How Taylor James Distilled Digital Renders to Replicate Reality
Origami, the art of folding paper in a way that creates two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects, has been around for millennia. With help from New York-based production company, Taylor James, the latest Uber Reserve campaign saw this traditional paper folding technique receive a modern revamp.
The campaign was inspired by a uniquely original idea: create a series of paper cars crafted out of folded paper tickets. The concept was designed to promote Uber Reserve as the first choice when booking travel to pre-organised events such as theatre shows, football matches, and airport drop offs. Although the initial practical tests with paper were promising, Mother, the agency behind the idea, sought Taylor James’ expertise in CG photorealism to replicate the traditional paper folding technique as authentically as digitally possible.
With a tight deadline but incredible passion Taylor James’ were able to bring to life this beautiful and effective campaign. LBB sits down to talk to Luciano Tapia, who led this creative project, about how technology was used to deliver a fresh, contemporary take on this ancient artform.
LBB> This IP feels like a truly fresh and original idea – what excited you most about the initial brief when you received it?
Luciano> Apart from the technical challenge of creating a photorealistic render, as a team, we were really excited about the idea of creating an almost poetic visual narrative condensed in the origami car. There are no background or foreground elements, so the story is told by the texture, the carefully placed folds, the parts of the ticket you can read, the parts that you can’t, and how the light makes you feel the “physical” textures. The final result is not only highly effective in communicating a strong idea, but also beautiful in its simplicity, like most memorable ads.
LBB> Why was origami chosen as the creative medium for communicating this message?
Luciano> Linking the tickets to Uber to distil the whole narrative of how to get to or from any of the experiences that the tickets represent is just one powerful metaphor, just brilliant if you ask me.
LBB> Which of Taylor James’ specific strengths did Mother seek out for this project?
Luciano> Although their initial practical tests with paper were promising, Mother decided to execute the campaign using CG so they sought our expertise in CG photorealism, the work our incredibly passionate and technically amazing team of 3d modellers, look-dev artists, lighters and photo compositors bring to the table here at Taylor James. Since dialogue is at the core of our creative principles we make great collaborators for any project.
LBB> What makes Taylor James experts in CG photorealism? How did you utilise those skills for this project?
Luciano> It’s not only the technical skills - we geek out about the modelling process, the time spent researching and developing the lookdev, the countless tests to figure out the light and the almost infinite layers in comp - that we bring to the table, we also have an understanding of how to use our technical knowledge to craft a story. We obsess about the details, not just “addressing the comments” but always trying to push for something better, finding a new solution to tell a better story, and trying to surprise ourselves with the result. Oh, and the joy we find in our craft, is something magical that makes us happy.
LBB> Your team of creatives were tasked with replicating the look and feel of an origami car made of paper tickets – a uniquely intricate task. Did you run into any major challenges during the modelling process? And how did you work together to find a solution?
Luciano> We poured hours into research, to understand the nuances of origami with countless references, in order to start a dialogue with Mother. We conducted numerous studies based on origami techniques to achieve maximum realism in folding, with multiple iterations of subtle nuances to discover what worked best. We wanted to simplify the cars to an ideal distilled form but also make them recognisable and unique from one model to the next.
We experimented with textures and lighting to enhance each ticket design, bringing out details and small embellishments that you would expect to find if you had one in hand. The CG process became crucial in allowing for a level of control and precision which would help shape the perfect design and composition of artwork across the many faces, folds and creases of paper. I have to thank Mother, not only for giving us this opportunity, but also for allowing us to have a creative dialogue with them to find the perfect solution in creating the final images.
LBB> How did you, as creative director, help facilitate the smooth sailing of the creative pipeline?
Luciano> In an era of heightened individualism I strongly believe that creative leadership is about dialogue, fostering a sense of team, understanding that we are stronger as a group than the sum of our individualities. We are a band, not the session musicians for a solo act. We make each other better, especially when we disagree and push ourselves out of our comfort zones. And we follow the same philosophy with our clients, we just make the band bigger!
LBB> If you had your time again, is there anything you would do differently?
Luciano> I would love to bring this into motion, seeing the origami come alive would make it even more memorable. But I’m pretty sure in another multiverse we are still tweaking some details of it…
LBB> What is the most meaningful feedback you have received since this campaign went live?
Luciano> We’ve received tons of great feedback live and on social media but honestly, seeing the smiles on the faces of the team at Mother, when we presented the last iteration, that inexplicable joy of seeing something beautiful created by a team of great collaborators, just priceless.
