Collateral

Background:
Feeney, Inc. offers products in the architectural and garden hardware sphere. Its primary architectural products include CableRail stainless steel assemblies, Quick-Connect® auto-locking cable fittings, DesignRail® aluminum railing systems with multiple infill options and available LED lighting, stainless steel architectural rods, awning kits and the Trellis Collection of garden trellises. Feeney’s practical products are easy to install for professionals and DIY homeowners and their vibe creates stylish functionality where people live, work and play.

Challenge:
This nearly 75-year-old industry-leading pioneer of architectural and rigging products wanted to create something never seen in the railing industry: A high-level design book to evoke mood and style before function. In Feeney’s words, “A cool art concept, but with railing.” Although it would be targeted toward designers and architects and distributed at architecture and design trade shows, the design book’s purpose was to inspire and encourage end users to select what look they wanted in their space.

Solution:
After in-depth brand and lateral-industry research, the foundational concept of the design book emerged. It was to embrace clean and minimalist design, much as high-end modern furniture and home sellers present look books. Emphasis was placed firmly on the inspiring, but atypical, visuals, with necessary product information added in a complementary, not subtractive, layout. The book’s color choices speak to the modernistic aura of the Feeney products with which they dovetail. Feeney offers the most panel infill and color options in the industry, but wanted the color program’s scope represented in the imagery and not in a designated section.

Summary:
The design book achieved the goal of elevating Feeney railing products by presenting stylish options without cluttering the piece with technical details, allowing designers to consider their railing options in a purely visual way. Like lighting, designers don’t have to understand the mechanical engineering of railing to make good aesthetic choices for interior and exterior spaces. Feeney also included a link to its website to provide additional inspiration, as well as product specifications.

“I love, love what ER Marketing did with our design book. It encapsulated a marriage of artistic and functional features that really speaks to the target audience,” Kym Nosbisch, Feeney’s director of retail and product marketing, said. “They crushed it.”