ISLA — Chanelle de Nysschen

Holographic Academy

This Mixed Reality experience demonstrates my ability to:

Lead art teams to thrive in a rapidly evolving industry by advancing our experience design capabilities.
Art Direct complex projects with both internal and external teams across design, 3D, motion, development, and post-production disciplines.
Partner with Account Executives and Project Managers to estimate, schedule, and monitor projects with tight deadlines.

Art Direction • Experience design • Modeling • Animation • Lighting

The challenge

The Windows Mixed Reality platform runs seamlessly on PC, HoloLens, and Virtual Reality headsets to bring digital content into our physical world. Of course, a platform lives and dies by the apps created for it. To ensure a vibrant marketplace of Mixed Reality applications, Microsoft offers the Holographic Academy. It includes free educational content and experiences to get developers started on the platform.

Beyond knowing how to develop for Mixed Reality, developers also needed to know why. That's where Ten Gun Design came in. The project mission: create content that inspires developers to dream beyond today. To see the possibilities that their skills could unleash on the Windows Mixed Reality platform. This experience would be a highlight at the Microsoft BUILD conference.

Art Direction, storyboarding, composition, shading, lighting, and compositing.

Art Direction, modeling volcano and island base, some texturing, and compositing.

Our approach

Ever since we got our first sneak peek at the HoloLens - back when we needed three levels of security clearance - we’ve imagined the possibilities. The feeling was best summed up as "wonder" and the Ten Gun team set out to capture it for other creators.

It's an emotion often associated with childhood, so we tapped into our playful side and created Isla. It’s an experience designed for up to three teams of two: VR users who dive in to explore trails with expansive vistas, and HoloLens users who guide them through from a birds-eye vantage point.

Modeling, rigging, shading, and animation.

My role

As Art Director and lead creative on this project, I guided every step of the process.

I worked closely with a cross-functional team of designers, 3D artists, technical artists, developers, colorists, etc. I also modeled and rigged the avatars, animated the obstacles, and coordinated between our client, internal and external teams.

The impact

By connecting on an emotional level, we not only showcased the power of the Windows Mixed Reality platform but also created a memorable experience that resonates.

The team