September 20, 2017

Meet Corey Harper and Ramy Hanna of TILTPIXEL in Westchase

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Corey Harper and Ramy Hanna.

Corey and Ramy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Corey: I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Design at Texas A&M. I have always loved design and architecture, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted a career as an architect. In high school and college, I was big into video games, and I was introduced to 3D for architecture during my Junior year. I knew from the start that it was the perfect blend for me – design and technology. I spent countless hours learning 3D visualization – the software, the techniques, and I graduated with a specialization in Visualization, which was a new concentration for A&M at the time.

My first job was in Houston for an interiors firm, and I was their sole 3D guy. It was long hours and a huge learning curve, but their culture was fantastic, and I soaked it all in. After several years, I decided to push myself in my career, and I applied for a job in Boston, working for a studio that focused primarily on architectural visualization at the time. My wife and I moved, and my time there allowed me to grow as an artist and a leader. It was really transformational.

Ramy: Like Corey, I came from an architecture background at Texas A&M, but I was always interested in visualization and 3D technology. After college, I landed a job at an architecture firm in Houston in 2005, and my role was focused specifically on creating architectural renderings and animations. I was eager to learn as much as I could about arch-viz – the tech and the art behind it. A few years in, I attended an arch-viz conference in Boston, where I met Corey. He was manning a booth for his company at the time, and we both noticed our Aggie rings. It was an instant conversation starter, and we exchanged information and kept in touch over the years.

Corey: Living in Boston, it was always fun to meet other Aggies. Our industry is small, so it was especially cool to meet an arch viz guy from A&M. I stayed in Boston for another two or three years, growing my skillset and developing, but the market slowed down and I was the casualty of a series of layoffs. It turns out that I needed the push. I wanted to return to Texas, and I wanted to start something larger than myself.

I started out with contract work, and when I wasn’t creating renderings, I was selling. Eventually, I gained momentum. And that’s when I reached out to Ramy.

Ramy: It wasn’t unit 2013 that I decided to leave the comfort of my architecture firm to partner with Corey and TILTPIXEL. In the early days, we were both working out of our homes and we would communicate through phone and skype. Eventually, we had to find an office that could support the computing power we needed, so in 2014 we moved into a 1,500 square foot office space in the Westchase District of Houston. As just the two of us, it felt like way too much space. But it wasn’t long before we hired our first 2 employees. A year later, we doubled our square footage and doubled our staff to keep up with demand. Since then, we’ve steadily grown.

Corey: In addition to staff, we’ve added more elements to our office space. We have an editing suite, where we can do post-production on animations and experiment with virtual reality technology. We have a green screen stage, and we bring in live actors and props to support our filmmaking. And we’ve always had a fun, kick-back spot with foosball and a ping-pong table. We want our employees to feel able to relax and let off steam since the pressure of deadlines in a creative environment can be challenging.

Ramy: As our staff has grown and our office space has expanded, it’s been fun to see TILTPIXEL’s reputation grow in tandem. We have a much greater awareness within the arch viz community, and more and more developers and architects are turning to us for services. When Houston’s economy slowed, our business in other cities picked up. New York, D.C., Austin, Atlanta – these cities have been good to us, and they’ve allowed us to grow despite the tough climate in our own backyard.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Ramy: To be honest, I’m amazed at how smooth the process has been. It’s a real testament to the talent and hard work of our employees, and the partnership we’ve created with our clients. From the beginning, our philosophy was simple: deliver exactly what the client needs, with a quick turnaround and a very high quality standard. And then do it again, and again.

Corey: We talk a lot about white glove service, and that’s what Ramy is describing.

Responsiveness, flexibility, and a razor-sharp focus on quality for every single client.

Ramy: Of course, with growth there are growing pains. There were things on the business side that we just had to embrace. Insurance, payroll, IT…these are simply tools to make us more efficient and help us focus on the needs of our clients. But with each addition, whether it was a new healthcare policy or hiring IT support, we had to stop and research, we had to weigh options and adapt to change. At the time, it always seems like a distraction, but these things are essential in propelling us forward.

Corey: With any growth, there are moments when we take what feels like a leap of faith.

Whether it is adding additional services to our roster or investing in infrastructure or staff, we do a gut check. Ramy and I are a great balance. I’m more comfortable taking risks, but Ramy has his eye on the bottom line, and he keeps us in check. Every big step is a calculated one, and we hold each other accountable.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with TILTPIXEL – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Ramy: TILTPIXEL is a creative studio. We deliver branding and marketing materials for the real estate industry: primarily building construction and retail development. Our clients are commercial developers, interior designers, architects and building owners who need to sell their ideas before ground-breaking or even before development has begun. Our work is delivered in renderings, animations, websites, branding and brochures. We’re probably best known for our architectural images, as that’s been the backbone to TILTPIXEL. More recently, we have expanded our services to virtual reality (VR) and interactive tools.

With a still image, clients can clearly see what a building or an interior space will look like. VR is unique, however. It allows clients to virtually walk through a space in real time, to experience how a space feels.

Corey: The technology is expanding rapidly, and price points on VR headsets have dropped considerably. We’re getting more and more requests from clients to showcase their projects in VR. It’s generating a great deal of buzz.

Ramy: I agree. This is perhaps the fastest growing technology in the arch-viz industry today, and it’s very exciting to be on the forefront of that exploration.

Corey: While TILTPIXEL was founded as a 3D visualization company, we have expanded far beyond that. Our clients want consistency and simplicity. It’s great to offer a full package – brand image and strategy, followed by print materials and 3D imagery and film. We have acquired tools and the right mix of creative artists to support this.

From our drone and green screen studio, to our in-house artists and photographers, we can partner with clients in a much more robust way.

Ramy: I’m very proud of what we have accomplished in such a short amount of time, and I’m pleased with the quality level that is tied to TILTPIXEL. We’re moving in some exciting directions. This is just the beginning for us!

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Ramy: My favorite childhood memory took place in 1st grade. My family went camping in Oklahoma. One night we woke up to amazing wind and rain. From within the tent it sounded like we were going to blow clear across the park, but we somehow managed to go back to sleep. When we woke the next morning, we were amazed at the destruction the storm created. Our campsite was a disaster, and a giant tree limb had fallen on our car. It was then that we realized we should pack up and leave. As we exited the park, we realized the roads were flooded. We could only get as far as the park entrance, where we decided to wait until the water receded. I remember sitting in the main office with a full inch of standing water and packed amongst the other campers. It was a crazy sight, and probably not the best memory for my parents! It turns out that we miraculously escaped a tornado that passed by our tent the previous evening, and the magnitude of that has stuck with me, always.

Corey: As I always tell Ramy, risks can be exciting! My favorite memories are more laid back though. They’re tied to Indiana, where we traveled every summer to visit my extended family. My uncle has a huge pond, and we would fish and swim, listening to my grandparents and uncles swap stories and goofing around with my cousins. As a kid, it was the definition of summer – being outdoors, camping, catching fireflies. Today, I feel most relaxed near the water, and fishing helps me unwind. I hope to instill that in my kids, the importance of kicking back and being outdoors, and the joy of being around family. Pushing yourself at work day in and day out isn’t worth it if you can’t find that quiet space to let it all go.

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