Case Study: Melles Griot
Shining "light" on a brand
The Background
Melles Griot is a multi-faceted international company and major OEM supplier. Its products and services support the creation, control, and position of light for the biotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, entertainment, and reprographics industries. Melles Griot is a division of Barloworld Scientific, a diversified industrial leader for scientific product markets.
The Challenge
Melles Griot approached Rhizome to create a new look and feel for parts of their new 1,000-page product catalog for the international marketplace.
The Solution
Rhizome brainstormed creative ideas with the client based on images of light that were focused, refracted, and projected through a glass-etched globe. Giving a nod to both companies, the roundness of the globe reflected Barloworld's international reach and the light moving through the object would visually reflect Melles Griot's, create, control and position branding.
Rhizome art directed a photo shoot with photographer Robert Pennington to create the new concept. A 2-inch diameter glass globe, etched with countries and latitude and longitude lines was set up precisely with lights rigged to reflect and refract light onto and through the globe. The new images captured the brand needs of the companies involved and set the tone for the design expressions Rhizome wanted to achieve throughout the catalog.
The Result
The new style was embraced and the images became the focal point for the new catalog cover, divider pages, new product announcements, and capability sections of the catalog. Additionally, the project was transformed into larger-than-life animation and tradeshow graphics for the catalog's debut in Munich, Germany, a show that was so successful Melles Griot sales reps received over a thousand new leads during the course of the event - a gain of almost 50% over previous shows.
On the heels of that success, Melles Griot has hired Rhizome to conceive and art direct a location shoot at their headquarters in Southern California and implement on-going marketing projects for the company.
