After 20 years, we’re releasing a new-look Image Foundry, with a new website and insights section.
Welcome to the new-look Image Foundry. 2021 marks 20 years since we first opened our CGI studio, and we’ve learned and grown a lot in that time.
In fact, our whole thinking has changed and how we approach creating persuasive CGI for our clients to help them market products and properties.
The way we work now, at 20 years old, is all centred on our clients’ customers. We use this understanding along with our experience to create CGI that gets better results for our clients, and to provide strategic guidance for our clients on the type of CGI and on how and where to use it.
This is a fundamental change in focus we’ve adopted as a team, so we’re proud to be able to share it now through our new website and insights section, where we’ll be sharing original research, interviews and resources for anyone interested in marketing products and properties.
Take a look at what’s new:
Q&A with Anshul Kapoor, co-founder and director of Image Foundry
What’s new about Image Foundry?
The new website marks a complete refocus for us. On the face of it, it might look like we’re just relaunching our website, but it’s actually part of a journey we’ve been on over the last few years and something that’s been accelerated by the pandemic.
We’ve been creating CGI for product and property marketers for two decades. Over that time we’ve evolved, and where we are now is fundamentally different to where we were in the past.
We initially wanted to provide people with insights into how best to use CGI for their marketing. We can create a whole suite of content from a single 3D model, and we wanted to let people know that and how to use all that content to transform their marketing.
But then we started seeing so many more possibilities, and we’ve started working with researchers from leading universities to dig deeper and get more insights into customers and their behaviour, for instance on how their customers respond to different types of content on social media.
Our vision is to use these insights to create more persuasive CGI and guide our clients on how to use it to get the best results.
This relaunch is our way of marking this change in thinking and making it clear to our customers why we’re different and what they can expect from working with us.
What’s changed in 20 years of creating CGI?
If we look at how people consume content now versus 20 years ago, it’s completely different.
20 years ago, when you were buying something, you’d look in the Argos catalogue to find what you need, go into the shop, and speak to somebody. At most, maybe there were magazines you could read to find out more about the product or read reviews.
Now, with the explosion of the web and social media, when people buy a product, they’re looking at so much content and at other people, as well as the person producing the product.
But I think a lot of companies are still stuck in the past, where one image fits all sizes.
If you’re buying a car, it’s a bit different, as the manufacturer realises you’re buying an expensive piece of kit, so they give you a lot more content. But with products and even with bigger investments like bathroom suites and properties, there still isn’t that much content made available to people. We want to help our customers change that.
Customers want to be able to research these things more before buying, and be able to virtually touch and feel what they’re buying.
What are the main challenges your clients are facing in product and property marketing today?
Whether you’re a marketing manager representing a large property developer, a bathroom distributor or a windows and doors manufacturer, you’re likely part of a relatively small team with a great many different activities to coordinate. You haven’t always got the time to try and understand the content your customers really want to see.
I’m talking specifically about CGI here – this imagery is only a small part of what you manage and coordinate, while for us, we’ve been specialising in it for over 20 years.
At Image Foundry, we’re moving from being absolutely focused on our customers’ wants and desires, to actually understanding our customers’ customers and their wants and desires.
So, we can actually tell our clients and advise them on the kind of content they’re going to need on different channels, and how to use the content.
We’d like to let people know about all the possibilities that exist – about all the different content we produce and how it can be used.
It’s been over 20 years since you opened Image Foundry. What are you most proud of?
I think the fact that we’ve grown so much as a team and the skills we have. When we first started, architectural visualisation was not where it is today. 20 years ago, everyone wanted to get into gaming or film and Hollywood – visualisation was very much in its infancy.
We were one of the first in the market, and helping to train and develop people in that area and bring those skills on is something I feel very proud of. Not just here in the UK, but in India too, where CGI and visualisation were very much in their infancy. When we first opened our studio in India, people used to think it wasn’t a real career. Now, it very much is a career, and more and more people are getting into it. To have played a part in that is definitely something I’m proud of.
The other big thing is, of course, the quality of the work we’ve been able to achieve for clients and become known for.
What have been some of the most memorable client projects?
There have been lots! I remember our first marquee project was for TV. We did the opening title sequence for a programme called The Street, which was a Jimmy McGovern BBC One drama. The programme won awards at the BAFTAs and the Emmys, so that was exciting and helped to boost our profile, as we were part of that winning team. We’re very proud of what we achieved with that project.
A few years back, we were featured in 3D Artist magazine. It was really great to be recognised by the industry. Another memorable one was the Commonwealth village for the Commonwealth Games in India. We did the visualisation and flythrough animations. We’ve also been featured on TV a few times – for example, when our India office appeared on a News at 10 piece.
What plans do you have in store for Image Foundry over the next few years?
We want to be able to show our clients how to use the insights we’re sharing and all the content we create across various channels.
Over time, as we build our knowledge from working with researchers and clients, we’ll get a very detailed understanding of how people consume it. We’d like to establish ourselves as experts, not just in CGI, but in how to use it to best effect, so it’s more persuasive for more customers.
If a client comes to us and says they want a camera view of this property, or a product view from a certain angle, we want to be able to advise what the optimal view is, and we know it is because we’ve worked with researchers to find out.
So our vision is to take this new customer-focused approach forward and build on it – ultimately, to help our clients sell more products and properties.
Discover what’s new with Image Foundry
Check out our new website and insights section, and follow us on social media to keep up to date and join the conversation.
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