Working at Pittard Sullivan was one of the most rewarding challenges, Jacquie Granger ever encountered in her career. The experience set the pace for her future projects and established a dedication along with drive towards design excellence. The world-class designers at PS were from all over the world and helped bring together many campaigns for several Entertainment Industry power brokers like Universal, Discovery and Viacom.
Even the building with it’s maze of stairs, glass, iron and ship wood was an historical architectural masterpiece in Culver City on Hayden Avenue. It was a very unique place, filled with innovation, creativity and fun!
“When I walked into that building for the first time, I was a design rookie. I’d done a website or two, which involved hand coding HTML and a couple jobs in publishing, so it was limited at best, ” explains Granger. “I got to cut my designing teeth very quickly because Ed (Sullivan) believed I had a designer’s eye and literally pushed me — it’s was literally trial by fire.”
On TiVo, Granger was an intricate part of the design team that created the aesthetics for the the brand. From the backgrounds of the user interface to the logo, the team worked diligently to provide the client with engaging graphic and content interaction, producing a high-polished, elegant appearance. Remember, back in those days, we didn’t have online streaming and Comcast onDemand. TiVo was cutting-edge technology.
“TiVo was my first real 360 campaign account work that just invigorated me… I was working with some of the best of the best and it was amazing to have my own artistic inner workings jump to life.”
With DirecTV, the design team was tasked for the branding, using logo and interaction creations. “…the company was more of a corporate entity – much more straight-laced than TiVo or any of my other projects… We had to produce at the same level but keep it a low-key design feel like you generally see in Corporate America.”
Granger’s thoughts with the whole Experience…
“Pittard provided a real hub for your imagination to run wild while learning new skills. I got to work on three commercials – two were animated – while there and just being around the production was inspiring. The HBO spot ran for a number of years and it was pretty awesome to sit there and watch it every time it came on. I was there! It was an irreplaceable experience that’s affected my design aesthetic ever since…”
While it closed in April 2001, PS’s mark on the world is still ever-visible in many campaigns running today. For example, HBO has used their Feature Presentation commercial in both long and short form for almost two decades. The TiVo man still remains unchanged as with DirecTV.
“I was very fortunate to work there. The whole place just oozed with artistic expression! We were all rewarded for breaking the rules and making it work for all our clients! It wasn’t work because we had so much fun doing our jobs,” states Granger. “It’s probably the reason why, even to this day, creating is not just a gig for me; it’s my life’s passion!”