Zendesk AI Product Launch Photography
Setting the photographic tone for a new feature set for Zendesk
Year
2024
Services
Design art direction, photographic art direction, brand systems, photo production
Introduction
Our internal Zendesk creative team was tasked with developing a conceptual photographic direction to support the launch of new AI capabilities, workforce engagement tools, and quality insurance features. The feature set would be launching with Relate 2024, Zendesk's signature conference. Our ask was to bundle these features together under a creative concept and visualizing that through photography for digital applications including webpages, ads and social assets.
Pulling off a full scale photo production based in Atlanta on a short timeline meant partnering with an excellent external team lead by Ren Adkins and Kyle Smith-Adams. The results are some of the highest level of photography work the Zendesk creative team has produced yet.
The Concept
Powerhouse operations for powerful teams. You can’t do service without Zendesk AI. Zendesk now provides tools that drive not only operational results, but also nurture a satisfying, engaging work environment. Know what it’s like to have intelligence infused in every customer interaction so you can deliver instant, personalized experiences with ease.
In order to pull of the scale of photo production for these high-level concepts, we partnered with Atlanta-based photographer Ren Adkins and line producer Kyle Smith-Adams. Shot over a few days, we were able to execute on a handful of large lifestyle photos with people and a selection of still-life images to fill out the rest of the needs for the product launch.
Zendesk Team
Executive Creative Director: Betsy Field
Creative Director: Victor Duran
Associate Creative Director: Tim Lampe
Senior Brand Designer: Rachel Frankel
Lead, Design for Motion: Mary Vertulfo
Systems & Blockframe Design: Hubert Guy
Lead Illustrator: Olenka Malarecka
Senior Creative Producer: Caty Chung
Digital Team: Kristina Alford, Silvana Yaneva, Adam Chung, Faustine Gheno
Lead Copywriter: Raven Wright
Senior Copywriter: Julia Oller
Atlanta Production Team
Photographer: Ren Adkins
Lighting Tech: Noah Clement
Photo Assistants: Jon Feathers, Emilee Ramsier, Cameron Hart
Digital Tech: Dean Turpin
Gaffer: Jason Wu
Grip: Madison Toft
Line Producer: Kyle Smith-Adams
Production Assistants: Diamond Freeman, Andrew Ferrer
Set Designer: Risha Carnes
Props & Set Build: Dustin Senovic, Jason Ware, Jaslyn Thomoson
Wardrobe: Hannah Johnson
Wardrobe Assistant: Emily Eidecker
HMU: Kevin Thomas Freiberg, Rae Mitchell, Juliana Thomas
Studio: Terminus
Concept breakdown
We crafted conceptual direction around AI product launch and updates for the Zendesk product. That included workforce engagement, workforce management, quality assurance, AI and AI agents. Each concept had it’s own color palette and textures. We shot on different backgrounds that became a through-line background on the UI pieces on the web. We approached it with a mix of people for hero shots and still-life images for secondary messaging.
Digital application
