for more, see “A Depth-Data-Driven Brand Experience”

These are excerpts or recordings of moments while I was working. In some cases, they’re terrible accidents.

A depth-data-driven brand experience

That’s a whacky mouthful. About a year ago, a client came to us with a need to refresh their brand. Through a few concept phases it became evident that this would be a perfect case for the brand to exist as the product’s behavior. I used trapcode form in after effects to create what you see below. Check it out fullscreen to see the details of the texture. The behavior of the lines reveal that they are much more complex geometric figures. Akin to Marc Shillum’s piece on Brands as Patterns, these reactive contours are the keystone of Softkinetic’s identity.

This video was developed for three purposes. One: to help convey a concept for a brand interaction splash to the client. The thought is that this could be used as a bumper before an application that uses this technology starts up (Not this video, the real thing). Two: to show how the brand identity can be extended. More appropriately, this motion concept redefined the identity itself. Three: this also acted as an early technical planning guide. It turned out to be amazingly useful in this way. It not only helped my formulate my architecture, but also helped me describe the steps that I would likely need to take to the directors. This is a exactly why after effects is such a fundamental part of my work.

Last winter, I began working on a functional prototype. The following is a compilation of the process. I used cinder and many principles from various contributors all of whom I hope I’ve properly cited.

Part I – Front-End

Part II – Input

Part III – Shaders

Part IV – Afterthoughts