Happy 12th Birthday to helium!
This month, helium turns 12! If we were a kid, we’d be in middle school doodling in our notebooks all through math class. Well, some things haven’t change – we still have drawers filled with sketchbooks that document our journey for the last decade.
It’s hard to believe what a whole team of people now call their 2nd home and 2nd family, helium creative, merely started as Chris’ idea to create a branding agency where there’s a direct relationship between clients and the creative team. He realized there was a huge disconnect between what clients communicated to account managers and what was relayed to the designers. Chris knew that he could develop a higher creative standard by delivering amazing design and excellent customer service. And that’s how helium creative came to be.
We’ve been busy over the past 12 years, not only in terms of work, but with other inspirational projects as well. The kind of work that feeds your soul. Chris went from working part time out of his house, to full time in a small office in Fort Lauderdale’s Progresso Village, to hiring a web programmer, then slowly hiring designers, one of whom became his husband this year!
As the team grew, helium needed a new home, which we found in Fort Lauderdale’s FATVillage.
helium was super excited to be a part of the neighborhood’s burgeoning art scene and actively recruited artists to feature in the monthly ARTWALK.
This led to helium’s Project Fine Art, an initiative that invited a new artist to hang their work in the helium office each month. The artists were grateful for the exposure and helium was happy to help them achieve their dreams.
A desire to connect with the community, to understand what inspires other people, and hear what they’ve learned along the way led to a monthly seminar series called Inspirational Fridays.
Chris’ dormant dream of being an art teacher motivated him to create our 501c3 nonprofit, helium inspires, which works to give all kids access to the arts. We’ve travelled near and far [from Pennsylvania to Guatemala and then India and back] delivering art supplies and creating with kids along the way.
helium’s 365 balloon project was originally meant to inspire creativity by challenging ourselves to take an interesting picture with the helium balloon each day for an entire year. The initiative went viral on social media, which was awesome! People loved the idea so much we decided to invite others to take on the project for a month at a time. The pictures we received were amazing, but the best part was connecting with so many great people during this process!
This past year was particularly special for the helium team. We found a permanent home near the beach on Galt Ocean Mile and transformed it into a swanky, creative space.
Chris + Ryan tied the knot in September in a breath-taking farmhouse wedding where every detail was taken into consideration. It was the ultimate in branded events, if we do say so ourselves.
In the past 12 years, we’ve accumulated a great bunch of clients that make us laugh, smile, stress, cry, think, and love what we do over and over again. If it weren’t for our great bunch of helium believers, we’d be doodling in those notebooks to no end. We truly thank you for letting us do what we love. Some would say Chris dreamed it all up, but the real dream is to come to work every day and know what you do matters. We love seeing our work out there in the real world doing wonders for you and inspiring others. We’re like proud parents who can’t get enough of our 12-year-old kid.
