Gayle Adams

The Assignment
Kendall Motor Oil is a sponsor of the Mecum Classic Car auctions. They have a booth at the auction, but wanted to increase attendance.

The Problem
To increase attendance, a 'manly' attraction was needed. These events are very testosterone-driven with jeans and flannel shirts in abundance. The art director suggested a Hi-Striker machine. I researched them, and the customization possibilities are very limited. You can put vinyl on the back board, but besides the game-play, the idea was stale. 

While brainstorming with one of Kendall's new bottles in the room, the art director said, "Could we put a Hi-Striker in the bottle?" I suggested we get CAD drawings from the manufacturer and I could build it.

I partnered with Atomic Props in Minnesota, and we built it.

The Solution
The Kendall High Striker is a place based, portable interactive attraction. It is 13.5' tall and features a metal frame and a foam body. A hard polymer coats the foam. We built light boxes behind the labels so different areas of the label can be lit up independently. There are also lights on the 'bell', and at the individual heights of the puck. It has motion sensors on the rail so it can detect how far the puck travels on impact, which trigger a variable MP3 player that plays 'Carnival Barker' audio depending on the input. It has a full sound system with enough power to be heard on the busy auction floor. Play the video to see it in action.

The Result
Attendance has increased; t-shirt sales and oil sales are up at the auctions.

The CJ4 Crystal Cube

The Assignment
The Art Director said “I want to have a USB drive levitating in a clear cube”.

The Problem
I researched polymers and manufacturing methods to try and find a solution, finally finding a vendor that does custom crystal manufacturing in China. The USB drive would need to be accessible so there would have to be a way to open the cube. I bolt upright at 2:30am with the idea of slicing the cube diagonally and nesting the top piece on the bottom. This would give us the most invisible seam and still allow the USB drive to be visually floating inside.

The Solution
My vendor in China was able to custom manufacture these cubes with a base that holds it all together. The top lifts off to reveal the USB drive sitting in a recess in the lower half of the cube. Add etching on the crystal with custom packaging and we had a beautiful USB drive 'levitating' in a clear cube.

The CJ4 Metal Book

The Assignment
Create a book that has metal and paper pages. It needs to be top-of-the-line and work as a direct mail piece.

The Problem
How do you bind a book that does not have flexible pages? I looked at creating hinged pages, but the budget would not support that. I decided on spiral binding. 

I had the acid-etched, enamel-filled aluminum pages manufactured in Texas. The four-color pages were offset printed on litho and laminated to white chipboard to match the thickness of the metal. I had to make sure that the metal die cut matched the paper die cut exactly.

Once I had the specifications for the thickness of the entire book, and the size of spiral binding, a vendor in Iowa was commissioned to make a custom box to fit the book with a special recess to cradle the spiral binding. Finally, I had a corrugated manufacturer in Chicago make a customized shipping box for mailing (not shown).

The Solution
All of the individual parts came together in Milwaukee for fulfillment. All of the parts fit perfectly and these all mailed out on time and on budget.

The Assignment
Create a book with clear pages whose images build upon one another.

The Problem
Pages printed on non-porous substrates need to be printed with UV cured inks, so the pages can dry before they are stacked at the end of the press. I also had to make sure that the visibility of the pages in the book would allow the back page of the content to be seen, and that the pages were thick enough to give it a quality feel.

The Solution
I partnered with a vendor in Milwaukee that uses a UV press. We printed four-color offset plus white on three types of vinyl with differing degrees of visual clarity so that we could create a book in sections, thus allowing only one chapter at a time to be viewed.

The Assignment
Make posters and collateral to support the HEAR Lincoln! TUNE project.

The Problem
The designer wants to use letterpress for the posters, but the budget does not allow all collateral to be produced on letterpress. Color will be critical across letterpress, offset and direct to disk printing.

The Solution
For the posters, I partnered with a letterpress company in Minnesota. We printed in Pink, Gray and a split fountain of Blue and Pink. We used letterpress paper so they could crush the image into the substrate. I brought a sheet to Omaha where the rest of the production would happen.

Working with the designer, I created a die line for a multi-fold CD case. Taking his original art, I made sure that all crossover images would line up when the project was complete. We offset printed the CD case on fine paper to match the posters, and we used the printed poster sheet to match the color.

I also took the poster sheet to the CD replicator, so they could match the color when they printed the face of the CD's.

The Result
Color match was achieved across three different printing methods.

The LIGHTLINE Logo

The Assignment
KI Furniture was introducing their new LIGHTLINE brand of glass cubicles. The logo was designed in a thin typeface and the designer wanted to have the logo reproduced in 3D Acrylic, and floating inside of the cubicle.

The Problem
How do you make something appear to float that weighs 650 pounds? 

The Solution
I partnered with a prop company in Chicago to make the acrylic letters. We laminated two 1/4" thick sheets of glass together to support the logo, drilled holes through it in six places and ran wires through the holes and through the letters. I worked with architects to make sure the ceiling could handle the load, and electricians to wire power for the fifteen articulating 5000 degree Kelvin light sources I specified. We were able to elicit exactly the shadows and highlights that we wanted to create. I was on-site to manage the installation and make sure that the kerning of the logo matched the lock-up.

The Result
The LIGHTLINE logo was a major attraction at the launch. I made a very heavy construct look light as a feather.

I had the same prop company fabricate acrylic lettering for the walls to promote their other brands of furniture. We pin-mounted the messages on the walls.
 

Bailey Lauerman Environmental Graphics and Collateral

The Problem
Bailey Lauerman had just moved into a new space. They had also crafted a new identity. The space was a little too sterile.

The Solution
I had big bold vinyl wall graphics installed, I produced pens, pencils, hats, letterpress business cards, coffee cups, USB drives and brochures.

The Result
The new space felt more like home, and the new brand came alive in the employees everyday life.

The Assignment
Create packaging for a new coffee company that shares it's profits with the City Mission.

The Problem
Coffee bean packaging must have an internal, food-grade liner and gas release valves. The budget did not allow local manufacturing of the bags.

The Solution
I partnered with a vendor in China that specializes in coffee bag manufacturing. They were printed and produced on time and on budget.

"Better Begins Here" internal Brand Book

The Assignment
Create a high quality book that has die-cut flaps that can open open up to reveal messages.

The Problem
In order to accommodate the flaps, we will need to have pages that fold back on themselves.

The Solution
This brand book is spiral bound, has a cover that folds back around the binding, and the internal pages fold back on themselves at the face, Several pages have die cut flaps to reveal hidden messages. Color management was critical across all mediums.

The Thinkoffs Collateral

The Assignment
The Thinkoffs are a nationwide brainstorming session for TD Ameritrade managers. We need to create collateral for the event.

The Solution
Mouse pads, Jackets, T-Shirts and other collateral were produced using digital printing, embroidery and screen printing. Color management was critical across all mediums.