ritOS Student Guide

Concept

My concept for this project was to create an advertisement for an imaginary augmented-reality user interface specifically aimed at incoming freshmen to RIT. I intentionally left the specifics how such a product would work up to interpretation, but I was inspired by similar UI in films like the Iron Man series, and in products such as Google Glass.

Style

For the actual style of my UI, however, I chose to go with something a little less futuristic. As we are already comfortable with the clean look of mobile interfaces, I chose to apply similar design patterns to this augmented reality format. I also made use of RIT’s design language— including the white, black, and orange color scheme— since this hypothetical product would be RIT-branded.

Sketches & Storyboarding

As this would essentially be an advertisement, I had to create some kind of story for the viewer to follow. My solution follows a new student from their point-of-view, as they wake up and hurriedly rush to make it to class on time. Throughout their journey, there are multiple moments where the functionality of “ritOS” is displayed— most notably when they enter the building where their class is, and pull up a virtual map telling them how to get there.

Individual Assets

Much of the actual animating was done in pieces, as each of the UI panels were unique and had to be animated individually. Much of this UI was purely informational, however there were some graphics that were more showy. This isn’t to say that they were unnecessary, though, as the inspirational quotes “realize your vision” and “inspiring creativity” are very much in line with current RIT branding around campus.

Reflection

On a technical level, the project taught me how to blend animation with video footage by using “3D Tracking” in After Effects. However, I also learned the importance of addressing the crucial components of the work first, before moving on to other parts of the process. Since most of my project depended on video footage, I made sure to take lots of footage early on. Because of this, I had time to reshoot my video (sadly), and blend my animated components with the footage.

ritOS

Student Guide

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