Fast away the old year passes. And 2022—well, it went faster than ever. But that’s because time flies when you’re working tirelessly to learn new methodologies, expand your capabilities, and forge new client relationships.
And while it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, 2022 was, undoubtedly, a year of growth for the crew here at Cooper House. The highlights?
- Adding two new flags to our list of global hospitality clients
- Growing our full-time crew to a total of five (plus three more so far in 2023)
- Incorporating more evidence-based methodologies into our branding process
- Watching our clients’ brands come to life and grow their businesses
We’ve learned to refine our methods. We’ve learned the types of clients we love working for and with. And we’ve learned a thing or two about the mute-unmute-mute again dance that comes with taking global Zoom calls as a team in an open-concept office.
As we look forward at 2023, we’ve asked each crew member to share the project they’re most proud of from 2022 and what made the challenge interesting.
erin's favorite project:
We are bringing the hotel's history to life in interesting ways; it's been a really engaging puzzle.
I love ALL of our projects, so choosing a favorite is nearly impossible. That said, I really love the work we have created for the Belhaven Resort Hotel so far—particularly because of the location and the history.
The east coast of Delaware has this incredible story, and because our clients originally came from Macedonia, we’ve also gotten to research their culture and family history. We’ve gotten a glimpse into what it was like for immigrants to come to America in the 1920’s and start a business; the research was fascinating. We are bringing the hotel’s history to life in interesting ways through the customer experience and it’s been a really engaging puzzle.
Tim's favorite project:
We have found that our role on this team goes beyond creating the brand and includes a lot of cross-functional collaboration.
I would say that the Aztec Hotel project has been my favorite this year. It’s a larger project for our second Marriott Tribute hotel. With the Texas hospitality industry being on our list of preferred vertical markets, it was clear this project would be a feather in our cap. It also introduced us to the great people at Shreem Capital who quickly decided to pull us into another project, the Indigo Hotel in Las Colinas, because we worked so well together.
As is often the case, when hotel projects move through architecture to branding and interior design phases, the plans for the hotel morph and change. We have found that our role on this team goes beyond creating the brand and includes a lot of cross-functional collaboration. Shreem has already given us the highest rating with Marriott, and we’re excited to work with them in the future.
alaina's favorite project:
We designed a website that feels like a beautiful coffee table book.
This project was so much fun because of how much I love Sharon’s work. Her artful and distinctive flavor of interior design has always been inspiring to me, so I was very excited to help develop a new look for her website that would bring her design style into the digital space. The images for her new projects were stunning and we wanted to find the best way to showcase them. With that in mind, we designed a website that feels like a beautiful coffee table book. Horizontally fixed layouts for her portfolio projects give the images the spotlight and let the viewer navigate leisurely through the space the way they might view it in a book about great interior design.
fio's favorite project:
It was a design and product development bootcamp—and a logistical labyrinth.
I’m most proud of the Bob Moore x OKC Zoo Committed to Conservation Tram completed this past August. Together, Bob Moore and the Zoo wanted to update their electric trams to represent their shared mission for conservation. It was a design and product development bootcamp—and a logistical labyrinth. I went onsite and learned how to measure vehicles for a full-scale wrap project, how to edit schematics, and how to communicate expectations across teams. At every turn, I was pretty sure David Bowie was going to jump out and start singing the Magic Dance.
Along with the amazing folks at Lettering Express, we solved a lot of problems, including (but not limited to): figuring out where to wrap the trams because they were so large and difficult to transport, weatherproofing the vinyl to keep it from melting, and even bird-proofing.
hallie's favorite project:
It was so rewarding to dig deep and tell the story of how they’re giving back in the community.
Early in the year, we had the idea to create a series of coffee table books highlighting the Bob Moore story and their charitable partners across the state. It was a gargantuan undertaking. Christine Eddington helped get this project off the ground while I was on maternity leave, but I took over mid-year and saw it through to completion.
During my time on the project, I got to meet and interview employees from all 15 auto group locations, speak directly with leadership, work with our design team to manage content, and learn about the company culture firsthand. It was so rewarding to dig deep and tell the story of how they’re giving back in the community. And the finished product is really sophisticated and stunning.
rachael's favorite project:
We used our industry knowledge to make it all come together for a really beautiful result.
When I first started back with Cooper House this year, we needed to plan and art direct a photoshoot with long-time client, Betsy King. With a print ad deadline looming and many other items on the team’s plate, I was able to jump in headfirst and take over where I could. We hit a few bumps in the road: our model canceled on us at the last second, and scheduling was challenging under such a tight deadline. But we quickly found replacements, and we used our industry knowledge to make it all come together for a really beautiful result. Massive credit to Rachel Maucieri for bringing the vision to life effortlessly.
