Dirty Deeds: A Conceptual & Rapid Prototype Lab by Paul Benninghove

01 / Get Dirty

A Conceptual & Rapid Prototype Lab to show & prove.

Dirty Deeds is my personal workbench for interactive strategy, concepts, experiments, and rapid prototypes.

After 21 years in digital and advertising, I wanted a place to explore ideas without waiting for the machinery around them to catch up.

Think it. Build it. Pressure test it. Learn something.

Sometimes that means tearing apart a brief. Sometimes it means turning a loose idea into a working prototype in a few days. Sometimes it’s simply following a hunch far enough to see if there’s anything there.

The goal is simple: make thinking tangible.

This is the workshop floor: concepts, experiments, prototypes, and observations shared while they’re still fresh.

Some become client work. Some help agencies win. Some are just ideas worth putting into the world.

You’ll usually find me somewhere between “What if?” and “Here, try this.”

0+

years on the brief

0

briefs personally led

0

industry awards (and counting)

0

strategy decks that never shipped

02 / The Workbench

This is a workbench.

No rate card · No pitch · Just the work

Dirty Deeds is where I build the things I’d otherwise only talk about. There’s nothing to buy on this page and nothing to sign up for. What’s here is what I’ve been working on, posted while it’s still warm.

Some of it started as a client brief. Some of it started as a question I couldn’t let go of, and some turned into projects that shipped. Either way it gets built far enough to find out whether the idea holds.

Demo Reel: Concepts & Prototypes Reel 01

DD

Dirty Deeds The thinking
is in the open

Dirty Deeds

00 / 06

Everything in the reel gets taken apart in more detail down in the workshop, with the live prototypes you can click through yourself.

See the workshop

03 / The Vault

Selected output, declassified.

A handful of concepts I'm allowed to talk about, straight from the workbench. Some that saw the light of day, some that saw sell-through.

View the Whole Playground ↗

CASE FILE

Pitch

PATH Next 50 Networks explore screen showing the branching network sculpture around a globe

ConceptStrategyData VisualizationExperience Design

The Living Legacy

A pitch built with an agency partner for PATH, the global health nonprofit. A dynamic, evolving digital sculpture that turns PATH’s 50 years of innovation, and the people shaping its future, into a living work of art. Inspired by DNA, neural networks, constellations and interconnected systems, it grows as new breakthroughs, partnerships and investments happen.

The Brief Basics

Visitors explore individual nodes to find the real people, places and innovations behind the work, and major donors can see how their support connects to a much larger system of impact. Rather than a one-year anniversary artifact, The Living Legacy becomes an enduring visualization of PATH’s impact that keeps evolving for the next 50 years.

Build Details/Brief ↓

CASE FILE

Prototype

StrategyCreative DirectionBrandWeb Dev

Seltzer Liberation Day

For this campaign prototype we did a unique take on Independence Day where users could declare their liberation from things in life that Delta helps with and sign an online Declaration with full social integration and image capture of their signature on a document they could download.

The Brief Basics

Delta wanted a Fourth-of-July drop that didn’t read like every other canned-cocktail ad. I decided to take it a step further with interactive that’s fun and ties tightly to brand and use cases.

View Prototype ↗ Build Details/Brief ↓

CASE FILE

Shipped

Muratec Build Your Solution screen with an isometric warehouse and selectable automation components

Project Sold Bought · Built · Shipped

StrategyUXExperience DesignDevelopment

Muratec Trade Show Interactive

A trade show experience for Muratec that merges a physical 3D model with a self-guided digital touchscreen, giving attendees both something tangible to explore and rich product information at their fingertips.

The Brief Basics

Visitors pick an industry, then explore the relevant AS/RS, Shuttle and AGV solutions through interactive 3D models, video, imagery, specifications and applications. As they do, the matching equipment on the physical model lights up, tying the digital story directly to the real-world system. A traditional product display becomes a platform for solution storytelling, so attendees understand not just individual machines but how Muratec technologies work together.

