Newell Rubbermaid wanted into a market where every tech already had a favorite tool and no reason to switch.
Role
Creative technologist
Organization
Sullivan Higdon & Sink
Hilmor was a new HVAC tool brand from Newell Rubbermaid. HVAC techs are as loyal to their tools as anyone in the trades, the same way the Milwaukee or DeWalt guys might get a tattoo of their favorite brand. You have your gear, it has never let you down, and a brand nobody’s heard of has no way in.
Early in the project, we spent a lot of time going to HVAC tool shops, talking to professionals and looking at the competition’s brands, and the thing that stuck with me was how ugly it all was. Loud, cluttered, aggressive, the visual language of a category that had never once been designed.
Hilmor went the other direction. Black and green, clean, ergonomic, closer to OXO Good Grips than to anything else. The client had noticed that HVAC tools were miserable to actually hold, cold hands and sweaty hands and greasy hands, and had built a whole line around gripping better in the field.
I created the functional design spec and the wireframes, as well as developed the site based on designs from the creative team.
The brand strategy called for an anthem, a 90-second piece of motion to give a tool company some swagger. Given that I had spent 10 years in video animation, I also put the motion graphics together, and cut the final piece.
