Creativity, Collaboration, Fun: It's What We Do

"In this world, you rarely get the chance to reinvent yourself." Our Video Production team really got it right in the beginning of our "New Face of PlattForm" video. You also rarely get the chance to be a part of something so exciting, limitless, innovative and meaningful.

I was brought in to the brand redevelopment 6-7 months ago – little did I know that those small meetings would turn in to something so special. After more than 4 years here, 2 buildings, 6 different desks, and so many colleagues that have become friends, I really couldn’t have been more excited to join in on our goal for the rebranding: Capture the feeling and passion of the people of PlattForm and put that into words/graphics/website/paper/marketing/position/the brand.

Looking back at our process – brainstorming, feedback, talking, emailing, collaborating, IM-ing, writing, sketching, digitizing – it’s hard to believe all the work we put into our new brand every single day by so many ridiculously smart and passionate people in each and every stage.

After reflecting on the process and why it was successful, I came to the realization that this is exactly what we do each day. It is what we know. It is who we are. We visit our clients, sketch random thoughts, talk with each other every day about different campaigns, take photos, interview people, brainstorm, talk, record, write, collaborate, and digitize – these all happen during the course of any campaign.

With the PlattForm rebrand, we did exactly what we do for our clients, and what we have done for so many years. Figure out what they are best at, who they are, what sets them apart, why customers flock to them, and exemplify that feeling throughout everything: the logo, website, Twitter/YouTube/Facebook profiles, collateral, the feeling when you walk into the building, the people you see in the building, the coffee mug you are given when you walk in the building, the coasters you use when you are in the conference room. I'm definitely not saying it was easy – it took commitment, drive, competitiveness, and inspiration. Since there are so many people within the walls of PlattForm that do this on a daily basis, it came natural for us to work together on this amazing collaboration: just like any client work.

So, my favorite thing about this project? It wasn't the weird QR codes we randomly placed in bathrooms that went to a "2 T Generator". It wasn’t hijacking the Tuesday candy cart and giving out T cookies that so many of us made the night before (harder than it sounds, btw). It wasn’t even our sweet video, or the dorky stuff like how the site is built in Drupal 7, using HTML5, CSS3, sprites, jQuery, or that we built a custom mobile site (although that is pretty close…).

My favorite thing about this project was what happens every day in this company: collaboration by the many passionate people in the building to meet the goal we set for ourselves, and exceeding it in many ways.

Here’s to you, my fellow PlattForm employees. Keep up the great work!

Matt on Google+