Build Details/Brief ↓

CASE FILE

Shipped

Winston North Pole Cornhole, snowfield game board with wind meter, bag inventory, and score HUD

Project Sold Bought · Built · Shipped

DesignDevelopmentGame TheoryRoll Out

Winston North Pole Cornhole

A game concept we pitched, designed and built for the Winston brand for their VIP and loyalty customers. Winston worked with us to create several online games for their players that tied into loyalty, and this one was the most played, by a nearly triple margin, for three months.

The Brief Basics

The client needed a game for the winter months around the holidays that tied closely to their audience and would earn eyeballs and plays. Looking at the use cases, we landed on a fun game of cornhole in a blizzard, where wind conditions affect bag flight.

Request the build →

CASE FILE

Concept

Hot Wheels track looping past the Venetian and around the Las Vegas Sphere at night

ConceptCreative DirectionExperientialAR

Vegas Is The Track

A Hot Wheels concept built for the Las Vegas Sphere. The Sphere becomes the orange loop and a car runs the full circumference of the building, then the animation carries off the Sphere into neighboring digital signage so the car appears to race the length of the Strip before launching off the top and disappearing.

The Brief Basics

Hot Wheels has spent sixty years shrinking the track to fit a bedroom floor. This runs it the other way and makes the city the track. The Sphere anchors the loop, Strip signage extends the run past the Venetian, Harrah’s and Caesars, and AR puts a car in the hands of anyone standing on the sidewalk watching it happen.

Build Details/Brief ↓

CASE FILE

Concept

Delta party game prototype, a card asking whether Delta would help, with vote options

StrategyGame DesignCreative DirectionWeb Dev

A Party Game For Problems

Concepting a party game you can play on your device or in the real world that ties directly into the brand's “There's A Delta For That” tag in a fun and creative way.

The Brief Basics

A card game where players vote for whether a Delta would help alleviate the problem. How the world votes is how you score. How you vote is data for us to define occasions.

View Prototype ↗ Build Details/Brief ↓

The other files? Available on request, with a handshake and an NDA.

View the Whole Playground ↗ Request the rest →

04 / The Operator

One name on the file.

This is the digital home of Paul Benninghove, the operator behind the lab. He runs the strategy. He answers the phone. He brings the bench when the prototype needs to ship.

Paul Benninghove, booking photo, suit and pinstripe

EXHIBIT A

Paul Benninghove, booking photo, off-duty

EXHIBIT B

SubjectPaul Benninghove

A.K.A."The Executioner"

Out OfHarrisburg, PA

Years Active20+ years

Operating ModeLab · Plug-In · Agency

FocusDigital & Brand

BenchVetted, on call

StatusPlug-ins open

§ Current & Previous Affiliations

4+Tattoo ProjectsVP of Innovation
3+Pavone Marketing GroupDirector of Digital
6+Phalanx DigitalFounder / CD
6+Andculture / MudbrickGM

§ Modus Operandi

Two modes, one operator.

SCHEMATIC 01

Mode 01 · Outbound

Plug-In

Short-cycle work with brands and partner shops who want fresh eyes, a sharp prototype, and senior thinking on the brief. No procurement theater. No decks that don't ship.

WORKBENCH

Mode 02 · Public

Playground

The public side: concepts, experiments, and provocations published while they're still hot. Show the thinking. Steal what's useful.

When a brief or requirement outgrows my skillset I bring a vetted bench of specialists I’ve worked with for years, the same people, the same standard, the same accountability.

§ Known Associates · The Bench

A standing roster of senior collaborators, brought in per brief. Names withheld. Standards aren't.

EngineeringSenior full-stack & mobile
DesignUI / brand / systems
Content & SEOEditorial, technical, growth
Motion & 3DWebGL, Unity, broadcast
ProductionStills, film, post
StrategyResearch, qualitative, brand

§ Distinguishing Marks

I'm not a career consultant. I'm a practitioner. My work lands with top-end strategy, creativity, technology, and execution, allowing me to see opportunities and solve problems that often fall between traditional agency disciplines.

§ Statement to the Court

I've spent twenty years helping brands navigate digital transformation, customer experience, innovation, and growth. Long enough to know that most problems aren't solved by bigger decks, more meetings, or another framework.

My value comes from connecting strategy, creative thinking, technology, and execution into ideas that can actually move a business forward. I help brands and agencies challenge assumptions, sharpen opportunities, and turn promising concepts into something tangible.

