In our recent webinar, creators from Blend Market joined Blend Media’s Chief Content Officer, Simon Brooksbank, to share their experiences of upskilling in immersive technologies and techniques. The panellists included Alex Rühl, Award-Winning Creative VR Director; Chrissy Gow, Founder of AccessAR; and Ross Wakefield, Director at ARea Creative.
Below is a summary of our creator’s thoughts on the topic of immersive upskilling, why it’s important and how they respond to the fast-paced industry.
Ross Wakefield, Director ARea Creative: “For me, upskilling is essential because marketers are aware that the interactive experience is becoming more normal for the gaming generations, who are socialising with their friends in games like Fortnite. In response to that, and the need for brand standout, the briefs I am seeing are changing from an AR filter to an AR gamification filter.
My upskilling journey has taken three years, from retail interior designer to AR developer. But I’m still evolving my skills... interestingly I’m delving back into branded retail environments for brands like Nike who want a virtual store in Fortnite selling virtual products for avatars to wear, or purchase in-game to be delivered in real life.”
Alex Rühl, Award-Winning Creative VR Director: “As a creator, I need to be constantly experimenting and learning. That takes time and curiosity and often means a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee delving into the latest developments in the industry.
When it comes to the work, on an immersive film set I need to know what everyone does to get the best out of them and direct them accordingly. Bringing a vision to life means understanding where and how to use particular skills like volumetric, but with experts on the team that can deliver that specialism. When you’re creating in 360, you’re giving the client the same level of expertise that they would get from the 2D film making process, upskilling is essential to that.”
Chrissy Gow, Founder of AR Agency, Access AR: “It’s interesting to see the increasing number of brands and businesses looking to include immersive into their campaigns but struggling to understand the best use case. I’m constantly upskilling and learning about the new applications within immersive technologies so I can advise clients on the difference between Snapchat or Instagram options, or why it’s best to give consumers tools to enhance their own story content with some subtle branding.
And it works the other way too; SparkAR releases new features, that creates trending content, which inspires clients to ask for similar, meaning what’s new and what's possible is ever increasing - its an exciting place to be.”
If you're a creator with immersive skills join Blend Market here; if you're a client and have an immersive project that you'd like to make a reality get started here. For all question or for more information please get in touch at hello@blend.media