SHAMAN FUTURE SCENARIOS
Philishave
Brief
Shaman Future Scenarios was a multimedia presentation for Philips' senior management in Eindhoven from the Philishave design teams in Groningen and Drachten, and Philips Research Laboratories in Redhill, Surrey. It was used as the initial step in a major overhaul to the Philips Design innovation and design process and was created to promote a product road mapping tool for the evolution of future shaver designs. It illustrated the development of three models of shaver, rolled out over three phases between 2001 and 2010. It was put together by the team at Philips Design Amsterdam (with concept, visual design and art direction by Cormac Figgis).
The interactive presentation covered all aspects of development, including technical specifications, component and construction options, commercial vision, design concepts and brand I.D. It was produced using Director.
Concept
In order to reflect the huge advancements in Philips shaver design, it was decided to create something futuristic in style and tone. The concept for the presentation’s graphic, 3D animation and sound design was based on imagery, scenes and sound from a selection of science fiction movies—specifically 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, THX 1138 by George Lucas, and Solaris and Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky.
Mood boards, concept designs and sound bytes were presented, for discussion and approval, to the shaver design team in Gronigen, and also used to guide the storyboards and production of the multimedia presentation itself.
1. 3D Animation
The animations of the shavers and their charger docks were directed to resemble the slow docking of pods to their spaceship (2001:). AutoCAD’s technical drawings were animated in 3ds Max, the skins for the shavers made silver and white to reflect themselves as they moved around each other. The atmosphere of a sterile spacelab with zero gravity was created, with the 3D animations having a very hi-tech, cinematic “look and feel”.
2. Sound Design
The sound design was based around the ambient music of Brian Eno, with added tribal elements taken from bands like Sepultura and Soulfly to help make the connection with the Shamanic part of the presentation concept. Original soundscapes and sound effects accompanied the 3D animations. These were designed to replicate the claustrophobic, otherworldliness effected by THX 1138 and Stalker. The sense of a soundproofed environment was created, and this, combined with the slow, smooth movements of the shavers interacting with their charger docks, helped fulfil the feeling of a spacelab.
3. Graphic Design
The “look and feel” for the graphic elements was based on the starkness of 2001: and THX 1138. The designs combined elements of CAD drawings, technical diagrams and branding images from the shaver design teams, in addition to 2D renderings of the shavers. The design style was very minimal black, white and gray, allowing the branding images, technical diagrams and 3D animations to tell their story without visual interruption.
Result
Attention to detail within each of the three production elements helped create a timeless, polished and effective interactive presentation. The success of the presentation in illustrating the new design and development procedures for Philishave helped establish a process that is still used by many teams today and is known as the "Shaman Process". The results derived from this process led to an overhaul of all Philips shaver products from 2001 to date. It enabled the Coolskin range of products—a relatively new product range at the time—to be shown to be more directly competitive with the wet shaver market due to a major reduction in size and change in form.
Philishave
Brief
Shaman Future Scenarios was a multimedia presentation for Philips' senior management in Eindhoven from the Philishave design teams in Groningen and Drachten, and Philips Research Laboratories in Redhill, Surrey. It was used as the initial step in a major overhaul to the Philips Design innovation and design process and was created to promote a product road mapping tool for the evolution of future shaver designs. It illustrated the development of three models of shaver, rolled out over three phases between 2001 and 2010. It was put together by the team at Philips Design Amsterdam (with concept, visual design and art direction by Cormac Figgis).
The interactive presentation covered all aspects of development, including technical specifications, component and construction options, commercial vision, design concepts and brand I.D. It was produced using Director.
Concept
In order to reflect the huge advancements in Philips shaver design, it was decided to create something futuristic in style and tone. The concept for the presentation’s graphic, 3D animation and sound design was based on imagery, scenes and sound from a selection of science fiction movies—specifically 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick, THX 1138 by George Lucas, and Solaris and Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky.
Mood boards, concept designs and sound bytes were presented, for discussion and approval, to the shaver design team in Gronigen, and also used to guide the storyboards and production of the multimedia presentation itself.
1. 3D Animation
The animations of the shavers and their charger docks were directed to resemble the slow docking of pods to their spaceship (2001:). AutoCAD’s technical drawings were animated in 3ds Max, the skins for the shavers made silver and white to reflect themselves as they moved around each other. The atmosphere of a sterile spacelab with zero gravity was created, with the 3D animations having a very hi-tech, cinematic “look and feel”.
2. Sound Design
The sound design was based around the ambient music of Brian Eno, with added tribal elements taken from bands like Sepultura and Soulfly to help make the connection with the Shamanic part of the presentation concept. Original soundscapes and sound effects accompanied the 3D animations. These were designed to replicate the claustrophobic, otherworldliness effected by THX 1138 and Stalker. The sense of a soundproofed environment was created, and this, combined with the slow, smooth movements of the shavers interacting with their charger docks, helped fulfil the feeling of a spacelab.
3. Graphic Design
The “look and feel” for the graphic elements was based on the starkness of 2001: and THX 1138. The designs combined elements of CAD drawings, technical diagrams and branding images from the shaver design teams, in addition to 2D renderings of the shavers. The design style was very minimal black, white and gray, allowing the branding images, technical diagrams and 3D animations to tell their story without visual interruption.
Result
Attention to detail within each of the three production elements helped create a timeless, polished and effective interactive presentation. The success of the presentation in illustrating the new design and development procedures for Philishave helped establish a process that is still used by many teams today and is known as the "Shaman Process". The results derived from this process led to an overhaul of all Philips shaver products from 2001 to date. It enabled the Coolskin range of products—a relatively new product range at the time—to be shown to be more directly competitive with the wet shaver market due to a major reduction in size and change in form.
