Radical. Future. Thinking.
Turning complex & emerging ideas into stories that inspire action and build momentum for people and the future.
At Fluid Studios, we help mission-driven brands and emerging technologies turn complex ideas into movements. For more than 20 years, Holden Hardcastle has led creative work & teams that have transformed digital experiences into tangible results — faster engagement, deeper understanding, and measurable growth. Building brands and campaigns that don’t just look good—they lead. From scalable design systems and data-driven storytelling to growth-focused digital campaigns, we partner with innovators and orgs who are shaping a more sustainable future and need creative that keeps pace with their ambition.
Website Design & Asset Creation
In collaboration with teams at Lively and Last Rev, the website redesign for Livelyme.com has yielded significant improvements across key metrics. The concerted effort resulted in a 5.3% decrease in bounce rate, indicating enhanced user retention and engagement. The redesign led to a 16.5% increase in engagement time, suggesting that visitors are spending more time exploring the website's content. The average pages per session surged by 8.3%, demonstrating enhanced navigation and content discoverability. Individual conversion rates saw a substantial boost of 7.1%, indicating a more effective user journey and a higher likelihood of achieving desired outcomes. This collaborative effort not only revitalized the Lively website but also delivered tangible results — enhancing the user experience and driving conversions.
Website Content & Data Migration
The Surfrider Foundation decided to migrate over 200 chapters, clubs, and advocate programs to the HubSpot CRM a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform. We were tasked with migrating the content & user information of the largest volunteer run chapter over to HubSpot from WordPress and MailChimp. Working with the program leads we consolidated their contacts with the master lists from MailChimp. The combined list (10,000 ± contacts) were then imported into HubSpot. As pages were ported over we streamlined and cleaned up content to incentivize reaching out to program leads and subscribing to newsletters. The content, data, and user migration resulted in increased involvement with the local community and attendance to in-person events.
Corporate & Private Beach Clean Up Programs
The San Francisco Surfrider Foundation was looking to hire a it’s first full-time employee or Chapter Coordinator. We were asked to develop a repeatable, low-cost fundraising system to pay for the the yearly salary and other administrative costs. Local organizations, companies, and foundations donated skills, time, and money to the local chapter in exchange for a two-hour beach clean up. Volunteers who attended picked up trash and collected data. With no outreach, over the course of a 12-month period of time the program raised $150,000, a 12% increase over the previous four years, and removed over 2,000 pounds of trash from the beach, and established connections for future outreach and fundraising.
Data-Driven Earth Day Infographic
Worked with Snowflake to create an Earth Day infographic and social media campaign to raise awareness about climate change and carbon emissions. By harnessing the power of data, we developed compelling visuals to convey that the best Earth Day gift might be a new tree or three to help preserve our planet. The process begins with extensive research and analysis, gathering data from reliable sources and organizations dedicated to environmental studies. We delved into climate change, deforestation, pollution, carbon capture, and renewable energy and carefully selected vital statistics and trends highlighting the most pressing concerns. With this data, we embarked on the creative journey of designing the infographic, choosing a visually appealing layout that effectively communicates the message. Charts, graphs, and illustrations present data in a digestible format, allowing viewers to grasp complex information at a glance. Combining striking visuals with concise, impactful text ensured that the infographic captivates attention and motivates viewers to take action. Whether reducing carbon emissions, promoting sustainable practices, or advocating for conservation, the data-driven Earth Day infographic became a powerful tool to inspire positive change and foster a greater appreciation for our planet's well-being.
AEE Letterhead and Branding
Tom Steyer co-founded Advanced Energy Economy to engage with companies in order to create a more prosperous world that runs on secure, clean, and affordable energy.
The design values complement the company vision. The brand guidelines aim to create a consistent, clean, and efficient experience. This solid foundation allows for evolution. Corporate logos, iconography, infographics, reports, responsive websites, and members of the AEE team, have played a part in the progression of the brand.
