City of Austin
Commissioned by Cloudera in collaboration with Red Rider Studios, this double-walled 27' X 5' mural was designed for a busy S. Congress (SOCO) high-rise in bustling South Austin.
The Outcome
The Challenge
515 Congress Ave is clean, modern, new build housing dozens of national businesses. Bank of America was already established on the ground floor. Cloudera wanted to establish a more locally-owned, grass-roots flavor in order to appeal to their new clients. Most of their new clients attend meetings in-house. The interior feel of the new space was cold and rigid.
The Role:
Red-Rider studios of Taylor Texas garnered a reputation for quality mural installations. They approached me with the challenge and the criteria that the client loved typography. I developed the artistic direction, typography, illustrations, and entire design of the mural. Red-Rider studios did the installation.
Cloudera is now the #1 Cloud-Based management company in Austin. Their clients comment fondly on the engaging pop-art design which builds rapport with sales consultants.
Not only have local sales increased by 25%, team moral is more convivial.
The Process
Interview:
Every new client is interviewed in-depth to identify the company's core values, project requirements, and specifications. It became clear that the technical nature of cloud-management tends to lack style and personality. Cloudera is seated in the cutting-edge of cloud-based tech. Cloudera is also seated in the heart of SO-CO, one of Austin's most hip neighborhoods. Owners and employees strongly value innovation in tech, pop-culture, and engaging execution.
Defining the Specs:
Their shot-gun office layout lent itself to a double-walled installation on the right and left-hand sides. Two 27' X 5' murals would be designed to speak "Austin" through and through.
Cloudera's main input on design was that they loved typography. During the research interview, we identified that the mural should speak Austin through and through in order to appeal to local businesses and overcome the "national franchise" aesthetic of 505 Congress.
Cloudera requested specific words that spoke to Austin's vibe: "Food, Music, I love Austin."
Research:
With most design projects, I shamelessly resort to Pinterest before beginning the design phase. I developed a board filled with designs and illustrations that I felt embodied the spirit of their team and Cloudera's brand story. From this board, Cloudera chose 2 different concepts to explore with rough renderings. While the two chosen directions were vastly different, they both embodied the fun, local, human spirit of Austin.
The Design Process:
I started with the 2 directions inspired by Cloudera's chosen pins, from Pinterest. One required significant illustration and "doodling". The other required a stucco-like background and a more iconic approach to graphics. Due to the time-intensive nature of the first concept's illustration, I kept this round fairly rough to avoid leaching the budget. The client chose the more simple, pop-art inspired design.
I finished the second concept out to cover the right-hand wall. Eeyore's birthday is a local festival which had just occurred. While they loved the concept, they realized that foreigners to Austin might not get the referrnce. We revised the first design to reference Willie Nelson instead.
With the right-hand wall design approved, I started in on the left. As a long-time Austinite and 7th Gen Texan, I knew the key words, Southern Hospitality and SOCO (South Congress) were important to locals. Also, Barton Springs and, of course, Hats and Boots. With zero revisions to the next design, this project was a true zip.
