What's in a name? Intrigue, if you ask the folks at Stormship.
The Medford, MA-based agency — which has a number of clients in the high-tech and education sectors — has often been asked the meaning behind its moniker, says creative director Anne Damphousse.
“We like to keep a little mystery,” she says. “After all, it's the people behind the name who count.”
Stormship saw a chance to have a little fun when it relaunched its Web site last month. Under the site's “Distractions” section, several short movies are featured which offer possible explanations for the name. Perhaps, as one suggests, it's a shortened version of the original name, Jefferson Stormship. Or it was the logical choice because “Stormkayak” made no sense.
Other “Distractions” include artwork from president Michael Brennan's comic book series “Electric Girl,” for which he was nominated for an Eisner Award, one of the industry's highest honors.
But the site's main objective is, of course, to showcase the agency's creative output. The redesign took about a year, Damphousse notes. “It's taken us forever to get it done. It's kind of like ‘The cobbler has no shoes.’”
She's quick to add, though, that the site was designed to be fun and interactive, and above all easy to navigate.
“Our feeling is that people probably already have a strong referral from someone, and are on the site to look at our portfolio,” Damphousse explains. “People are looking to see if your work style fits their project, so they don't necessarily need to hear us talk about the work. That comes later.”
