I spoke with the Fullscreen social media team recently to learn more about what life was like before Hightail, and after. From account managers who need to make sure creative is client-ready, designers and art directors who are constantly leaving feedback for each other and uploading new content, to the operations manager who is making sure everything comes together, they described how Hightail plays a specific role in their day to day job.
Life before Hightail meant moving at a slower pace
The Fullscreen team had a hodgepodge of tools worked into their creative process – including Mavenlink for project management, numerous file sharing accounts for client-ready files, Google Slides for internal creative reviews as well as Tumblr for reviews of animation files.
Certain tools created a flaw in the process. The client-ready accounts and links got confusing, and the internal review process wasn’t ideal due to slow creative upload times, imprecise feedback, manually recorded timecodes and delayed notifications.
On top of these daily creative struggles, during the busy season the Fullscreen team can be working with upwards of 15 different clients – ranging from TV, sports, entertainment brands to film. They needed a better way to move through creative reviews.
The feedback loop became a lot faster with Hightail
Since onboarding Hightail, the team has a smoother process nailed down. Aileen Yoon, Operations Manager, keeps the team organized on new client requests and kicks off Projects in Hightail for the team. From there, the designers can work through creative feedback quickly.
“Once the design comes in, the goal is to vet it with other team members. Hightail helps us stay organized with work and feedback. Out of all the different suites I’ve used in my job, Hightail is the best for real-time feedback.” Ryan Padgham / Senior Designer
Creative work also goes through a series of internal approvals in Hightail between designers, art directors and account management. The team can keep track of the exact status of various assets and know when it’s their turn to make a move.
Beyond better creative management, ever since Aileen discovered Hightail’s preview features, the team has been using the platform to review creative with clients. Finished work can be uploaded swiftly, and keeping client work separated with dedicated links to a Space, all within one account, makes it easier for the Account team to manage.
Speed & precision is the crowd-pleaser
When I asked each team member to tell me about their favorite Hightail feature, it’s clear what won them over.
Ryan Padgham / Senior Designer: “I appreciate how quickly videos upload and the ability to preview them. Handing them off after we’ve made our different comments is easy.”
Liz Chy / Senior Designer: “Mark-ups, numbered comments and tagging! It’s really helpful and saves me time. I no longer have to guess which part of the creative my team is referencing.”
Michelle Hotta / Account Coordinator: “Love the commenting feature, specifically for animation. Before Hightail, we would try to give each other timecodes to make adjustments. Now, we just need to tag the area on the video that needs to be fixed. It helps us get to the nitty gritty details of each piece that needs revisions. Also, the email notifications come in really fast – as soon as someone comments. This is super helpful in managing the work.”
Christine Benway / Account Manager: “+1 for Liz & Michelle’s comments, especially for the real-time email notifications. I use my inbox as a to-do list so I know immediately what I need to check.”
Aileen Yoon / Operations Manager: “Hightail’s File Groups is my favorite because it allows for us to organize our files into categories to clearly define the stage of the approval process.”
Between quick uploads, real-time notifications and clear comments, the Fullscreen team is able to manage creative reviews faster with Hightail.
“Hightail is our hub for creative feedback.” – Ryan Padgham / Senior Designer
