CT Landmarks is a non-profit organization that maintains colonial homes of Connecticut and presents them to the public by hosting events and leading guided tours on their many properties across the state. For the past months, our group has set out to devise a marketing strategy and create content aimed at broadening their audience and attracting a younger age group by pushing media that increases an internet presence and brings the organization into the digital age.

To obtain our goals of reaching primarily millennials, we divided our group by leaning our strengths. Joel and Damon, both well versed in 3D modeling and game design, took on the task of photographing from different angles artifacts found at the Nathan Hale Homestead, which could then be converted into interactive 3D models to be accessible through the use of QR codes with a mobile app. Visitors would then be able to read into and get more information on these objects. Check out the 3D models on Sketchfab.

The second project that we delivered to CT Landmarks was a video that centered on the beauty of the Nathan Hale Homestead and followed our very own Emily as the actor followed through the grounds and interior of the home. With a steady hand and camera in it, Max took on the task of filming and editing the film that will be presented to the public on CT Landmark’s social media platforms.

The biggest problems that we faced through the process were mostly out of our control and stemmed from the time of year that we are working with them. The Nathan Hale Homestead is closed all winter, not opening to the public until May leaving us with no events to film that would be effective in marketing to young and old audiences. Other challenges with making the video were finding the time to get a group to the homestead to film if possible on a day with good weather. This time of year we were left with many dreary days and had to plan accordingly and work around this.

The biggest challenges that we faced with the interactive 3D scans were technical difficulties with the software, picking objects that held interest and historical value. When the first round of photographs turned out to not work, we had to reshoot all the objects. The second time, Aaron joined Damon to help with photographing which we evolved our practice to include higher quantity of pictures of each object and altered settings on the camera to get the best quality possible. We used our setbacks as learning experiences to get our clients the content they wanted.

Overall, this was a great experience that gave us a feel for working with and delivering to a client. CT Landmarks was a fun client to work with on top of that. We were exposed to historical artifacts, learned a lot on our visits to the homestead and were given relative free range to work on the tasks at hand by a group that wants to expand but still understands their audience.

Project Team
Aaron Kane
Emily McAndrew
Daimon Medina-Lopez
Max Nonken
Joel Torres