Google Creative Lab
in 2018 to 2019, I worked at Google Creative Lab in Sydney as a Designer.
During my time there, I design UX/UI for AR experiences, build prototypes, conduct testing and various graphic design work. It's my first job out of university too!
Service
UX/UI Design
Branding
Graphic Design
Client
Year
2018-2019
Want to create a website from Google Sheets?
Conduct an orchestra with your webcam?
Have a teddy bear that talks to you while you walk around Sydney Opera House for TEDx?
All of that is possible with creative applications of technology!
Google Creative Lab explores the intersection between art and technology. We aim to delight users and show that Google is capable of magical things.
I worked on an Augmented Reality (AR) project with ARCore for the majority of my time there with an international collaborator. While the project is still confidential at the moment, I am in the midst of compiling my learnings here. In the meantime, here are other projects I worked on during my time at Google.
An Opera in your home
an experimental Augmented Reality (AR) with Opera Queensland
How can we make live performance more accessible – by offering everyone a front-row seat – and at the same time allow a user to feel a deeper connection to the music and the performers?
Opera Queensland partnered with Google’s Creative Lab to produce an experimental Augmented Reality (AR) experience featuring Mozart's The Magic Flute. To achieve it in AR, the actors were volumetric captured and a 360 degree view of the performer is then recreated as a ‘volume’ in 3D space, allowing it to be placed ‘in the real world’ as seen through a smartphone’s camera.
In this project, I helped ideate and make a prototype of the holder used to experience the opera performance in AR.
D.I.S.P.L.A.Y.E.D
Mixing contemporary performance and audio Augmented Reality (AR)
Heidi Latsky Dance (HLD) in New York partnered with Google's Creative Lab to explore two disciplines; dance and contemporary performance, and audio Augmented Reality (AR). D.I.S.P.L.A.Y.E.D is a deconstructed art exhibit/fashion show and commentary on the body as spectacle and society's obsession with body image. The D.I.S.P.L.A.Y.E.D sculpture court provided a unique platform to experiment with Google’s Creative Lab audio 'Sounds in Space' technology. The technology allows you to place virtual sound spheres in a 3D space using a mobile phone. Once the sounds are placed, audience members can walk around the space wearing headphones to hear the sounds, all of which are binaural and respond to the person’s movement within the space.
In this project, I helped test the 'Sounds in Space' technology in different environments and scenarios to ensure that the audio holds its position in the space. Early on in the project, I also created animated illustrations to convey and communicate the experience to stakeholders.
Editions at Play
An experiment into books that cannot be printed
Editions At Play is the Peabody Futures award-winning initiative by Visual Editions and Google’s Creative Lab to explore what a digital book might be: one which makes use of the dynamic properties of the web.
The goal of Editions At Play is to allow writers to create books which change dynamically on a reader’s phone or tablet using the internet, and to engage the next generation of readers on their phones as well as in print. We want to create books that are powered by the magic of the internet.
In this project, I helped design a poster to represent the project. The poster is currently displayed in the Google office in Sydney.
Other Creative Lab
Sydney's Projects
While my main project is confidential at the moment, here are other projects that were produced in the lab. Stay tuned!
Other fun things
at Google
Google Walkout
On November 1 2018, thousands of Google staff across the world have staged a series of walkouts in protest at claims of sexual harassment, gender inequality and discrimination. I designed the poster and a leaflet for Googlers to leave on their desk to show their participation in the Walkout. It circulated to Google offices all around the world, shared on social media, and published in 10+ news sites covering the protest, including major news outlets such as BBC, Forbes and The Verge.
Stickers
To humanise technology and digital products, I illustrated a set of stickers which features Google's products along with a pun to complement it. It definitely placed a smile on Googlers' faces!
Lightning Talks
I participated in a lightning talk during Sydney Tech Week where I gave a talk titled "How to Make Anything Look Cute with Art". I shared my methods to illustrate and the importance of humanising tech to the users through design..
Team Logos
Team logos are a great way to foster teamwork and collaboration. I've designed logos for teams and clubs within Google including Google Maps, Google Cloud, InterFaith Organisation and the marketing team. Most team names are removed from the logo.
Bubble Tea Club
During my time there, I got to be involved in setting up the Bubble Tea Club to celebrate Asians and the diversity in Google. I illustrated logos and stickers to be distributed during events.
Team
Tea Uglow, Jonathan Richards, Kirstin Sillitoe, Jude Osborn, Tim Paul, Sean Kelly, Samantha Cordingley, Ruper Parry, Sarah Nagorcka, Melissa Lu, Hailey Craig, Olivia Rosenman, Dennis Golding.