‘Furniture geek’ and tech man construct AI-powered pictures platform

AUSTIN, Texas — When Chase Kerlin and Michael Bashour based HookPic final 12 months, the duo’s objective was to create an AI-powered pictures platform that will clear up quite a few ache factors for producers and retailers.

Describing themselves as “furniture people who finally had the tools to solve our own problem,” the co-founders developed a know-how that permits their prospects to create life-style pictures, product silos and advertising and marketing content material from easy product images, eliminating points comparable to “missed launches, inconsistent images and budgets blown on a single photoshoot.”

And since that preliminary launch, the pair has continued to increase the platform’s capabilities, including video parts and extra.

“We had multiple clients that experienced new product delays and missed photoshoots, but they were able to generate silos, lifestyle images and lookbooks using HookPic-created images,” mentioned Kerlin. “This enabled them to go to market with more assets than they’ve ever had before.”

Although a younger firm, HookPic has already partnered with quite a lot of firms within the furnishings {industry}, and Kerlin mentioned that he and Bashour are “consistently told that our tech is leaps and bounds ahead,” with some HookPic prospects pointing to Bashour and Kerlin’s industry-specific expertise.

“Just as important to us is how quickly we are seeing the platform grow in its ease of use as the capabilities of AI in general continues to develop,” mentioned Philip Holman, director of visible and digital communication at Charleston Forge. “Their background in and understanding of the furniture industry is evident in how the platform is designed; the product is very furniture-oriented. It’s no exaggeration to say that barely a week has gone by in the past three months that another feature hasn’t been added or improved on in the three months since we started using it.”

Charley Holt is senior vp of selling at Fairfield Furniture.

“HookPic is a tremendous partner and tool to assist with our product visualization efforts,” she mentioned. “The platform continues to improve and optimize with new visualization features and tools such as Lifestyle and Silo image generation.”

According to Kerlin, HookPic provides new options on an nearly weekly foundation. In addition to offering entry to backgrounds which may not be cost-effective on location picture shoots, Kerlin defined that producers can create cost-effective methods to provide belongings like custom-made product lookbooks, function particulars and extra.

Mikayla McDonald, advertising and marketing coordinator at Southern Home Inc., agreed, noting that “Hookpic allows us to place our products into elevated, real-world settings that feel aspirational and on brand, without the limitations of traditional photoshoots.”

Tray Petty, president, Moore & Giles, mentioned that the HookPic know-how advances how the corporate showcases leather-based by capturing grain, depth and pure drape.

“It delivers a more authentic representation, allowing furniture designers to experience leather as it truly looks and behaves,” mentioned Petty.

As the record of latest providers expands to incorporate backgrounds that appear to be onsite pictures and single product sketches reworked into print-ready life-style vignettes, the potential return on funding expands as properly for HookPic prospects.

“For my furniture manufacturing business, it’s saved me thousands of dollars in photography,” mentioned Wayne Yoder, principal, Urban Barnwood. “HookPic has completely changed how we showcase our furniture and is now a go-to tool for our business.”