Into the Library with Damian Wright

While many of the entries within the ‘Into the Library’ series revolve around the industry’s creative leaders and directors, today, LBB is excited to introduce the work of someone just a little bit outside the traditional box.

To put it simply, Damian Wright is one of the unsung heroes of the Canadian advertising scene. As the founder of creative technology company WXM Tech, he’s the man responsible for leading the team that’s transformed some of the most notable agency ideations of the past few years into legitimate, successful activations and executions. Capable of building upon anything from literal napkin scribbles to specific asks, Damian has repeatedly showcased his ability to deliver in a timely, cost-effective fashion, bringing technological innovation to the fore in a concept-driven industry, and pushing the limits of what marketing initiatives can entail.

With that in mind, it stands to reason that someone in such a line of work would have a pretty cool portfolio of projects to showcase, and an interesting perspective on it to boot. So, with that in mind, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with Damian to take a deep dive into his all-time career highlights. Ranging from some projects you may have seen before, but never knew were done by WXM Tech, to a completely original invention which he built during the pandemic, this list is jam-packed with goodies. So, sit down, buckle up your seatbelt, and get ready to explore what it means to be a creative from a whole new perspective.

TraffikFlo

My personal favourite is TraffikFlo. It was a covid-19 product that I conceptualised, designed, manufactured and sold. But more than that, it got us through the pandemic, as our company literally had to shut down.

The story here is that I was looking through the window of a coffee shop, counting how many people were inside to see if I could go in… but I got it wrong and was asked to wait outside. I thought to myself, ‘there has to be a better way’, so I decided to design a retail traffic light, controlled by an app to let people know if it was safe to enter and to allow the store owner to stay behind their counter.

We used a product design company to give us the name and design of the product, but we built everything else ourselves: the sign's shape, design and printing of the circuit board, safety approvals, app, e-commerce site and the construction. We even partnered with Shopify to sell our sign through its retail hardware store. It was something we were proud of in a difficult situation.

Art Gallery of Ontario - Art Rate Monitor

Zulu Alpha Kilo asked us if it was possible to calculate the emotional connection Art Gallery of Ontario visitors were having in response to the artwork… all in a timely fashion and within a budget. So, we decided to use heart rate monitors and beacons to collect data on people’s emotions and locations within the gallery, feeding it to our software analysis tools which combed through the huge volume of data to associate heart rate peaks with particular pieces of art.

Not only was it fantastic to see the data being collected, but after a while, it even became possible to view a visitor’s route through the codes we assigned to the experience. I also love that this project really pushed the boundaries of software analysis, while still using simple, reliable tech.

Samsung - #S6Lineup

When Samsung wanted to draw attention to its Galaxy S6 phone launch – rewarding the biggest influencers through social media and showcasing its phone’s latest features – we designed an 80-foot digital lineup where fans could pick an avatar and share content using ‘#S6lineup’ to progress towards ownership. Points were then assigned in real time for every like, share or retweet of the phone’s benefits, and the more likes one got, the higher up the leaderboard they went.

Ultimately, this was live for a week, with physical lineup displays across Canada.

Tangerine Bank - Touchscreen Game

This is one of my favourites. We used a laser system designed to cover flat surfaces, which gives x and y coordinates where the laser is broken. In turn, this would trigger a reaction on screen, transforming an LED wall into an interactive game where players were allowed to flip cards and hunt for pairs.

Not only that, but we also built an online version too. Overall, 650 games were played on-site (with 135 winners), and 121,000 games were played online in just eight hours, with 22,700 shares.

Volkswagen - Grass Station

Working with the VML team, we designed the ‘Grass Station’ to shake up the traditional auto booths, as we were the first auto manufacturer at Collision Conference. We used real plants, and allowed visitors to use AI – a first for VW – to design their own Volkswagen cars of the future.

Notably, the area we needed to try and control was the output from AI in a public setting. To do this, we created and trained a system using Volkswagen future designs, limited designs similar to those of other car manufacturers, and made sure that other makes were not allowed to be included in the designs. These guidelines made it easier for the client to trust that the outputs would stay on brand, and that they’d be something we could share with the participants.

Tennis Canada - Giant Lottery Ball

My first big project, this undertaking was so much fun! While it was more of a custom fabrication job, we spent a lot of time designing the system that spun the foam tennis balls and then allowed them to be selected randomly through a mechanical system – like a lottery ball. The system was custom designed and made, as the standard lottery machines were very expensive and didn't fit the foam tennis balls we wanted to use.

All in all, it was such an eye-catching build that got everyone excited, as anything with a lottery ball involved always screams ‘there is a chance to win!’.

Universal Music Group - Niall Horan Album Launch

Our client wanted a way to let fans run around the city, finding brand ambassadors with specific tracks to Niall Horan's new album launch. Fans could log into the website, find the location of a brand ambassador and associated track, and then, upon arrival, use their phone to connect through a closed wifi portal and play the song. This allowed us to control the song so it couldn't be downloaded before the album went live. A clever, cheap but effective use of technology.

Bick’s - Drone Pickle Delivery

In this campaign for Leo Toronto, we designed a system that allowed us to deliver Bick’s pickles using a drone. Undoubtedly, the hardest part of this campaign was actually flying over to the patio picnic table and delivering the jar while staying in the air. I’ll never forget how everyone cheered when our pilot did this perfectly the first time around, showing all the onlookers just how skillful he was!

(An honourable mention here also goes to some work we later did with Reese’s, where instead of a pickle jar, we built a flying snack cupboard out of cardboard to be delivered via drone. For this, we had to create a unique platform for the drone, as both the takeoff and landing were particularly difficult given its size).

Aviva Canada - Safety Flags

This campaign, created alongside No Fixed Address, was designed to help ensure the safety of people using busy intersections. Research had found that it was safer to use a flag when crossing a road, so we designed some that used radio frequency identification, in order to understand who was crossing where and when. In turn, we could then use this data to provide meaningful safety support for the future.