Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Digital Media and Interactive Art Director students in Stockholm are listening to a lecture about the zone between art, technology and biology by Lucy McRae.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Earlier this month, Pixar and Double Negative lectured at Hyper Island. We were happy to take the opportunity to ask Double Negative Senior Technical Director Ziah Fogel questions about the visual effects field:
What skills are typical among successful visual effects artists?
Successful visual effects artists are generally good communicators, easy-going, good at time-management, highly motivated over-achievers. The more technical usually have great math and computer programming skills, can communicate with artists, and have a decent visual eye. The more artistically inclined have amazing visual arts skills, can relate to more technical people, and are competent with computers. Everyone working in visual effects should be prepared for tight deadlines and lots of work, but also lots of fun!
What qualities make a successful intern?
The most successful interns are fast learners, have some general knowledge about the area they're interning in, and communicate well. They're also highly motivated, enthusiastic, and ready to learn new things!
Photo: Gregory Solenström, Digital Media 2010 Stockholm
Please describe your impression on Hyper Island students in 3 words.
Self-motivated, problem-solvers, diverse.
What would you recommend Hyper Island's Motion Graphics Designer students to do to keep up to speed with the latest technology and trends?
You should read as much as you can - about everything in the latest technologies. Try to speak to people in your field (or similar fields) about how they're doing things and what they see as new trends. Push yourself to learn new things throughout your career, and if you ever feel like you're not learning or growing as fast as you'd like, do something to get yourself out of that rut!
What sources of inspiration do you recommend to those who want to work with motion?
Watch as many films as you can, read as many magazines or blogs about the areas you're interested in, and communicate with others in your industry.
What's your best advice to those who want to work with visual effects?
Getting your foot in the door in the visual effects industry can be difficult. Don't get discouraged - keep trying! Make an amazing reel and work hard until you get a break. Sometimes the easiest way to get your foot in the door is with an internship, or by working your way up by starting as a PA or a runner at an animation or VFX house, using your free time learning the tools and speaking to people who are doing the job you want to do!
Thank you Ziah!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Myke Gerstein, Executive Interactive Producer at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, held a lecture at Hyper Island Stockholm last week. We wanted to find out more.
What was your lecture at Hyper Island about?
I talked about the production process as it lives in an agency. Some of the differences that exist between digital and traditional agencies and also a bit about the way things work at a development shop.
What new ideas/points of view do you hope the Digital Media students brought with them from the lecture?
I think that the explanation of the basic agency structure was new. It certainly was to me before I got involved in it. I hope that getting into these specifics will help the students both decide if the agency way interests them and also gives them a leg up once they’re there.
What do you think the future holds for digital marketing?
I think there is great potential for digital marketing to not just innovate within its own field, but within the web as a whole. I think we’ll start to see ideas come out of marketers that don’t just use existing technology but trail blaze their own. Public APIs and open source I think is changing interactive the same way that cheap cameras and editing software changed film production. You don’t need a lot of money to make something that a lot of people will see. It puts even greater importance on the creative idea.
What do you think will happen to traditional ad agencies?
I think they’re going in a few directions. Some are trying to build out their interactive capabilities. Compete for their clients’ interactive business. I think a lot of them have a strong shot at doing that but of course it takes time and isn’t always successful. Some will keep doing what they do best and there will always be a need for it. Film production isn’t going anywhere. People are watching less of it on a tv but they are still watching. Same with print to a lesser extent. The publishing industry is getting smaller and the production of print materials doesn’t have the same type of analog as video on the web or another broadcast source.
How does Wieden+Kennedy stay up-to-date with what's happening in the digital world?
We have a lot of people here that are really interested in what’s happening both on an interactive marketing front and in the web as a whole. There is a lot of knowledge that people share with everyone else. I scan all the tech news several times a day and pass on things I think are relevant.
Are there any people / innovators / technologies / other sources of inspirations that have had strong impacts on the way you work?
Probably too many to mention. Every place I’ve worked has been filled with truly inspired and inspiring people. The people at CP+B, W+K, Campfire, Chelsea Pictures. All of them. The sophistication and capabilities of flash are of course influential both because of its predominance in the field and the many things it can do. Every RIA impacts our work. Also great jazz. I listen to Oscar Peterson on repeat.
Any final words of advice to Hyper Island's students?
Find a place whose work you think is great and that you want to contribute to. Do it with great gusto and fortitude. If it doesn’t make you happy find something else.
Thank you, Myke!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Graduated Hyper Island students Juho Parviainen (Crew 9) and Robert Lenne (Crew 7) work at innovation and design firm IDEO in London. Having lectured at Hyper Island previously, the two came back and held a workshop at the end of last year with Hyper Island's Interactive Art Director students.
Why did you decide to come back to lecture at Hyper Island again?
Hyper Island courses always have an interesting group of students with mix of different backgrounds and goals. This makes for an interesting and inspiring trip for us as well.
What do you see in the current students that inspires you?
We were especially impressed by the way students tackled one of the exercises (maximize profits selling mulled wine) in a mere day with the help of YouTube and social networking tools. This shows you can come up with a concept and prototype it in a real and tangible way very rapidly. We were also impressed by the presentations on Friday, which really showed the how students embraced the power of rapid prototyping through role playing and storytelling.
Photo: Linda Gavin
What kind of competences is IDEO looking for right now?
We're always looking for talented people who share a passion for creating human centric products and services. IDEO often hires people rather than skills. What we mean by that is that we care at least as much about the cultural fit and personality as we do about the skills around a specific discipline. Projects at IDEO are heavy on collaboration and team work, so we naturally look for people who are good collaborators and good at sharing their skills with the rest of the community. We look for people who are passionate about something and have drive to get things done. For specific list of skill sets and disciplines that we're hiring it's best to look at IDEO website where we always post our openings.
What type of courses do you think will be needed to fulfill the competence needs of the future?
With technologies becoming easier to use and deploy they are losing the edge as a competitive advantage. It's not enough to have the most features anymore, it's about having the right features. Consumers are moving beyond spec sheets especially when it comes to consumer technology products. As products and brands are moving beyond just individual products to delivering broader user experiences a new kind of designers are needed: Designers with skills to understand people, learn fast, imagine, visualize and prototype variety of different touch points, ranging from in store experience to mobile applications. This requires a lot of collaboration between different disciplines. So the future needs versatile, empathic and collaborative designers who are not only great at what they do best, but also have understanding and empathy to go beyond their own comfort zone.
In terms of technology, are there any kinds of currently used languages you think we'll move away from? Or, are languages no longer part of it, but rather the thinking?
We don't often look for people who know a specific programming language or not. We look for good thinkers and tinkerers. What is important is to know about variety of technologies and to be able to understand their benefits and possibilities when it comes to design. Skill that is most useful is being able to adapt and learn new things alongside normal project work.
The part where actual programming languages such as Ajax or Action Scripting come to play is when we do prototyping. We often try to prototype products and services as early as possible and this is where skills in programming languages become useful. So even if we don't specifically hire based on those skills the more you can build the more versatile you can be. Good interaction prototypers at IDEO generally know many different prototyping tools (programming, producing video, storytelling, storyboarding etc), but are also quick at learning new ones. However, it is good to remember that programming something is often not to best way to prototype an experience. Often times it is more valuable to do a video, act it out, or even do paper prototype.
What recommendations do you have for the students?
Learn and experiment as much as you can. Don't try to do things the same way all the time. Put yourself in situations where you don't necessarily feel comfortable and try things you've never tried before, this is a great way to grow. Then, once you enter work life, don't forget to keep doing all this all the time.
Thank you, Juho and Robert!
