HIGHLIGHT - TECH FOREST

An AI explores human creativity.

Tech Forest was an ambitious project undertaken for Adyen’s 2023 end-of-year event. As a graphic designer at Brownys Event Productions, I was deeply involved in conceptualizing and executing this unique event theme. The concept revolved around a futuristic forest, merging nature and technology into a captivating narrative. The assignment came right after another big project, giving us only six weeks to prepare motion graphic content for this six-hour event.

My primary responsibility was to develop the motion graphics and 3D animation content. This involved:

• Creating the concept, story, and timeline for the event.
• Designing and animating LED tree visuals.
• Ensuring that all visual elements were cohesive and aligned with the event’s narrative.

The Story

In a world where the sentient AI Verde has created the Tech Forest, the perfect symbiosis between technology and nature, the AI faces a dilemma: it wants to understand the human emotion of creativity. It invites individuals to enter the forest and participate in a grand competition. But during the evening, problems occur with its programming. The old code doesn’t recognize the new code and sees it as a virus. Both programs fight each other until, at the end of the evening, a big reset reveals that the program is on a loop every day.

The evening was divided into sections or time slots, each telling a part of Verde's story. Each time slot had its own graphic style and ended with a voice-over accompanied by an animation. Verde's evolution was depicted throughout the event. Initially, the animations consisted of codes and ASCII images. As Verde evolved, the visuals became more organic, resembling grass fields and plant life within the terrarium. Later, as the new code started generating, the animations grew even more biological, with fungus-like patterns connecting various elements in the terrarium, signifying the culmination of A.I. Verde's creative journey. As the event neared its conclusion, the A.I. began to struggle, depicted through graphics of glitches and blue screens of death.

Challenges and Solutions

One of the main challenges was the limited time available before the event. With only six weeks to prepare, we had to create six hours of content for ten LED trees. Given the specific requirements of the trees and the story elements, we couldn’t rely on stock content. By leveraging my skills in Blender and other design software, I was able to create prototypes and iterate quickly, ensuring that every detail was perfect.