George Lois famously stated that "Creativity can solve almost any problem. The Creative Act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything." I see all creativity as problem solving, and no experience better encapsulates that philosophy for me than developing mixed-reality software for the Microsoft HoloLens.

I took a huge career leap of faith in 2012, agreeing to join Microsoft's Platform Next team without being told what I'd be working on. I was quickly placed onto the NUI Publishing team as the Art Director, working with studios across the globe to develop new experiences for hardware that would become the HoloLens. We partnered with Asobo Studio on a handful of experiences for our burgeoning new hardware. I collaborated with Asobo ADs to explore the look and feel of in-world holograms. Our goal was to build an immersive AAA experience that highlights the emotional impact of digital characters in your physical space, showcasing the magic and technical ingenuity of the HoloLens. Fragments is the title in which I spent the majority of my time.

Director: Nick Junke | Producer: Jessica Zahn

I had the opportunity to propose and participate in a Case Study video for our HoloLens Marketing team. During our development of Fragments, we bravely shifted our polish focus to vastly improve the player's interactions with the game's digital characters, allowing them to stand or sit anywhere in your room. All of the footage in the video is directly from one of our Developer Kits and takes place in my personal living room.

We developed Young Conker with Asobo Studio in parallel with Fragments. Conker was our first HoloLens "platform game" where gameplay exponentially changed based on your setting. We focused our visual design on elements that highlighted Conker's awareness of your room, with specific animations for walls, ledges, and furniture. This is the same tech we utilized for the HoloCall in Fragments.

The early development of this HoloLens "platform game" was much different from the title we ended up shipping, built around an alien named Joe, originally "Dub Bang Joe." Working on a new IP required extensive character design explorations, focus testing, and flexing our storytelling muscles. Though we ended up shifting focus to our Conker IP, we were all very proud with our final "Joe," especially how well the character and story design fit with our new futuristic hardware.

Click the above image for a deeper look at Joe.

Art Director: Mike Harnisch | Concept Artist: Patrick Shettlesworth

During the development of the world's first holographic computer, we printed a set of internal posters to align the teams to our larger vision. I developed the illustration style alongside Patrick Shettlesworth, derived from the seamless flow of digital content, with continuous lines and type that is integrated into the world.

Click the image for a detailed look.