Oculus @ GDC(Game developers conference) 2018 - Proposal
- Spatial Experience Design
- Experiential Design
- 3D modelling and Visualization
- Exhibit Design
Client
Oculus/Facebook
2018
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) brings the game development community together to exchange ideas, solve problems, and shape the future of the industry across five days of education, inspiration, and networking. Attendees include programmers, artists, producers, game designers, audio professionals, and business leaders. For GDC 2018, Oculus wanted to make a big impact and not just be an attendee, but to be a destination.
STUDIO We’re Magnetic
ROLE Spatial Experience Designer, 3D Modelling + visuals/renders, VR Renders, Virtual Fly Through
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR Graham Taylor
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Emily Fife
ART DIRECTOR Debbie Yeh
EXPERIENTIAL DESIGN DIRECTOR Glenn Marck
Programs Used:
Rhino 3D
VRay Render Engine
Adobe Photoshop
Oculus approached our team with the opportunity to reimagine how they show up at GDC 2018 as the true leader in the field of VR while also introducing some of their new products. A cornerstone to their overall message was to “Allow people to experience anything, anywhere they are”.
With this in mind, we looked to create a physical presence that truly conveyed their vision for Virtual Reality. Additionally, we wanted to introduce the Oculus Go headset in a special way and showcase the latest content experiences through an innovative take on product demos. Finally, we emphasized our dedication to the developer community and partners by engaging them with intimate demos and programming.
“Allow people to experience anything, anywhere they are”
For our proposal submission, we chose a theme of "Connecting New Worlds" as we felt this is what Oculus does and is pushing to do more of as they move forward with their new products. Oculus is a destination booth and has established itself apart from the other exhibitors with a different visual language.
From the start, we knew we wanted our submission to embrace the humble and sophisticated characteristics that project the brand’s sleek and quiet strength. But we wanted guests as they approached, to also notice the dynamic movement and energy that the design deliberately creates. A few key words stuck out to us in our initial brainstorm were fearless, inspiring, thoughtful, and visionary. Upon further workshopping of what the brand Oculus really portrayed, we came to the conclusion of keywords human, inclusive, confident, direct, and friendly.
FEARLESS
INSPIRING
THOUGHTFUL
VISIONARY
HUMAN
INCLUSIVE
CONFIDENT
DIRECT
FRIENDLY
Preliminary Explorations
Starting in the initial design phase, we saw that to balance out all of our style findings would work best by incorporating traditional mid-century modern elements which would soften hard lines, while added digital elements would offer intrigue and invite exploration. We also took into account the “nice to have” problem of Oculus’s popularity and wanted to add an immersive journey while people waited in line to experience the Oculus Go and Rift products.
Initial facade explorations
Early theater and VIP entrance area exploration 3D model
Early 3D exploration of area where attendees would experience the Oculus Rift product.
Refined facade exploration
It all comes together in immersive cohesion
After working through various design explorations and iterations of them, while taking into account cost barriers and possible logistic difficulties, we were able to create a destination for Oculus at GDC that we were all very proud of.
We felt we were able to successfully take the look/feel of the brand, their products design/style, and synthesize it into a very attractive design, which was sure to stand out amongst the hundreds of other tech companies at GDC.
We spent a lot of time working out how the attendees would be able to navigate around and throughout the Oculus space in a way that would be obvious and not create any points of congestion. Every part of the design, from the comfort of the furniture to the flow of the space was all created and thought through with the end user at the forefront of mind, while also catering to the clients wants and needs.
See images below of final renders and flythrough video.
Final rendered & comped visual for the Deep Cream Serum.
Final render looking into the Oculus Go test area & lounge.
Final render of approach view to the Oculus destination at GDC.
Final render looking at Oculus theater space and VIP entrance area.
Final render of approach view to theater.
Final render looking at entrance/queue to Oculus destination.
Fly through animation of the Oculus “destination” at GDC 2018.
Oculus was very impressed with our proposal and felt it spoke to them as company and captured their brand ideals exact. But, in the world of many agencies all competing to land the client, Oculus ended up going with another, due to non design related reasons. But, due to their impress of our design, they ended up hiring us right off the bat for many other projects they had on the horizon. So in the end, it wasn’t a failure, but rather a way to show them what we could do and that they would not be let down by our designs.
While they may have gone another direction for the event, we left this project feeling great and that we were successful in executing a design proposal we had set out to create from the start. One which captured their product and showed their brand as more than just an attendee, but rather, a destination at GDC 2018.