Lee is a hand model - of sorts.
When you see a finger appear in a Common Craft video, it’s usually Lee’s right index finger. Each video is live action footage and before each shoot, this finger is inspected and potentially manicured for each performance. When problems persist, the left index finger may be used. In some cases, Sachi’s hand appears when handwriting is required.
We could keep Dunder Mifflin in business.
Each video is shot with hundreds of paper cut-outs. Each cut-out begins life being drawn and hand-colored by Lee. Then, we both cut them out, often while watching a movie. I never imagined that my job would require me to have a strong opinion about scissors, but it does.
Fifteen million Twitterers.
In 2008, our video Twitter in Plain English was linked from the Twitter home page for over a year. Thanks to a handshake deal with Biz Stone (Twitter co-founder), the video appeared with a link to Common Craft, helping us and Twitter meet a lot of new people. That video has been viewed over 15 million times.
It was all Sachi’s fault.
In early 2007, I tried to record myself explaining subjects in front of a whiteboard on a wall. It didn’t seem right and I became frustrated. Always the consummate problem solver, Sachi suggested we point the camera down onto the whiteboard. At that moment, Common Craft Style and the first online explainer video was born.
Ten candles on our cake.
This year, Common Craft turns 10. In 2003 I started the company to be a consultant. It was this experience that helped me see explanation problems and want to solve them. Sachi joined in 2007, and history is still being written.
If you want more insights, this live-action video goes behind the scenes...