Architects of Awesome

Backstage Pass Stories

Ever wonder what a day in the life of a fabulous makeup artist to the stars is like? Experticity takes you behind the scenes with Lori Taylor Davis, Smashbox’s Global Lead Pro Artist, as she gets ready for a photo shoot at Smashbox Studios in L.A.

To do this piece, we did a long interview with Lori about her typical day, and other things like why she is so passionate about makeup, how she got started, and what her influences are. 

By following Lori around, we were able to have her introduce each Smashbox product and give personal tips along the way. It was a great way to mix Experticity branded content with Smashbox branded content. For the products, we used “Get the Look” sections that were set apart from the story (you can see images above).

Follow-up on the WHAT’S IN YOUR BAG seasonal story style!

PRIMER STORIES.

Adventures With Real Experts

For Timberland Pro’s new Story, we decided to take a different approach. Get out of the office, get out into the world, and talk to some people who use Timberland Pro workboots every day on the job. 

These boots are bred for the most extreme conditions, and the interwebs are full of boot-selfies at construction sites all over the US. So, I headed out to talk with Bryan, a construction worker with nearly 30 years experience, about why he’s so passionate about his job, the dangers he faces everyday, and most importantly, his feet. 

Of course, it was obligatory that he benchpress me to celebrate our new friendship. 

Some fun facts:

Construction is the most dangerous job in the US, 1 in 5 worker deaths last year were in construction. 

Bryan usually spends about 10-12 hours on his feet a day. A lot of this is on hard surfaces like concrete. It starts to hurt around hour 4.

In the Utah winters, you have to MUST have real waterproof -- and insulated -- boots. If your feet get into the cycle of getting wet and drying, they can start to crack which means a lot of pain, possible loss of mobility & days on the job. 

In the end, the danger and the pain is all worth it because of the pride and sense accomplishment you feel looking at a big building and saying, ‘Hey, I was a part of that.’ As Bryan put it, “It ain’t like you’re on an assembly line putting one single piece on something. You get to see it from start to finish and turn over a beautiful project to the owner.”

PS. We pitched this to Timberland yesterday with the shiny new design deck and they loved it. They literally said, “It’s great! I love how you captured the voice of the consumer.” 

Scrolling Into Full Screen Video

We did something SUPER cool with the 2nd Vida Tequila module -- scrolling into full screen video! This is our #firstattempt of this and soon we will be able to scroll in to autoplaying full screen videos. 

Inspiration: NYT Giant Slalom

Article-style Stories!

We pioneered the first article-style piece in Expert Voice for Vida Tequila. This scrolling 2-module build uses first-person Expert Voice to talk about Lisa Barlow, Vida Tequila, and the harvest of the agave plant in the highlands of Mexico.

Benefits of article-style pieces:

- Can be done with little to no assets from Client;

- Can be made quickly;

- We can geek out with a deep dive, without feeling like we are reading an advertisement;

- Engaging text in Expert Voice;

- One page scrolling feels natural

Check it out here:

What’s in Your Bag?

For the final module/story in the new Smashbox update, I want to do a What’s in Your Bag? story type. This last module usually features the ‘Seasonal Newness,”  but we are going to flip the script a bit using Lori Taylor, Smashbox’s Lead Makeup Artist. 

It will be called What’s in Your Bag, Lori?, and from getting an inside look at her bag, we will learn about the 5 hottest products for Fall. 

What’s in Your Bag?

Several mags, including Fashion Magazine (above) and The Verge have an ongoing series featuring a look inside someone’s bag. I want to use this as a Story in the new Smashbox update, asking Lori Taylor, Lead Makeup Artist, What’s in Her Bag? 

Another great variation of the article I posted below. The photos are a bit better quality, and the piece focuses a bit more on the bigger story rather than just one character. 

“Doing harm to others used to be my life as a gang member, and now LA kitchen is my gang.”

A simple but good Backstage Pass type piece about LA Kitchen, a business that trains and puts to work underserved populations, like ex-convicts. The main character, Kevin, is great - you learn a lot about the place & program through his personal story.

Also, the photos are simple and could have been shot by anyone (aka, amateurs photogs with a camera or cell phone). The text is about 1200 words, but stays readable (it could also easily be cut down).

Can humans live without music?