CLIENT
Fellowes Brands
FELLOWES
PORTRAY
Our solution was a groundbreaking experiential installation in Fellowes' Chicago showroom. This immersive tool transformed the conceptualization phase, enabling real-time visualization and collaboration, thus reducing weeks of negotiations to moments of creative convergence.
Our Solution
The initial stages of interior design projects were fraught with friction. Translating visionary ideas into tangible plans was a slow, iterative process, choked by the limitations of traditional CAD software and prolonged discussions.
Insight
Unraveling the core issue led us through a labyrinth of conversations within the Fellowes ecosystem. Amidst this complex web of needs and perspectives emerged a crucial insight: the genesis of a project was where we could make the most impact.
Challenge
Our goal was to create a tool around which the client, designer, and sales rep alike could have a meaningful conversation about design with layouts, products, options, materials, and finishes - all configurable in the blink of an eye and usable by the clients themselves.
PORTRAY was built from the ground up in the Unreal Engine to leverage its state-of-the-art real-time ray tracing capabilities for unparalleled and instantaneous realism, circumventing the need for lengthy CAD renders.
With a 27-foot-wide curved projection screen controlled by a pair of 55-inch touchscreen tables, users can create, customize, and iterate design concepts for interior spaces utilizing a novel but intuitive blend of physical and digital controls.
PORTRAY is an immersive interactive tool built for Fellowes Brands, a global leader in workspace solutions, as the flagship experience in their new Fulton Market showroom in Chicago.
Overview
One of the things that sticks out to me is the curiosity that the team had to learn our business. They were constantly either asking questions or on the journey, trying to understand our industry, our products, and how they could best add value to the process. And that was a hallmark."
John Fellowes
CEO & President of Fellowes Brands
"
When such a project is in these preliminary pre-specification stages, there's often a great deal of back-and-forth between designers, reps, and clients as each change has to be taken back to CAD software to be reconsidered and re-rendered (a process often taking weeks or even months). During this phase, functional needs, budgets, and timelines all have to dovetail with visual ideas to create a cohesive design.
And that’s where PORTRAY comes in.
Of course, each group had their own set of issues and challenges in their workflow; however, as their stories wove together, it became clear to us that the best place for a visualizer experience for Fellowes and for the industry at large, was in the early stages of a project when it’s still forming in the minds of the clients and designers.
When Fellowes came to us looking for a central digital experience in their new showroom, it kicked off an intensive period of research and explorations with their team, partners, clients, and industry veterans to determine the type of experience that could best suit them.
Research
UX & Design
We settled on the projector-and-touch-table format for Fellowes' system early on. After which the challenge became taking the vast catalog of furniture, workspace accessories, modular walls, materials, and finishes offered by Fellowes and create a design system that would comfortably integrate into the showroom.
This software needed to be approachable by any user - easy to comprehend and intuitive - without any of the complicated overhead of CAD software, but with enough freedom and flexibility to enable users to explore unique design ideas through a multitude of possible configurations.