Client
High-end beauty brand
Category
Brand Experience | VR Design | Art Direction | Animation
Software used
Cinema 4D | Corona Render | Octane Render
Creating an immersive VR Art Gallery
A global, high-end beauty brand wanted to create an interactive cultural experience where the public would be invited to explore a virtual art gallery, featuring works from the brand’s private collection.
Our task was to design the various gallery spaces, virtually recreate the artwork and sculptures in their collection, curate the exhibition itself and then work alongside the team of UX and web developers to bring this virtual experience to life.
DESIGNING A NEW GALLERY SPACE
The gallery space itself was to be an entirely original design, with a modern minimalist aesthetic to match their brand. The client was particularly keen to have concrete as the primary material and whilst the space was to feature natural light, they didn’t want large floor to ceiling windows.
Taking inspiration from Brutalist architecture, we designed a space that used light and shadow to enhance the sense of reality, with dynamic, geometric lines creating depth. There is a continuity and flow as you move around the gallery. Each area has a unique feel but is very much part of the space as a whole.
CURATING THE USER JOURNEY
In addition to designing the space, we were responsible for curating the exhibition itself. Firstly, we had to recreate the sculptures in 3D, before deciding how to position the pieces within the space.
We were conscious of creating an authentic and realistic gallery experience, so were focused on the user ‘s journey and how they would move around the space and interact with the art. We also had to consider how to pace the exhibition so each area brought an element of surprise. We were also conscious of the limited viewpoint of the viewer through their phone and the need for a clear pathway through the space.
CREATING THE IMMERSIVE VR EXPERIENCE
In order to bring this gallery into the digital space, we worked closely with a team of developers, using the open source framework, WebVR.
Together we worked out the functionality, user interface and user experience, to ensure that the experience was as easy and seamless as walking around a physical gallery. We were also involved in the physical implementation of the product helping work out the best way to create the VR experience so that it worked across all users’ phones and what design processes we could adopt to facilitate this.
