The legacy of the Houston Chronicle is tied to Jesse H. Jones, who set up Houston Endowment, owner of the paper. Jesse Jones was a well-known Houston businessman, philanthropist and US Secretary of Commerce from 1940 to 1945. In 2004, the Chronicle was having an awards banquet and wanted to create a custom one of a kind award that exemplified the spirit that Jesse Jones established for the Chronicle. Doing a replica of Jesse Jones and speaking to his accomplishments would do this. The problem was that she needed this award in three weeks. She had placed an order weeks before with another vendor and was unhappy with the results she had received to date. By the time Brand IQ received the call, the client was desperate and losing hope.

Solutions

First off, we had to ensure that we could do what the customer needed. We turned to one of our preferred suppliers we had worked with on custom brass items in the past and he referred us to a local artist that creates custom designs. We met with the artist immediately, armed with only a sketch of Mr. Jones. The artist created a soft clay sculpture that we then took to a bronze casting manufacturer who produced the final cast.

Results

We delivered a completely custom award which depicted Jesse H. Jones. This allowed the Chronicle to honor the people that embodied the entrepreneurial and philanthropic spirit that was started by this great man. Not only was the award a beautiful sculpture, but more importantly it reinforced the qualities and actions started with Jesse Jones. We delivered it on time despite the very limited production time.