It’s been a long-time Struck dream to do some design and advertising for MINI. And we recently launched the fruits of our labors: the MINI Carfun Footprint Calculator. “What is a Carfun Footprint?” you might ask… Well, it’s a unit of measurement that pits your car’s fun factor against its environmental impact. This is an actual quantitative number calculated by a combination of legitimate sources. And once the facts were in, guess which car came out on top? Yep, the MINI Cooper Hardtop has the ultimate combo of fun + green on the road today!

BSSP developed a killer concept and Struck was responsible for the final design, 3D, motion graphics and development of the Flash app itself. We’re so stoked on the killer 3D, texturing and motion that the team cranked out. The most amazing thing about this Flash app is that the entire experience is developed to be delivered through a massive rich-media banner buy. To our knowledge, this is one of the most complete online experiences ever delivered through a banner.

Prior to design and development, we motored on over to MINI of Murray to shoot a brand new Hot Chocolate Clubman S. We gathered textures and reference shots for the 3D work we’d be throwing down.

One of the reference shots we used to help with the shape of the final design:

As part of being a Strucker, we are treated to an array of financial training seminars to help us be good spenders and good savers. So, when our diligent financial trainer (who’s also a scoutmaster) needed a “graphic” for his troop’s scout camp tees—we did it up right. And yes, we’re always prepared. Check out the Dan C. action below:

Congrats to all the Struckers who worked on our slew of Addy award-winning projects this year. Struck took home 10 Gold Addy’s, 8 Silver Addy’s, and the Judge’s Special Award. The Struck clients that were honored included:

The Sean Kimerling Foundation – 4 Golds, Sweet’s Candy – 1 Gold & 1 Silver, Deer Valley Resort – 1 Gold & 1 Silver, Cocoa – 1 Silver, Utah Office of Tourism – 1 Gold & 2 Silvers, Utah Film Commission – 1 Gold, XanGo – 2 Silvers, and Ski Utah – 1 Gold & 1 Silver

Special congrats to Brandon Knowlden, Rich Black, and Peder Singleton for conceiving, writing, and smashing the show-stopping Lush business card. Apparently it was good enough for the judges to get their creativity on–making up their own special award just for that card! Unorthodox? Yes. But we’ll take it.

I started full-time at what was then Struck Design on June 16, 2003. There were 4 of us in an 800 sq. ft. room on the second floor of the old Sweet’s Candy Factory in SLC. It was a great space: a beat up hardwood floor, exposed beams, a newly designed vinyl dot pattern on the windows, and of course the classic Struck wall-paint simply known as Autumn Pumpkin.

On my first day of work, I spent the day putting together shelves and cabinets. I asked Jason what my email address would be. He said kyles[at]struckdesign.com. I looked around at the 2 other dudes and was like, can’t it just be kyle rather than kyles? Jason said no, cuz Struck was gonna grow and could have another Kyle at some point. I sort of smiled and nodded. But he didn’t stop there; he went on to share his vision of Struck as a team of experts based here in SLC but with other groups of experts in locations around the nation. Again, I sort of smiled and nodded.

For the record, we’re currently up to 4 Ryans, but there’s still only one Kyle.

On Wednesday I walked up to the second floor of the building on 208 SW 1st Ave. in Portland, Oregon. And talk about deja vu. There before me was a very surreal, yet familiar scene: a space with, you guessed it: beat up hardwood floors, exposed beams, vinyl dots, and yes oh yes, Autumn Pumpkin.

For those of you that don’t know, the rumors are true! Struck has officially opened an office in P-town. And let me just say that being there in person rocked my world! I even got to put together some furniture. It was a little like Back to the Future, except it was mostly like the part in Back to the Future II when Doc and Marty skewed into the alternate space-time continuum. (I was really hoping not to run into a bizzaro version of myself.) But seriously, Struck and Portland fit together like hipsters and skinny jeans. The doors are open, phones are working, we already have some amazing peeps on the ground, and we’re hiring more.

So calling all PDX pixel pushers—WE WANT YOU. A new era of Struckdom is upon us, and it’s happening in your backyard. Come join the cause.