AHEAD Unveils Company's New Design Studio

AHEAD, the headwear, apparel and accessories company, recently opened the doors on its first-ever in-house design studio to help foster creativity, promote collaboration between senior designers and provide a place for customers to interact with staff on their custom graphics, products and logos.

"Creativity has been at the heart of the company since day one, and it is what our customers have always embraced about us," said Chuck Lord, chief operating officer for AHEAD. "Seeing the new design studio is exactly what we envisioned when the concept was first introduced."

The design studio, which formally debuted in late June, will be a boon for AHEAD's customers, Lord noted.

"Customers will really enjoy working with our designers in this cutting-edge environment to develop their custom graphics and products. There is a subtle sense of legitimacy that comes from working with artists in their 'natural habitat' versus a more generic office space," he said. "Based on the tours we've already given to several of our top accounts, I think it will inspire everyone who walks in!"

With its eclectic furniture, dim lighting, black ceiling and walls with an industrial look and feel, Lord said that the studio gives the impression of being in a city loft apartment.

"In 1998, as AHEAD was expanding and needing a bigger space for our offices, we looked into renovating a turn-of-the-century old brick mill building," Lord recalled. "We had planned for sandblasted brick walls, black ceilings with exposed pipes and ducts, the original wooden flooring, and a very casual feel.

"We then exhibited at the PGA Show right before going forward with the plan, and it became clear to us based on the success we enjoyed there that we were going to need even more space. The mill plan was scuttled and we opted to build a bigger facility from scratch. When we finally created the studio in our 'new' building, we wanted to emulate the look that we had envisioned in those early plans."
For additional information about AHEAD, visit www.aheadweb.com.