CREATE FOR CHANGE

What lessons have we learned from previous generations of digital connection that we can apply to new creative canvases across Web3? If you can create anything — or be anyone — in the metaverse, what must we consider when it comes to inclusion and equity? In this session, we work our way through the metaverse to learn if and how AR, VR, and the NFT economy at large can be more inclusive from the jump.

This session features Glen Scott, executive creative director; Jen DaSilva, executive lead, president; Luke Hurd, experience design director; Sarah Kdosi, art director; and Darrien Case, copywriter. To watch them in conversation, click HERE.

Of the several valuable takeaways from this discussion, the following points stand out the most to us:

• Creator tools are leveling opportunities in AR.
• Women are not just participating in the NFT economy — they are driving a new narrative in the space.
• Representation matters, even in VR avatar form.

In collaboration with the Research Studio at VMLY&R, we explore the phenomenon of adaptive logos from a consumer and design standpoint to provide you with considerations and alternatives to tangibly demonstrate brand values.

(The Research Studio at VMLY&R is a group of kind-hearted, curious, deep thinkers with a mission to uncover transformative insights at the speed of culture to create a competitive advantage for brands and businesses at VMLY&R.)

This session featured the Research Studio's Maddie Umali, associate director, and Sur Govindarajan, strategist. To watch them in conversation, click HERE.

Of the several valuable takeaways from this discussion, the following points stand out the most to us:

• Adapted logos can be considered as quick marketing fixes to cause a perception shift for a brand's relatability to a community or cause.
• For logo adaptations to resonate with a specific audience, the external expressions through the logo redesign have to be connected to internal truths.
• Additionally, logo adaptations have to be supplemented with real committed actions; consumers today expect brand activism beyond a mere logo adaptation.

As part of Intel's global rebrand, we discovered several disparate illustration styles being used around the world.

Intel’s ask was for us to create a global brand illustration system is based on the "simple and modern” brand foundation of our newly established Intel brand identity.

The purpose of our brand illustration is to help simplify and humanize the complexity of Intel technology and more effectively show the “invisible technologies” that power our modern world, in a one-of-a-kind “Intel way.”

This geometric, “artistic minimalist” approach to illustration uses The Spark (a chip-shaped square, representing the power of Intel technology within) to build a flexible ecosystem of inclusive characters, devices, and environments. To watch them in conversation, click HERE.

Of the several valuable takeaways from this discussion, the following points stand out the most to us:

• Illustration can be used to simplify and humanize Intel's complex technology and effectively show the “invisible technologies” that move our modern world forward.

• Illustration can be iterative and repeated by a global array of illustrators and designers.

• Creating an illustration system for a global audience required guidance from our EI&B team. It's important to represent a diverse and inclusive character set for Intel illustrations. The system uses our full spectrum of brand colors to replace skin tones, reflecting our global perspective.