By now, most individuals within the Philadelphia space have most likely seen at the very least one billboard that includes the Independence Blue Cross (IBX) 2024 advert marketing campaign, that includes individuals posed on or beside massive, blue, three-dimensional IBX letters.
Those letters will not be a digital design — they’re actual. In our adverts, the persons are interacting with precise bodily IBX letters. We’ve additionally despatched the IBX letters to numerous occasions, the place the general public can work together with them, too.
And after they’re not in use, they stay in our foyer and elsewhere at our 1901 Market Street headquarters.
The letters themselves are already fairly spectacular. But Calvin Tan and Marie Thresher from the IBX Creative Services group have discovered a complete new software for the letters. They’ve labored out find out how to mission photos or movies onto them in three dimensions utilizing a method referred to as “projection mapping.” Here’s how that occurred.
The Idea
Projection mapping has been round for a while. It has been used to create every thing from the singing busts at Disney’s Haunted Mansion to the beloved vacation mild present at Philadelphia’s City Hall.
Calvin Tan, a lead web communication coordinator on the IBX Creative Services group (in addition to an completed magician), had seen projection mapping being utilized in numerous contexts, and questioned if there was a manner for IBX to benefit from this know-how.
He approached his colleague Marie Thresher, Creative Services’ senior movement graphics designer, with the concept of projecting video onto the three-dimensional IBX letters for the 2023 IBX Health Care Forum. “I realized I’d need someone like Marie to help me with this,” says Tan. “I started talking to her about it, and she got really excited.”
The Process
Tan researched what software program could be required; Thresher created the animation. Then, the 2 associates pitched the concept to the Creative Services management group.
Marc Balara, director of Creative Services, embraced the concept and permitted the acquisition of the software program. “Marc was really giving us the green light to learn it and test it and see if it works,” Tan famous. “His support on purchasing the software and allowing us to learn it was huge.” The price of the software program was an funding, however dealing with the projection mapping in-house was far cheaper than hiring an out of doors firm to do it.
Chris Counter, supervisor of digital and graphic design at IBX, commented, “We all got super excited because it’s a fun, immersive way of storytelling and it captivates people.” He added, “We have really good leadership that recognizes new technology, or just supports things we’re excited about doing. They’re willing to put the investment into it.”
The letters have been 5.5 toes excessive by 11.6 toes extensive. It was necessary to map the projection to their actual measurements or else the animation wouldn’t be efficient.
Tan and Thresher elicited assist from a number of departments at IBX, particularly the audiovisual and constructing amenities groups. “Collaborating with other teams was vital; we had to lean on each other for a lot,” Tan commented. “Everyone was really excited about it from the beginning. Other departments were willing to help.”
The Results