A concept for experiential design was buzzing around SIGGRAPH 2010 – the concept of emergence. Emergence is the by-product of the audience’s interactivity, something that isn’t directly incorporated into the piece itself. It can be a variety of manifested qualities when people are put into the right collaborative conditions.
SIGGRAPH 2010 kicks off Sunday in Los Angeles. SIGGRAPH is the annual expo dedicated to computer graphics and interactive technologies.
At this year’s event, there are an estimated 25,000 geeks and techies assembled under one roof to discover what’s next.
SIGGRAPH 2010 covers a wide spectrum of topics. From 3D animation to interactive visual effects and even experimental scientific visualization. A few highlights of SIGGRAPH 2010:
Computer Animation Festival
The Computer Animation Festival features a full spectrum of genres and styles, ranging from narrative character animation to scientific visualization, commercials for mainstream TV, and cinematic digital effects. In addition, the prestigious Electronic Theater and a series of screenings.
TRON: Legacy panel
The highly anticipated film TRON: Legacy a 3D high-tech adventure be the focus of a filmmaker panel discussion on Tuesday, 27 July 27 at 3:45 p.m. PST.
SIGGRAPH 2010 kicks off Sunday — check out the clip below for a preview.
SIGGRAPH 2010:
When I read that Volkwagen’s “The Fun Theory” and Nike Livestrong’s “Chalkbot” experiential design work won the 2010 Cannes Festival Grand Prix, I was ecstatic. We’re all aware that advertising is changing. But, it’s quite amazing to see that experiential design is elevating, and has gained acceptance as a communication device.
The Fun Theory is a competition itself where people can upload ideas designed to make mundane tasks interesting. Take the winning submission for example:
And the Nike Chalkbot was a machine that would imprint hopeful messages along the Tour De France– submitted through texting, Twitter and a website. The Chalkbot received some 23,000 messages to be chalked on the roads of France, so it was truly a viral experiential phenomenon.
Design + Technology is the hot new “creative” as it relates to the ad industry. The big Cyber Grand Prix winners at Cannes are indicative of where advertising and the world of design are headed. There’s no argument that great design will always be great design and regarded as such. But, in today’s advertising world, where we are routinely charged with producing great design that drives results, the addition of technology into the mix is, in my opinion, the best recipe for success.
DDB Stockholm’s work for Volkswagen took home a win for its terrific Fun Theory campaign that took ordinary experiences, added technology and not only made the experiences fun, but changed behavior as a result.
Weiden & Kennedy’s Chalkbot campaign for Nike Livestrong was evidence that by integrating technology into an event, you can actually bring the public into the event and make them a part of the experience, almost seamlessly.
In both cases, technology was the hero, and the driving force behind the concept, but the beauty of both of these integrated experiences is that the technology was invisible. The winners at Cannes validate that this is where the world of advertising is moving. Design + Technology may seem like strange bedfellows at first – similar to the traditional agency creative process integrating with the digital creative process. Those agencies that mastered that were way ahead of those who kept them separate.
For us, it has been an adaptive process over the last couple of years. Our designers were at the top of the heap – so we had to learn how to embrace the collaborative effort between technologists and designers. There were fits and starts – but today, I can say without reservation that the line between our designers and our technology gurus has blurred into one big integrated space. And happily, it has changed the face of our business, as well as the kind of work we are able to do for our clients.
*The poster is the 1939 Cannes Film Festival vintage poster, which is from the year of the planned festival debut. The film festival was canceled that year, because of the start of World War II
Not unlike most businesses, ours has undergone many changes over the course of the past several years. And our strategy has guided it at times and tried to keep up with those changes the rest of the time. This post was inspired by David Bowie a veritable master of change. Listen to the song while you read this post and you’ll see why I was inspired.
Take Two used to be known mostly in the Kansas City market for our post-production work. In order to keep up with a changing industry, we created Back Alley Films to do original film production and motion graphics design. We then created our Integrated Experience Lab to focus on emerging digital and multi-platform work: things like augmented reality, interactive design and experiential design. We’re now known as T2 + Back Alley Films and, while our client base still includes Kansas City based companies, it has expanded to include clients all over the world.
Change has been a great opportunity for us to reinvigorate our business, reinvigorate our staff and completely reexamine our business model. As a result, it has literally changed the way we do everything.
These days, from the very first moments of working with a new or prospective client, the people that we bring to the table is an eclectic group — and a strategically formed one. No longer do we rely on our new business development team — or our producers — to do all the work, instead, we bring the talent to the table. We combine the strategic and the creative thinkers – for a new age of strategic/creative thinking. That means our team, our creatives, our brand experts, our interactive and experiential design teams, our mobile technology team and our social media strategists are part of just about every project or idea, from its earliest inception.
The reality of our business – and any business, really – is that change IS the reality. And in this case, we’re finding that change is making us better at what what we do. It’s creative services — but it’s broader than what it used to be. I bet it’s happening everywhere. What about you? How are you changing the scope of the way you do business? Our generation will be defined by this. Let’s talk about it — and learn from each other.
T2 is a collection of artists who create stories and imagery for all types of media.
Back Alley Films is a daredevil production task force who creates messages across all media platforms.
