We Are XYZ

Crystal Eastman is XYZ’s in-house CG Supervisor & Art Director. Having worked in the industry since 2010, she credits her interest in 3D to when she saw Avatar back in 2009 — having loved the art form and thought, “I could make a living doing that!” After a 6 month, intensive 3D bootcamp she managed to switch career paths and has never looked back. Read below to learn more about Crystal's role and her take on being a woman in CG.

What do you do here at XYZ?
I started out as more of an artist and then evolved into a CG supervisor. I helped build a lot of our current systems, most notably our 3D program, to handle more volume and increasingly complex projects. I did this while also continuously learning new things to help us be faster overall along the way. The progression, while quick, felt very organic too as my natural tendency is to lead and develop things as I go along.

What do you like most about working at XYZ and what does it mean to you to be a woman in this industry?
It’s a good balance of left and right brain, super artistic and problem solving. It’s ever changing and never dull. I’m acutely aware of often being the only woman of my level at the table with clients and other vendors. I like being able to mentor and be a role model to women coming up in the industry, to have a voice at the table and be able to represent my gender.

What advice would you give to other women who want to follow a similar career path to you?
Fake it till you make it! Women don’t give themselves enough credit. Believe in yourself and if you’re motivated you’ll figure it out. Just get a foot in the door and embrace the soft skills that many think hold women back — because ultimately those are the same skills that make the best artists.

Meet Souzan Sarraj, Art Director – Product Visualization. Souzan has been a part of the XYZ family for a year and a half. Originally from Amman, Jordan, Souzan moved to the Bay Area in 2017 to follow her passion for art and design. Here’s what she has to say about her role at XYZ and what it means to her to be a woman in this industry:

What is your role at XYZ?
I work as an in-house Art Director responsible for leading a team of wonderful and talented artists to visualize stunning hardware images by collaborating with my counterparts on the client's side to bring that unified vision to life.

What do you like most about working in this industry and what does it mean to you to be a woman in this industry?
I've always loved everything art and design, which led me to fall in love with advertising and product visualization. For me, it’s all about the quality of work we are producing here at XYZ and I’m honored to be a small part of it. I'm proud of being a successful woman in this male-dominated industry and grateful for the support I got from my mentors and colleagues to get to where I'm at. I try to pay it forward by helping newcomers learn and get better at their craft while navigating their career path.

What advice would you give to other women who want to follow a similar career path to you?
My advice to any woman who chooses this career path is, open your mind, focus on your goals, and work very hard. You will get there before you know it. If I can do it, so can you!

Meet Esther Na, Tina Hernandez, and Nicole Segura — the founders of XYZ’s Women’s Circle. Inspired by the Lean In Initiative, XYZ’s Women’s Circle meets monthly to discuss different topics under the Lean In Three C’s: Confidentiality, Communication, and Commitment. Here is what each of these XYZ employees have to say about how the group came about and why it matters:

Esther – We felt that due to Covid and working remotely, we were distant from other women in the workplace and didn't know people from other departments. It initially came from a casual conversation between us three, then with some encouragement from Tina and resources from the Lean In group, the Women's Circle was born!

Tina – When I started working in the graphics industry, prepress companies were joined with printers which were predominantly men. Now the independent prepress and creative studios are staffed with almost equal space for men and women. Women's groups allow women to navigate the traditions of this industry while empowering us to create new experiences and traditions.

Nicole – This group is important to have because it gives women a chance to have a space to talk among other women about anything. It's important that women support other women and to feel that support. The group encourages, inspires, challenges, and creates bonds at work!

provides us with an opportunity to acknowledge and reflect on the numerous contributions women have made in our industry and beyond. We are excited to spend this month celebrating the dynamic and creative women that make up our XYZ family and couldn’t be more thankful for everything they have done to get us to where we are today!

Earlier this month, we had the great pleasure of displaying some of our very own Jacob Corrales’ photography work in the studio through a pop-up art installation. Originally from Colombia, Jacob moved to SF almost seven years ago and is now one of our extremely talented in-house retouch artists. His passion for photography can be traced back to college where he learned how to communicate stories and feelings through pictures. He shares this passion with his wife, Vanessa, who acts as the stylist and creative director of all his shoots. Jacob’s work is an inspiration to all of us here at XYZ and you can check out more of it on his page, Jako Photo, or on Instagram .

Don’t forget the BLAC 2023 Internship Program submission deadline is this Friday, February 17th! If you want a chance to be part of this incredible opportunity, create a two(ish) minute video showing why you’re a creative thinker and problem solver and submit along with your application. Go to blacinternship.org/ to apply.

Meta came to XYZ for help with this Oculus focused station domination in London. Our task was to rework some of their launch imagery to allow for a seamless translation to OOH use. The final product was both dynamic and visually striking, perfectly matching the campaign's messaging.

