Photography and Marketing
SUMMARY
As a designer and photographer at Spur, I had the opportunity to photograph all of the headshots for our corporate employees as well as help design the About Us page interactions (twice). I also photographed workers and businesses on site for use on our website, in ad campaigns, and as office decor. Additionally I had the chance to work on a Super Bowl landing page and physical pin design.
MY ROLE
Photographer, Illustrator, Designer
Summer 2018 - Spring 2020
THE CHALLENGE
Create an interaction on our marketing website About Us page showcasing our diverse team and our motivated and playful culture.
THE SOLUTION
The website design had a very playful, illustrated style that really matched our start-up culture, and we wanted the entire team featured on an About Us page with that same feel. After researching and drawing inspiration from several other sites, and in collaboration with our Director of Marketing, we decided on a 2 photo approach for each team member:
A friendly, “hi, nice to meet you” photo would show by default
A fun, (almost) anything goes, personality photo would show on hover
With a little help, I converted one of our conference rooms into a photo studio and photographed, selected, and edited 2 headshots per person for 57 employees in 6 days of shooting over 2 weeks. Continued photographing new hires as needed.
When our company rebranded, I worked on the new About Us page as well. The dual photos idea was dropped, so I selected 1 headshot per person, converted them all to black and white per our new styling, removed the background, added dropshadows, and designed a new interaction for displaying the name and position on hover.
Hover animation created in Adobe XD
THE CHALLENGE
Photograph editorial “on-the-job” style photos of workers and workplaces that used Spur, for use on our website and in marketing materials.
THE SOLUTION
In collaboration with our Director of Marketing and Head of Sales, we booked photo shoots with 2 different clients. I photographed several workers and their managers on site at their workplaces.
Photos were used:
On our main company website
In social media ad campaigns
In our “Set Up & Go” guide for workers
As decor in our office lobby and conference room
THE CHALLENGE
Spur had the opportunity to staff custodial workers for Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta. When the opportunity arose, it required a very fast turn around to register potential workers and submit their information for the required FBI background check.
To make it a reality, one other designer and I were tasked to work with one developer and in one day, design and launch a landing page to collect workers’ info for the background check submission. I also had the privilege of designing a commemorative pin that we had made and gave to each worker that worked that Super Bowl job.
THE SOLUTION
Drop everything and go! We collaborated early to brainstorm and decide on a basic page layout. Then I worked on the hero image and form in the header, while the other designer worked on the rest of the page and information layout. We reviewed each other’s work frequently to give feedback and ensure we were on track. When my piece was finalized, I passed it to the other designer who added it to her full page layout and gave that to the developer.
For the pin, I sketched out some ideas on paper and in Sketch. Then used Adobe Illustrator to create the final vector art that was used to create the 1-inch circle pins.
LESSONS LEARNED
Do what you love and love what you do
As a photographer, it was awesome to get the opportunity to use that skill in addition to my designer role. It helped me get to know more people at the company and provided additional creative outlets that made a positive impact.
Have fun and make things
I wouldn’t recommend turning around landing pages in a single day as a rule, but with a little creativity, collaboration, and a lot of effort, small teams can make big things happen fast.