"During the project, we were at the height of the pandemic. Unemployment was high, and small businesses were closing by the millions. Those that managed to survive reinvented themselves to respond to the moment."Forbes Media
Q: Tell us about your initial moodboard, wireframe, or prototype. How did things change throughout the process?
A: As we moved through the development phase of the WPA-inspired posters, we realized that we would need different typefaces than the ones we owned to make the posters look authentic.
Q: What influenced your chosen technical approach, and how did it go beyond past methods?
A: During the project, we were at the height of the pandemic. Unemployment was high, and small businesses were closing by the millions. Those that managed to survive reinvented themselves to respond to the moment. This made them heroic, which made us think of the WPA when the American worker was celebrated in poster form. We turned to photographer Chris Crisman. He creates images that capture the heroism and meaning behind a person’s work.When did you experience a breakthrough or an "a-ha" moment during this project?
This project was a true collaboration for our team between the image, the poster concept and the type. Everybody was really excited and made significant contributions. When we saw the elements come together as a final poster, we knew we were onto something.
Q: What web technologies, tools, and resources did you use to develop this?
A: This story was built and published within Forbes' proprietary CMS, Bertie. Bertie allows our teams the freedom to build unique and engaging feature stories by offering custom styling and layout options as well as the ability to seamlessly integrate graphics and interactives created with 3rd party tools.
Q: How did you balance your own creative ideas and technical capabilities with a fair representation of the client’s brand?
A: We can have all the ideas in the world, but without the product support from our technical team, we could never bring them to life. At Forbes, the product team, the technology and the art team have to work hand in hand. In an ideal world, we would always be working together at the same pace, but that’s not how it goes. One team is constantly pushing the other to move forward.