Creating inspiration with art and technology.
I help science, nature and history media content providers communicate with their audience using augmented reality and 3D graphics.
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Hummingbird
A slow-motion hummingbird. I experimented with material settings and textures to create this surreal crystal hummingbird scene.
Magic Vase
A Snapchat lens that creates a surreal particle effect. I was inspired by flocks of starlings and the patterns they make. The particles were animated in Blender, and transferred to Lens Studio to make the Snapchat lens.
Space Wormhole
A space station that I modelled and rendered in Blender, before importing it into Lens Studio and making a Snapchat Lens with it.
The wormhole material and star material in the Snapchat lens were both made using the material editor in Lens Studio.
Branding Article (UX Collective)
A series of images I made in Blender for an article I wrote for UX collective: https://uxdesign.cc/how-to-use-cgi-graphics-to-engage-with-users-and-build-your-brand-7fc3b6d2cdc3
I wanted to show how CGI images can be used in company branding. After generating the renders, I made mock-ups of a website for a made-up company using Adobe XD.
Mushroom Digital
A personal project, made with Blender.
This project is featured on the homepage of the digital agency Mushroom Digital
Ship in Bottle
I made this AR effect for a Medium article I wrote for Better Marketing about using AR to promote brands.
You can read the article at: https://bettermarketing.pub/how-to-harness-the-power-of-social-ar-a-guide-for-marketers-b68ab638cc16
New Zealand Forest
A Snapchat lens I made, creating a portal to a magical forest in New Zealand. I made all the assets (except for the rock) in Blender, and used Lens Studio to assemble everything. All the trees were modelled by me and based off of real trees native to New Zealand: a cabbage tree, nikau palm, manuka tree and tree fern. A kakapo (a rare parrot found only in New Zealand) sits on the entrance, and a sign informs the user about it.
During lockdown it is impossible for most people to travel, and often even the museums and zoos are shut. I believe that AR offers people a chance to discover the natural world without leaving their homes.
Ancient Museum
For this AR experience, I wanted to make an interactive museum using the CC0 collection on Sketchfab of culturally significant objects: https://sketchfab.com/nebulousflynn/collections/cc0
I used the aesthetic of old victorian museums in England, such as the Pitt Rivers and Natural History museums in Oxford, and the Natural History museum in London.
I made the architecture in Blender, and then imported it into Lens Studio to make the AR effect. The Snapchat lens is a portal, where doors open into a museum filled with ancient artifacts. When the user gets close to an artifact, a holographic display appears above it with information about it. I created this to show the possibilities of what is possible with education in AR.
Reviews
the project
Content Marketing Services for Digital Publication
"Phil stands apart as someone who I can count on to deliver high-quality work in a timely fashion."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the Head of Content & Community at Fritz AI, as part of the larger marketing team. In this role, I serve as Editor-in-Chief of Heartbeat, a digital publication exploring the intersection of social augmented reality and machine learning. In this role, I also lead a contributing writer program that features community-driven tutorials, explainers, topic deep dives, and more.
For what projects/services did your company hire Phil Cohn?
Phil has become a recurring, reliable tutorial contributor for Heartbeat —he's written several technical tutorials that explore relevant and challenging problems in Lens Studio, Snapchat's AR creation platform.
What were your goals for this project?
Our goal, broadly speaking, is to inspire the next generation of commercial AR creators. With this content approach, we hope to help Creators learn new skills, express themselves creatively, and add to their toolkits in the interest of becoming commercially successful. For our business, we're looking to build an audience and community of AR creators, build our brand authority in the space, and learn how we might be able to support these creators via our product.
How did you select Phil Cohn?
I found some of Phil's writing on Medium, which is where we host Heartbeat. His technical acumen and writing abilities set him apart from many other writers we've worked with over the years.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
Phil and I initially spoke on the phone to have a broad chat about his AR development work. During this call, we discussed content possibilities, given his previous writing. From there, we've entrusted Phil to develop tutorial topics as he creates. He is able to work mostly autonomously, with standard support form our editorial staff.
What was the team composition?
Phil has completed this work as a freelance/contract writer. Our editorial team offers end-to-end support in seeing drafts from inception to publication, and beyond.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Phil's work has been instrumental in our efforts to build a library of high-quality Lens Studio tutorial content. While the audience for this content area remains relatively small, he's been incredibly helpful in allowing us to ramp up content production in this area, without having to dedicate internal engineering resources to that endeavor.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
Phil is incredibly responsive, professional, and reliable. He delivers hight quality work when he says he will, and he's a pleasure to work with.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Reliability -- so often, in the content marketing/production world, finding external/freelance contributors can be fraught with inconsistency, limited correspondence, etc. Phil stands apart as someone who I can count on to deliver high quality work in a timely fashion.
Are there any areas for improvement?
N/A