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October 5, 2000

Ten Fast Facts: Visual Dynamics

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Visual Dynamics

WHO:
A full-service visual communications company founded in 1993 by Walt Brown

WHAT:
Specializes in animated, 3-D computer graphics

WHERE:
Pike Place Market

Fast Fact #1: Visual Dynamics supplied the graphics for an e-business featuring basketball star Shaquille O'Neal and baseball star Mike Piazza.

Comment: Dunk.Net sells customized athletic shoes. Online shoppers mix and match various designs, colors and materials, then Dunk.net ships a pair of shoes that fits those specs. Visual Dynamics composed the graphics that make that possible. "There were just hundreds of components that had to be put together," says Brown.

Brown
Walt Brown turned his landscape architecture experience into a graphics company whose clients include A/E firms.

Fast Fact #2: Revenues have climbed nearly 1,700 percent since 1995.

Comment: Visual Dynamics earned $30,000 that year, but expects to top $500,000 this year. Brown is proud -- and a little surprised -- at his company's success. "It exceeds my expectations every month," he says. Visual Dynamics has clients across the nation and next year will begin aggressive marketing campaigns in Europe and Asia.

Fast Fact #3: Visual Dynamics expects to quadruple its work force in the next three years.

Comment:  It will grow from seven employees now to a dozen by the end of 2001 and 30 by 2003. Brown says it's not easy to hire skilled employees these days, but it can be done. "It's really just a function of how much money you're willing to pay people," he says.

Fast Fact #4: Visual Dynamics faces "stiff" competition.

Comment: Using virtual reality to illustrate projects and products is a common practice in design, marketing and communications. What separates Visual Dynamics, says Brown, is the company's mastery of both precision graphics to assure technical accuracy and entertainment graphics to bring it all to life.  "We can create things that don't exist [and] take people to places they really can't see," says Brown.   

Fast Fact #5: Some people can't tell Visual Dynamics images from the real thing.

Comment: The company recently produced images for the Washington Athletic Club illustrating future improvements to the facility. The images were used in a video and a brochure. Brown says a guest at the club mistook the video, shown periodically on TVs there, as a PBS documentary. What's more, after seeing one of the brochures in the lobby, two women wanted to go upstairs and see the improvements for themselves -- even though they didn't exist yet. 

Fast Fact #6: Brown founded Visual Dynamics while employed at another company, The Portico Group.

Comment: Portico Group, architects and landscape architects, gave Brown its blessing to run a computer graphics business on the side. He continued to pull double duty while at two other firms before striking out on his own in 1995. Based on his degree in landscape architecture and his work experience, Brown initially focused on planning and design projects.

Fast Fact #7: Visual Dynamics at one time tried to produce graphics for computer games.

Comment: "It really wasn't our strength," says Brown. "It was and has been a volatile market." Abandoning the computer game market forced Brown to trim a staff of eight in half. "We just went back to what we knew ... precision graphics focused on architecture and engineering."     

Fast Fact #8: Visual Dynamics has since evolved into a full-service production facility.  

Comment: Although computer graphics remain the company's core, it has added video and audio capabilities to produce complete presentations for a wide variety of customers. "It's just all over the board," says Brown of the company's scope of work. Clients range from United Airlines, which hired Visual Dynamics to produce training films, to Sierra Online, which hired the company to create the cover art for its flight simulator software. "I think the biggest challenge for the company is to maintain the quality of our work with our growth," says Brown.

Fast Fact #9: Brown credits the University of Idaho for much of his success.

Comments: Raised in Montana, he went to Idaho because of its landscape architecture program and because it was close to home. However, when Brown arrived, he discovered another attraction -- the university had made a strong commitment to technology. "I liked the aspect of computers playing a role in design," says Brown. "They saw the future of this coming and really gave students a great opportunity."

Fast Fact #10: Brown plans to give employees first crack at the company's equity. 

Comment: So far, he and his wife have funded the company, but growing it will demand additional cash. Brown plans to offer key workers stock before allowing any outside investment. An IPO is a distant dream. "Our vision is to be as big as Industrial Light and Magic, but that's a long ways off for us," says Brown.



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