Delivering the message
Our virtual screens and technology are the visual delivery system for our message. They shouldn’t draw attention to themselves, but they still must effectively reinforce each message by being effortlessly advanced and personal.
When I wrote earlier about Beth’s gestures, I mentioned one way of making our message more conversation and natural was to have our screens and virtual tech react to gestures that echo how people already interact with their handheld devices, e.g., swiping, tapping, re-sizing screens, etc. Moving Beth’s performance more toward this natural, tactile interaction may very well be the most important adjustment we make to our technology, making it feel like a smart, perfectly integrated extension of Beth’s conversational delivery.
To add to that thought, I would recommend approaching our information design and technology as if it is an existing technology. Specifically, in addition to using natural hand gestures to navigate, I would give the look of it more depth, texture, opacity, and realism that sets it into our scenes.
Of course, it should never feel like it’s gimmicky, holographic, or science-fiction-like: we should always notice the message, not the technology. I’m confident that we can make style adjustments that help the information come through more clearly, while also avoiding the look of graphic supers or flat overlays that would likely feel disconnected from Beth and the rest of our message. I know there’s a perfect balance to be found that’s between these extremes – a way to strengthen each message without ever distracting from them.
Specific details to consider include having our floating screens give off subtle touches of interactive light on Beth, and having the slightest shadows and reflections – so the screens feel as if they are actually in the scene. Likewise, creating a sense of depth-of-field, thickness, and perspective in the images and typography will help it to feel more substantial, photographic, and advanced.
Other ideas that might help create more refined information design include modulations in the light around our technology – i.e., subtle glimmers and animated pinpoints of light that draw the attention of our viewers to the right place at the right time. These and other style variations will take some trial and error to properly dial in, but they’re worth exploring as a way to strengthen our messaging.
On a loosely related point, we should also consider incorporating our information design and animation elements into the end tags. For instance, we could have the tagline animate on in a way that’s reminiscent of how our advanced information animates inside the screens. Or we could use small glints of light to draw the eye to the logo or tagline. Even subtle animations, graphic elements, or design features can help to reinforce the message and unify the campaign.
References
We will create our own custom, simplified information graphics -- textured, dimensional, tactile, using natural device gestures, and incorporating interactive lighting. None of the references below are perfect (as many "virtual screen" references are far too "sci-fi" and complicated for our needs), but together they give hints of the proposed direction. (CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
