Mercedes/Sensual Purity
Extending the corporate branding into generative art to match the innovative attitude and pioneering spirit of the brand. Showcase high tech and arousing emotions.
produced by: Jagoda Wrobel
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3slfCML3AU&t=16s
Introduction
From the initial research through project evaluation and final piece using the techniques learned in class to create a generative piece that can work as an expressive example of art in branding. As publicity became art and art became publicity, "tables are turned products become art, critics go nuts”. (Hoffman, 2003) and a mutually beneficial relationship between both forms can be established. As the approach to art becomes more liberal, the advertising industry has to follow the trend and transfer from only a functional message intended to inform about a given product to an artistic form of expression.
Concept and background research
The project is a concept idea for branding promotion for Mercedes. As "Mercedes-Benz lifestyle has many different facets: from journeys, road trips and digital travel guides through fashion to fitness" (https://www.mercedes-benz.com) it was important for me to express the diverse nature of the company. The movement, colours and shapes are widely inspired by the sophisticated and distinctive aesthetics of the brand.
The composition is made out of four core scenes, that repeat in slight variations. Two calm, organic scenes and two energetic, vibrant scenes work to balance each other, and as a combination provide what is called by the company “Sensual Purity”. The iconic Mercedes star logo is incorporated into each of the stages to keep the consistency and stand strong as an individual piece of branding.
The installation consists of three cubes two at the bottom and one on the top, a loose reference to the podium that in sports is used to honour the best.
Technical
I have created this project in OpenFrameworks using C++. However, before I started digital work I have created a set of sketches, moodboards and mockups in order to research and experiment. The next phase was to separately create and test code for each piece of the scene. When everything was running smoothly and all problems have been elminated I compiled it in ofxPiMapper added FBO sources and created scene transitions using ofxJSON.
As coding part was finished, I have projected the filal piece onto the dummy objects. Aligning projection with shape was more time consuming than initially expected, however manageable. I found out that some colors and width of the shapes needed to be adjusted, while visible on the computer screen, they were faint on the installation.
Future development
The aim is to try again with the projector as the quality of projection and video is lower than expected. I would like to extend my work more into a physical space indoors or outdoors and explore more the possibilities of mapping on different surfaces. Experimenting with audio, and matching sound to each scene individually to enhance the experience is also something I plan to have a look at.
Self-evaluation
The project and the idea evolved with time, as I progressed with the task. I have allowed myself a certain margin of flexibility, and how I approached the project had an impact on the final outlook. Knowing the scope of my coding and OpenFrameworks knowledge, the best solution was to be open for changes and adjustments while tackling and overcoming errors.
At first, I wanted to approach and showcase the general topic of automotive sports and race. However, I have found the subject too broad for my first project. As I started with code I realized that the concept got lost and the idea lost its strength.
I have figured out that by narrowing down my perspective on the subject would make my concept stronger. Therefore, I have progressed with the idea of creating branding promotion for Mercedes.
The piece of code that I found the most challenging was the "wave". I have spent some time trying different approaches. For example, at first, I have created a custom object in the shape of a straight line with different intermittent points that had assigned initially a random value, later Perlin noise. However, this way of thinking did not bring the desired effects. During my research, I have come across a youtube channel and page (cited below in references) that help me get desired effects by providing an initial code sample that I have reworked to match my aesthetics.
The projection mapping was an exciting experience that made me understand how image generated on the screen varies from the one projected.
References
This is the place where you put links to papers and other works and you make sure you credit code that you used from other people here (as well as in your code).
中内純 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s_3wOnBX4g
中内純 , https://junkiyoshi.com/
Evolution - Royality free music, https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/evolution-epic-nature
Josh Hild, https://www.pexels.com/photo/spider-man-on-top-of-building-2854693/
Resources provided on learn.gold,