut-out bin.

The Velcro Shoes: Infectious, pounding and unabashed, the band you remember wanting to see.

The Wakening: Pittsburgh’s inescapable surfing zombies invite you to a beach barbecue…and they won’t take no for an answer.

Wall-to-Wall Studios is sponsoring "NOISE", a concert series which showcases musicians with day jobs that relate to design, web, advertising, printing and more. The first NOISE event takes place at 9pm on Thursday August 25 at the Lava Lounge on Pittsburgh's Southside.

Here's a sneak peak at the behind the scenes of "NOISE", the first of a series of concerts showcasing musicians with day jobs that relate to design, web, advertising, printing, etc.  Wall-to-Wall Studios interactive developer Maurice Rickard built up a Nebulophone kit--it's a sound synthesizer on a little circuit board. It's tiny, but it has a lot of the niceties you'd find in a much larger instrument (arpeggiator, LFO, glissando, five waveforms, a couple noise modes...). It's based on the open-source Arduino platform, for extra creative-technical cred. Maurice will probably work it into one or another of his electronic music projects. All we know is it makes one hell of a noise.

A classic photo was recently unearthed from the Wall-to-Wall Studios archival vault.  The image, from 1996, was used in a Pittsburgh Magazine article that featured young, successful entrepreuners in Pittsburgh. The image showcases Wall-to-Wall Studios co-founders James Nesbitt and Bernard Uy getting down to business. Today, both creative directors are sporting the same hair style, but James has gone grey while Bernard has a "wee" less of it.

View more recent Nesbitt and Uy images here.
 

What sets your business apart from your competitors? How can you craft a “personality” for your business (and why)? How can technology and social media help drive your business success? Why is it important to build a brand and how can you do it? Are brands only for big businesses or can a small business build a brand too?  

We hope to tackle these and other questions when we join small business owners for the next SmallBiz Lunch and Learn on Friday, July 22: “Leveraging Technology and Social Media to Grow Your Small Business” by Hawaii Business Magazine. Wall-to-Wall Studios co-founder Bernard Uy will be participating in a panel discussion with Cyrus Driver (VP of Oceanic Time Warner Business Class), Roxanne Darling (partner at Barefoot Studios),  and moderated by David Tumilowicz, Publisher of Hawaii Business magazine. See you there!

Event details here.

Follow along via Twitter - #HBLunchLearn

Almost all of us are subjected to advertising, branding and marketing messages on a daily basis. Most say this type of messaging is annoying noise that clutters our lives, and much of it ends up being forgettable. However, making an emotional connection can often have the opposite effect: A consumer may choose to remember the brand or messaging because it was, perhaps, unexpected, made them laugh, or even made them cry.

On Sunday May 29, FLUX Hawaii Magazine presents their first TALK STORY SESSIONS - an all-day workshop event "designed to educate, evolve and inspire the local creative set through interactive dialoguing." Wall-to-Wall Studios co-founder Bernard Uy will host a session called: "I Laughed, I Cried, I Remembered," sharing some of the company's client case studies that utilize humor, emotion or wit to stand out against the competition. No kidding.

See you at the swanky Waikiki Edition Hotel's Crazybox Lounge.

Follow @walltowall

"FLUX Hawaii is the only magazine propelling an entrepreneurial generation toward positive social and creative action within our communities through a thoughtful cultivation of dialogue and a strong commitment to quality of design." Cool. And for some reason, they still decided to do a profile of Wall-to-Wall Studios as part of their "Art & Design" issue, which just hit the newsstands this month.

"Most of us are capable of discerning which advertisements are successful and which aren’t simply through observation of our responses to them. But when it comes down to it, what does it really take to create a successful campaign? Nestled in the bustling creative hub that is downtown Chinatown, the design firm Wall-to-Wall Studios is working to address this very question..."

Special thanks to the fine folks of FLUX Hawaii, publisher/editor Lisa Yamada, creative director Ara Laylo , writer Carolyn Mirante and photographer John Hook.  Interview, photoshoot at the Honolulu office... the whole nine yards. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this issue, or better yet, subscribe.

Also, W|W co-founder Bernard Uy will be a featured speaker ("Humor, Emotion and Wit in Branding") at FLUX Hawaii's all day multimedia event "Talk Story Sessions" on May 29th at the Waikiki Edition Hotel. See you there.

Wall-to-Wall Studios is pleased to announce the addition of Sara Stevens as Business Development Associate, Maurice Rickard and Scott Werner as Interactive Developers and Casey Worthing as Production Assistant to the firm's Pittsburgh, PA office. Sara earned a BS of Psychology from Washington State University. Prior to W|W, Sara was a regional manager at Big Fin, a web design and search marketing company and a senior account executive at Peak Systems, a full service web development agency, both of which are headquartered in Seattle, WA. Sara is a certified Google AdWords Professional. Maurice holds a BA and MFA in English from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining W|W, Maurice was Lead Developer at Actual Size Creative, a Pittsburgh based creative firm.  Scott holds a BA in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and is pursuing his MS in Internet Information Systems at Robert Morris University. Prior to joining W|W Scott worked as an Analyst at US Bank and as a SAP Content Migrator at Mylan. Scott also launched an entrepreneurial venture, Computers N’at, which provided PC support services.  Casey holds an Associates degree in Graphic Design from the Pittsburgh Technical Institute. Prior to joining W|W Casey worked in Qatar as an intern for Fitch and for Carnegie Mellon University.  Welcome aboard!

Wall-to-Wall Studios is pleased to announce the addition of Malia Wisch as Senior Designer and Jane Nguyen as Senior Account Manager to the firm's Honolulu, HI office. Raised in Kailua, HI, Malia holds a BFA in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon University. Most recently, Malia worked as the in-house Graphic Design Director for Honolulu-based, Tori Richard, a premier resort wear design and retail brand. Malia was also a designer at Fathom Creative in Washington, DC and at Info Grafik in Honolulu, HI. Jane holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Hawaii. Prior to joining W|W, Jane worked at Anthology Marketing Group / Starrtech Interactive as Senior Account Manager, preceded by her work at MVNP Advertising as Account Executive. Welcome aboard!
 

Last week, the Honolulu office was honored with a visit by graphic designer Chris Pullman (former WGBH Art Director; Professor, Yale University School of Design) during a Wall-to-Wall First Friday Happy Hour, no less. We got to chat about work, motion graphics, humor in design, our own experiments in television and AIGA. Mr. Pullman has won not one but two of the highest possible honors from AIGA. The first was the Corporate Leadership Award, which the company he shaped, Boston public broadcasting network WGBH, won in 1985. In 2002 Mr. Pullman received the AIGA Medal for his career as a designer and teacher. Mr. Pullman was in town for the opening of "Green-House-Divided," works by his wife, photographer Esther Pullman, at the Pegge Hopper Gallery up the street. (Check out her show through the month of April!)