Introduction
Client: Media Design School
Time Frame: May - July 2022
Role: Motion & Backend Development
Recognition: Best Awards Bronze Winner 2022
Team Members & Roles
Creative Director: Sejin Lee
Team Leader & UX Researcher: Calais Soper
Interactive Designer: Kevin Pao
Tūrama is an activation which highlights the core features of Tīramarama Way and acts as a guiding light for rangitahi reflection of self through their own core values
The brief for the project was to shine a light on Tīramarama Way by designing an interactive installation celebrating the meaning of the space and the stories of its star cluster Matariki, utilising the local resources, foyer space and connective values of Media Design School and its people.
The Concept
Tūrama is a three part journey that focuses around a centralised 'hub'. As a team, we were tasked to build an experience that would encourage people to explore the hidden features of Tīramarama Way, and then connect with those through a process of self reflection guided by the values of Matariki
Exploration
Taking place within Tīramarama Way, a Spark AR activated mural was produced where people could discover the māori values behind the core features of the street
Connection
Leading into the foyer of Media Design School, this combines wayfinding and informative posters to provide details on the values discovered outside, and guide people into the final stage
Reflection
A combination of a projected motion wall and web app, this stage asks people to reflect upon which values they connect with most, and generates a custom constellation based on their input
AR Filter Demo
These decals were able to come to life via an instagram filter developed using Spark AR. Below is an interactive replica of how the filter worked, followed by an overview of the development process.
Filter Development
As part of the exploration stage of our activation we put together an interactive mural, using a series of decals to showcase key features of Tīramarama Way.
These decals were designed to come to life through an instagram filter, creating a more shareable and engaging experience.
In order to bring the decals to life, I built a collection of basic scenes in Cinema 4D. Each scene was built out of layered images that connected to the values of the feature they were representing.
Once the scenes were built, transferring them into Spark AR proved somewhat complex, and a lot of additional adjustments needed to be made in order to ensure the filter would be fully optimised and ready to run on a mobile device.
Although the optimisation process was somewhat drawn out, it's something that taught me a lot and proved to be an unexpectedly valuable part of this project
Generative Art
The algorithm for our constellations changed multiple times while developing the concept for our activation before we settled on our final version.
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V1.0
Inspired by Dorota Grabkowska's "What Made Me", the first iteration of our algorithm assigned numbers to each of the values that could be selected, and then drew lines between their choices to create their final design.
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V2.0
The second iteration generates star positions entirely based on user input. Stars are evenly spread horizontally, and then have vertical displacement applied to them based on the selected values
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V3.0
The final iteration smoothed out some of the errors in previous versions that had resulted in straight lines being occasionally generated, and also added a few smaller details such as smaller offshoots and loops adding to the level of personalisation
Constellation Demo
Below is a demonstration of the generative, animated constellations.
Enter your details to try it out! Any details you don't enter will be randomly selected for you
Final Activation
Reflection
From the very start of this project our aim was to build an experience of self-discovery with a focus on māori values. Our whole team worked hard over the course of 8 weeks to bring this aim to life in the form of an activation, and the end result exceeded all of our expectations.
Although we encountered some roadblocks along the way, our dedication to the project allowed us to push through and end up with an outcome we can all be proud of, and even earning us a Bronze win in the Best Awards Student Toitanga category.
