alumni News Alumni Spotlight
Wyant and White web businesses taking off
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fter working for a large graphic design firm, Darlene Wyant (’04) decided she wanted to create a company that was client and relationship focused. A little over four years after she earned a degree in Mass Communications, she decided to form her own company and in January 2009 founded Ziraleet. Ziraleet is a graphic-design and software development firm that creates custom branding, websites, print materials, and software platforms for businesses. Over the last three years, Wyant says the company has taken on more large-scale software and custom projects that present new challenges as well as a sense of pride. When Wyant had the idea for Ziraleet in 2008, she contacted her best friend and fellow Piedmont alum, Rob White (’03), to help develop her idea. He was with Wyant when they compiled their ideas on a piece of scratch paper at Chili’s. White, a Philosophy and Religion major at Piedmont, is now the lead Project Manager at Ziraleet, the liaison between clients and the design and development team. “If you’ve seen Mad Men, I am the Pete Campbell of Ziraleet, minus the snarkiness,” he said. Ziraleet has provided graphic design and software development for many well-known companies, such as Nokia and QLogic. The company created custom software for Nokia that will hopefully be a turning point for the telecommunications giant in the next few years. For QLogic, Ziraleet created the graphic design for investor and industry presentations. Ziraleet applies a wide variety of skills to a given project. They recently Darlene Wyant (’04) and Rob White (’03) are now working on a second web-based business.
Spring 2012
designed a game called “Co-op Square” for GreyStone Power, which will be released later this year. They also designed the van wrap and print materials for the Georgia State Road Toll Authority (SRTA). “Many of our clients come to us needing a combination of custom design elements as well as custom development for websites, software, and other applications,” said Wyant. “Our clients range from small local companies to large industry leaders headquartered around the world.” Wyant and White are now forming their second website business, TownSquare, which will launch in May. The website allows local businesses to network with one another, to make referrals for services they don’t offer, and to gain community exposure. A small part of TownSquare is TownSquare Gifts, which is a site to help create awareness of independent and talented artists. The site showcases six artists in Georgia, including two Piedmont alumni. Jeremy Miller (’99) showcases ceramics, sculptures, and theatre props; and Kimberly Stohlmann (’02) showcases her jewelry. “I love the work Darlene and Rob have done with the company and look forward to seeing what else they come up with,” said Miller. “They love to support artists, and that in turn encourages more art.” If you are interested in showcasing your handmade and original art on TownSquare Gifts, contact townsquaregifts@ziraleet.com for more information.
The piedmont college journal
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