If you're looking for another consultant, there are plenty of them. If you're looking for a thinking partner who can also help build the path forward, let's talk.
Paul Benninghove

Plug in with Paul → See the workshop

05 / The Usual Suspects

The line-up. Names you'll know.

A partial list. Some I've plugged in with. Some I've worked from the inside. Some can't be named at all. The agencies are where I cut my teeth before I opened the lab.

Volkswagen

Porsche

Bentley

Lamborghini

Remington

Winston

Kool

Zaxby's

Sun-Maid

Del Monte

StarKist

Mizuno

Ally Bank

Sheetz

Victory Motorcycles

Harley-Davidson

Herr's

Hoover

Boar's Head

Marriott

Tröegs

U.S. Army

Fox Sports

Evil Geniuses

Optavia

+ Many more under NDA

Some you can name. Some you can't. I won't.

06 / The Witnesses

Sworn testimony. On the record.

Statements from clients and agency partners who’ve seen the work up close. Take the stand, read it back.

ON THE RECORD

Witness Stand

Client

Writing a recommendation for Paul is both easy and difficult at the same time. A plain Jane ultra-vanilla recommendation isn’t going to cut it for this one. The man is a mastermind, a brilliant and bad-ass creative who elevates every room he walks into, sees opportunities long before others do, and executes with the precision of a highly-trained sniper. Paul thinks differently, with a level of mastery that turns ideas into experiences. If you know Paul, you get it. If you don’t, you’re missing out.

Sherri Collins Deputy Secretary, PA Dept. of Economic Development

Agency Partner

It’s rare to find an innovative mind who balances big-picture thinking with such ruthless pragmatism. Paul doesn’t just show up with fresh ideas; he brings the data to back them up and the foresight to kill off tactics that are just going to waste time. He architected a massive ABM initiative for us, targeting hundreds of Fortune 1000 accounts and building out the entire tech stack and conversion funnel from scratch. Paul is truly a ‘best idea wins’ leader; he cares way more about the team winning than being the one who’s right. If you need someone to build a high-performing engine and back it with a real strategy, he’s your guy.

Will Callaway Data Science, Cargo Agency

Agency Partner

Paul is a juggernaut when it comes to the digital world. With deep-rooted knowledge and expertise, his ability to rapidly digest challenges and come up with sound solves on the fly is second to none. He has a wild ability to amass and lead impressive teams of various skillsets to put together a troop of digital mavericks and mavens that all work in unison towards meeting and exceeding expectations. He’s a true leader.

Joseph Szala Partner, 3Owl Agency

Client

I’ve partnered with Paul on a number of web and kiosk projects, and for each project he brought a breath of fresh ideas and innovative strategies. His skill with managing a team and overseeing scope, budget, and time makes him an excellent project manager and creative director. If you are looking for creativity, innovation, and vision, Paul is your best choice.

Charles Palmer Dean of Harrisburg University

Agency Partner

Paul has a quick and creative mind and a deep skill set. He is able to quickly grasp the needs of a project, develop a creative solution and concept, and then deliver great results. His technical abilities are strong, and I always appreciate his responsiveness and commitment to making sure the end result is successful. A pleasure to work with.

Michelle Soyars VP Creative Strategy, Vela Agency

01 / 05

07 / The Hotline

Got a brand worth plugging into?

Bring me a brief, an RFP, a stuck strategy, a concept that needs to look real before a meeting, or an idea that you want help fleshing out. I'll respond with which tier fits and what it'll take to get going. No SDR. Possible discovery call needed, with actionable intel and an honest read.

Direct paul@hshbgear.com

Signal 717.487.1301

Office Parts Unknown in Pennsylvania

Hours Whenever there’s a fire

Dirty Deeds done dirt cheap

This is a workbench.

Selected output, declassified.

The Living Legacy

Seltzer Liberation Day

Muratec Trade Show Interactive

Winston North Pole Cornhole

Vegas Is The Track

A Party Game For Problems

One name on the file.

Plug-In

Playground

The line-up. Names you'll know.

Sworn testimony. On the record.

Got a brand worth plugging into?