Website Redesign, Content, & Data Migration
Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) engages member companies and recruits partners through education and encourages participation in energy policy changing initiatives. Policy and legislation changes quickly. We were asked to create a system that would allow policy leads to quickly update the website without additional workload on developers. We worked with the communications, marketing and development teams to identify and implement specific improvements on both the front and backend. In order to keep up emerging energy regulations, the AEE website was redesigned and migrated to a HubSpot Content Management System (CMS). By implementing a CMS, projects leads were be able to make timely content updates. By building templates on a flexible and responsive Bootstrap foundation, content updates became more efficient and streamlined the look and feel of the overall site.
AEE and AEE Institute Infographics
Advanced Energy Economy initiative leads present data and reports to companies and legislatures across all levels of government. Infographics were created to present complex information and tell the story behind the energy data in an easily understandable way.
We distilled complex data down to identify key messaging. The resulting visuals were designed to support arguments that move executives and government officials to action.
The North Carolina: Clean Energy Works! and California Advanced Energy Employment Future infographics both won 2015 American Graphic Design Awards.
Design System & Branding
The design system and brand were essential for the Ohio Advanced Energy Economy to establish a consistent visual identity and effectively communicate the org's message to their audience. The design system sets guidelines and principles and provides assets that help ensure consistency across all visual communication materials. At the same time, a brand is an organization's emotional and conceptual representation.
It was essential to define the core elements of the organization's visual identity to create the design system, such as color palette, typography, iconography, and imagery. These elements are based on the organization's values and message and are consistent across all materials, from print to digital. The design system includes guidelines for layout and composition, ensuring a consistent and cohesive visual language.
Creating the brand involved developing a narrative and personality for the organization. This included defining the brand's values, tone of voice, and target audience. Creating a visual identity that reflected the brand's personality and resonated with its target audience was also essential. This included creating a logo and selecting a color palette and typography that communicated the brand's values and personality.
Ultimately, the design system and brand work together to create a consistent and recognizable visual identity for Ohio Advanced Energy Economy, which helps establish trust and connection with its audience.
The History Of Surfing
Collaborated with authors, editors, designers, and outside vendors to create award-winning ebooks and applications for various mobile devices, tablets, and ebook readers. Formulated best practices and strategies for the creation and distribution of ebooks to online retailers.
In order to surprise and delight their readers, Chronicle Books began converting their entire catalogue into digital or ebooks in 2010. Aligning with the publisher's core values, the newly established ebooks team created a culture of education and experimentation. By allowing mistakes and happy accidents to happen, we discovered new ways to keep faithful to the original content.
Working with outside vendors the Chronicle ebooks team established base styles and CSS. Thousands of InDesign files were sent for conversion. Based on guidelines and title-by-title specs, initial book conversions were delivered back to the group. The device agnostic content would be fine-tuned by embedding fonts, altering images, and adding other design elements.
High profile titles, authors, subject matter, and content required careful management and setting of expectations. The titles were revisited to discuss the original intentions of the authors and content.
The working relationships and open communication established with Amazon, Apple, and other on-line retailers allowed us to work with their internal development teams to create content for emerging technologies.
Working and collaborating with outside vendors, the Chronicle ebooks team was able to deliver device agnostic ebooks that surprised and delighted new and larger audiences.
Website, Application, and Experience Design
In order to connect owners and users of the TRX Suspension Trainer to gyms, trainers, and each other, Fitness Anywhere was looking to move away from producing single workouts distributed on DVDs. The application, online community, and sport specific workout pages were all designed to encourage users to find places and people to workout with.
The internal team of production artists, designers, developers, marketing leads, and program directors all contributed to the updated user experience. Wireframes, layouts, an updated look and feel, and a style guide were born out of extensive retooling.
The new experience and application was launched in partnership with Drew Brees, the 2010 Super Bowl MVP and Quarterback for the NFL's New Orleans Saints, encouraging users with similar fitness goals to get out from in front of the television and connect with other people in the community.