As part of our continued efforts toward diversity, equity and inclusion, XYZ is proud to announce our partnership with BLAC. BLAC is an organization that champions for a more diverse and inclusive advertising industry through internships with ad agencies and marketing companies across the country. We could not be more excited to help inspire and be inspired by a new generation of Black talent! To be considered for the 2023 BLAC internship program, submit your application by February 17 at https://www.blacinternship.org/

Slack is a company dedicated to making people’s working lives simpler, more pleasant and more productive. With their recent Random Acts of Kindness campaign, they wanted to draw focus to the idea of pleasantness and how it truly differentiates them from their competition. Our team helped produce these playful yet poignant assets, while striving to make the entire process as seamless as possible for all involved.

With a new year comes new celebrations! Our very own retouch artist Zoey Le is expecting the newest addition to her family and XYZ threw a baby shower to mark the occasion. Filled with fun activities and pastries galore, the team wanted to send Zoey off in style. While we’ll miss her when she’s on maternity leave, we couldn’t be more excited for this new chapter in her life!

To ring in the festive season, XYZ dialed up the spirit and cheer all throughout December. From our hotly contested Pier 39 Scavenger Hunt and Family Feud competitions, to our deliciously fun White Elephant and Cookie exchanges, it’s been an exciting month filled with team bonding here in the studio. From all of us at XYZ, Happy Holidays and cheers to 2023!

We are proud to announce that this holiday season XYZ is participating in the SFFD Toy Program. We love giving back to our community and the amazing work being done by San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program is something we are thrilled to be a part of. A special thanks to our very own Stephanie Lozano-Bouzard for organizing our efforts for the cause!

The creatives at BSSP used Midjourney AI to develop these original images for the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. Our team put the finishing touches, retouching and preparing the images for large scale print. Be sure to catch the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker, December 8–27!

Jon Tojek, our talented Senior 3D Artist, experiments with photogrammetry in his free time. One of our favorites is this headscan self-portrait, which was done by shooting a 3-minute video of himself holding completely still, then brought into RealityCapture for photogrammetry processing. You can interact with this model and his other incredible projects on his sketchfab (sketchfab.com/tojek_vfx). Learn more about Jon’s work on his Twitter () and YouTube channel (youtube.com/JonTojek_vfx). We are so lucky to have him on our team!

In honor of Día de los Mu***os last week, our very own Stephanie Bouzard put together this art installation featuring her photography as well as a beautiful altar.

XYZ does Halloween right! We enjoyed a spooky celebration with a costume contest and potluck. It was so much fun seeing our employees’ creativity shine!

XYZ had the honor of helping Dockers Khakis with their partnership with pro basketball player Jordan Poole. Our team worked to find a happy medium between images that were shot using photo film and those shot digitally. For the locker room setups, the creative director preferred the look of the film, so we had to desaturate and soften the digital. But for the 70s living room it was just the opposite – they liked the digital, so we had to add contrast and brighten the film shots. The result: All of the imagery had a timeless look and feel, just like the style Dockers and JP3 share.

For September’s art installation, our summer interns, with the help of project manager Robert Collison, put together a fun collage titled “Summer Jamz,” using photos taken by XYZ employees. Each employee was asked to provide photos they took of their “summer jam,” or whatever they felt represented their summer 2022. The end result was this giant, eccentric mural displayed in our office!

Creativity and collaboration go hand in hand. Getting back out in the world for an IRL lunch with our friends at eero was a refreshing reminder of how great work comes from great relationships.

XYZ helped 72andSunny transform Hardees in Nashville into the latest dino sighting! We created a lot of excitement for the highly anticipated blockbuster Jurassic World: Dominion by designing a giant mural showing dinosaurs looking for delicious specials at the fast food chain kitchen. During this project, we went through one billion stock images of industrial kitchens, french fries and buns. We warped the steel cabinets and turned over pots and pans to portrait a "bull in a china shop" chaos.

We were so excited to put on a baby shower for retoucher Anna Landa last month and welcome her bundle of joy into the world. As a gift, our employees each decorated a onesie or burp cloth, which was used as decoration during the celebration. One of the favorites was production manager Roy’s self portrait! Congratulations Anna, we can’t wait to meet your little one!

With Method's limited edition Fifty Nine Parks collection, you can bring national park sights and scents right to your sink. XYZ rendered these beautiful wraps on existing models we created for Method as part of this fun campaign.

Whether it is one image or an entire campaign, XYZ's mission is to always execute client needs and wants. Check out this campaign we worked on with MasterClass!

The goal of Amazon Business is to simplify the purchasing process to make it easier for their customers to get the products they need. At XYZ we also love simplifying the creative production process for our clients which is why, alongside our partners at Butler Shine and Stern (BSSP), we handled the production of web banners, video animations, digital OOH and print assets for this campaign. A little simplification can go a long way!