Thinkwell Group boosts productivity and efficiency while decreasing costs with new high-performance displays.

Customer Profile

Profile: ThinkwellGroup

Industry: Arts,EntertainmentandMedia

Country: UnitedStates

Employees: 100

Web: www.thinkwellgroup.com

Business Need

ThinkwellGroupneededhigh-performanceandhighresolution,coloraccuratemonitorsthatcouldseamlesslysharecolorprofilesacrossawidevarietyofplatformssothatalloftheirdesignersandartistscouldhaveaunifiedsystemformanagingcoloraccuracyandlarge-scalegraphicdesign.

Solution

ThinkwellprovideditsartistsanddesignerswithacombinationofDellUltraSharp™monitors,including24inch(U2410),27inch(U2711)and30inch(U3011)models.

Benefits

• Increased employee productivity & efficiency

• Streamlined design workflow

• Significant cost savings in printing

• Reduction in amount of IT support needed

“ Dell’s Ultrasharp monitors have enabled us to create precise, color accurate graphics consistently and reliably across our entire network, which saves us time and valuable resources while significantly impacting our bottom line.”

JoeZenas,CEO,ThinkwellGroup

Thinkwell Group (Thinkwell) is a full service experience design and development firm that brings big ideas to life through immersive guest experiences in physical and digital environments for theme parks, museums, casinos, retail experiences, and resort destinations.

Thinkwellbelieveswhole-heartedlyinchild’splay.TheyrecentlycreatedFern-bankNatureQuest,thenewflagshipchildren’sexhibitatAtlanta’sFernbankMuseumofNaturalHistory.Theexhibitengagesthesensesusingsound,touch,andsighttoimmersekidsinanature-inspiredenvironmentrepresentativeoftheecosystemsofthesoutheast.Funandexploratory,theimmersiveexperiencecombinesdetailedscenery,projectedandinteractivemedia,andtheatricaleffects.

Inordertobringthisprojecttolife,Thinkwellhadtofirstdevelopandimplementafullgraphicspackageincludingover300uniquegraphicfilestobeprintedonavarietyofsubstrates.ThinkwellproducedthissubstantialgraphicspackagewiththehelpofDell’sUltraSharpmonitors,whichenabledthedesignerstodevelopashared“colorlanguage”inordertoworkeffectivelyandefficiently,withfewinterruptionsforcolorcalibration,andtheconfi-denceofknowingthatthecolorstheywereseeingwouldn’tvaryfrommonitortomonitor,orfrommonitortoprinter.

BasedoutofBurbank,CaliforniawithanofficeinLondon,Thinkwellisconstantlycreatinghighlyimaginativeanddetailedprojects.Thinkwell’sCEO,JoeZenas,putsitintoperspective,“Thesecretisthestaggeringamountofdetailthatgoesintoconcepting,designinganddevelopingtheseimmenseprojects,”saysZenas.“Wheneverydetailcounts–bothonanartisticfrontandanengi-neeringCAD/CAMdesignperspective–colorandprecisionareoftheutmostimportance.”

“ The secret is the staggering amount of detail that goes into concepting, designing and developing these immense projects,” JoeZenas,CEO,ThinkwellGroup

Dell UltraSharp monitors with PremierColor

DellUltraSharp™monitors

withPremierColoraredelivered

factory-calibratedtosupportcolor

standardscoverageofatleast96%

AdobeRGBand100%sRGBfor

quickandconvenientout-of-the-

boxpreformance,plustheycanbe

adjustedeasilyforsaturation,hue

(RGB/CMY),gainandoffset(RGB).

Designers,engineersandanyone

dedicatedtocolorcriticalworkcan

haveconfidenceinthecolors

producedbyDellUltraSharpmonitors.

Increasing Productivity

Likemanydesignstudios,Thinkwelloperatesagainstconstantlyadjustingdeadlines,creatingintricatedesignsinveryshortworkcycles.“Ourteamhassomeofthemostinspirationalideasintheindustry,butourbusinessdoesn’tworkiftheycannotbringthoseideastolifewiththeimmaculatedetailsourclientshavecometoexpect,”saidZenas.

