Analog Technology in a Digital Age
My name is Matthew Kelly, Advertising Major Copywriting Concentration, and I have been interning at a company that “Builds Cool Stuff.”
Analog technology has taken the backseat since digital screens have overtaken displays ranging from alarm clocks to massive billboards in Time Square. Oat Foundry is a company that sells analog products in a digital age.
Oat Foundry is a company established in 2013 by six Drexel guys who graduated with Mechanical Engineering degrees. To complete up their studies at Drexel University, they worked on a project together for The Philadelphia Pretzel Factory and found a niche for solving intricate problems with creative solutions. These six artistic engineers have started their own business so they could continue building cool stuff.
Since 2013, Oat Foundry has established their company through modernizing Split Flap Boards, which are commonly called “those old-fashioned train station flappy timetable boards”. Modernizing an analog display in a digital age seems like taking steps backward, but Oat Foundry has preserved the beauty and nostalgia of a timeless piece of history, which has catapulted the company into the future. They have worked with companies such as Google, Nike, Starbucks, and Philadelphia native, La Colombe.
My time with Oat Foundry has been more than picking up coffee for the office (maybe because I have been interning remotely since March? I don’t know!). Before logging into my first Monday morning “stand-up,” I only knew a skim off the top of what Oat Foundry does day-to-day. In my first meeting, I was welcomed into the company with enthusiastic hellos and curiosity of what my “office space” looks like, as I sit in my parents’ basement with high school sports photos all over the walls. Through the duration of the meeting, I quickly found out that the young age of each employee and innovative thinking techniques fuels a very fast-paced, productive, and fun work environment, even when working from home.
I was presented with tasks ranging from Digital Copywriting to working with the Adobe Suite to create various forms of content. I found myself stumped on various occasions when I couldn’t get my copy “just right” or when I couldn’t figure out how to use a mock-up template in Photoshop. Jeff Nowak, Oat Foundry’s Marketing Director, gave me tutorials on anything I needed help with so my transition was smooth and simple. Each day, we continue to work together to make awesome content, and I wouldn’t know what I’d do today without the help I have received from everyone at Oat Foundry.
Oat Foundry has given me my first ever Copywriting experience where I have been able to finally use the skills have I learned at Temple in a real-life work environment. My internship has given me the motivation to always look for ways to improve using the help of my co-workers because “no question is stupid.” This stepping-stone, in the final years of my education, will act as a solid base to the next chapter in my career as a Copywriter.
