279 Fragrance: Crafting the Luxury Candle Experience
279 Fragrance, despite its name, specializes in premium home scents. And props where props are due: their candles smell better than many high-end perfumes. The company declares on its website: “If we’re not obsessed with it, we don’t expect you to be either.” So if their commitment to quality is this serious, you can imagine their commitment to the digital presentation of their products. That’s where we stepped in.
The challenge: Translating tactile luxury into digital reality
In this case, we had two big challenges. First, the technical one. We had to engineer a complex, custom 3D material to perfectly imitate the product’s unique glittery finish and glossy gold plate — as the client instructed us, it had to be “Rolex-like.” Then, there was a logistical challenge. This need for 100% precision was made a tad harder by the frequent visual feedback via email across a team spread from the US to Siberia! In other words, each time the product was taken to top-notch quality, a new piece of feedback received from a very different timezone made us start again… and again.
The process: A fusion of technical skill and collaborative innovation
Our team put in close to five hours engineering the custom 3D material before the review process even started. But here’s where we got smart: when the email feedback created more confusion than precision, we decided to pivot our strategy. We transitioned to direct annotations on shared Google Slides for clarity. Then, we introduced the 279 Fragrance team to Loom (a.k.a. a screen-recording tool). Now, they could explain complex visual notes with better clarity, and our artistic team had no problem implementing these details along the way.
The outcome: Stunning assets and a blueprint for partnership
The 279 Fragrance team was stunned, and to be fair, so were we. Those versatile 3D images and animations now live on their website. The client called the final results “AMAZING: The entire candle looks exceptional, and the plate looks incredibly realistic.” This made us happy. Not only did we deliver images that reflected the client’s “Fragrance is art” vision, but we set the ground for future luxury-grade projects.
A gallery of digital craftsmanship
Take a look for yourself and see the hyper-realistic detail achieved. Note the subtle glitter in the candle’s finish. Or the authentic interplay of light and shadow. You can almost smell the candle yourself, can’t you?
Podcast episode
We like this episode because it has all the ingredients of a successful creative partnership. This is a quick look into the communication and teamwork vital to one of our proudest outcomes. But it’s also a story about challenges transformed into opportunities for innovation.