Forbusinessesthatdependoncolorcriticalwork,monitorsaresomeofthemostessentialtools.Ifanartisthastohandoffapiecetoanotherartist,designer,creativedirector,orproducer,itiscrucialthatthecolorinformationfromthatfiletranslatesfrommonitortomonitoraccurately.“Ourartistsneedtoknowwhattheyseeontheircomputermonitors–thecolor,thetextures,theprecisedesigns–willbeexactlywhatcomesoutoftheprinterandintoourclient’smeetingrooms.Ifnot,thenhundredsofhourshavetobewastedretouchingandcorrectingforacomputermonitor’smisrepresentation.Butwithsuperiormonitors,we’vebeenabletogiveourteamanedgeovercompetingfirmsonmultiplefronts.”

“Weneededabettersolution,andwefoundonewiththeUltraSharpmoni-tors.BecausetheUltraSharpmonitorshaveeasytouseonscreencontrolsandavarietyofindustrystandardop-tions,artistshavebeenabletoeasilyadjustthemonitorsthemselves.”

TheDellUltraSharpmonitorshavealsoleadtoanunexpectedcostreductioninprinting.“Withtheoldmonitors,theartistswereconstantlyprintingtestpagestomakesurewhattheywereseeingonthescreenwasgoingtobethesamethingthatcameoutoftheprinter,”saidNieves.“Obviouslythisleadstosubstantialpaperandinkcosts,inadditiontotimespentmaintainingandtroubleshootingprinters.SincetheDellUltraSharpmonitorsaremuchmoreconsistentwiththeircolorrepresen-tation,theartistshavereducedtheirprintingbyupto20%,savingusaconsiderableamountonprinterresourcesandreducingtheamountoftimeourITteamhastodedicatetoprintersupport.”

Improving Preformance & Efficiency

Thinkwellisalwayskeepinganeyeouttoseehownewtechnologycanimproveitsperformance.“Whatsetsusapartisthatweoftenlookatthingsthatarethestatusquo,oroftenoverlooked,andseehowwecanimproveonthat,”saidZenas.“WeworkedwithDell,tookalookatourmonitorsandthemorewethoughtaboutit,theUltraSharpmonitorsmadesense.”Zenascontinued,“Sincethechangewe’vedecreasedITmoni-torsupportandimprovedourartists’efficiencybyupto20%,allbybeingsmarteraboutwhattypeofmonitorsweuse.Thetotalimprovementwasbeyondwhatwewereexpecting.Thelongtermimpactislookingtobesubstantial.”

Adapting to Creativity

Thestrongesttoolintheartist’sarsenalishisorhercreativity.Andinthedigitalage,creativityisaugmentedandsupportedbyhardwareandsoftwaretobringthoseideastoamazinglife.Graphicartistsanddesignersrelyonresolutionandcoloraccuracysothattheirworkcanbeasbeautifulinreallifeasitisontheircomputermonitors.

GraphicartistsworkingontheFernbankNatureQuestprojectreliedheavilyonthehigh-performance,high-resolutionDellUltraSharpmonitorswhendevel-opingintricatelarge-scaleproductiongraphicsthathadtobebothvisuallystunningandspecies-accuratetomeettheexceptionaleducationalstandardsandpracticesfollowedbyAtlanta’sFernbankMuseumofNaturalHistory.

Reducing IT CostsFrequentlyballooningfrom70employeestoover150,ThinkwellartistsandtheirITstaffareregularlyadaptingtheirrolesbasedonthesupporttheyhave.“Weareinaverydynamicbusiness,butwiththeUltraSharpmonitorsIknowmyleadartistsareabletomaximizetheirtimeontheirdesigns,andminimizetimespentonITsupport,”saysZenas.

WiththenewDelldisplays,ITDirector,DennisNieves,hasbeenabletosignifi-cantlyreducetheamountofmonthlyITsupportdedicatedtorecalibratingmonitorsandadjustingcolorprofilescompanywide.“ITisallaboutsolutions.Withpreviousmonitors,wehadtospendaconsiderableamountoftimeworkingwiththeartiststorecalibratetheirdisplays,”saidNieves.

For more information about Dell monitors please visit dell.com/monitors

“Weneededabettersolution,andwefoundonewith theUltraSharpmonitors.Because theUltraSharpmonitorshaveeasy touseonscreen controlsandavarietyofindustry standardoptions, artistshavebeen abletoeasilyadjust themonitors themselves.” DennisNieves, ITDirector,ThinkwellGroup