THE CREATIVE FORTUNE ORACLE
This project was nominated by my tutors for the New Media Award GFW2022
It all started with a creative block. Volcano magazine was born from a dark moment in my creative development.
I couldn't find inspiration, I was afraid to face the blank canvas and I repressed myself for it. Faced with the search for a solution for weeks, the introspective process developed turned blockage into reflection.
Managing to identify the weak points that drew barriers between my inner self and what I projected, I found a path once again to guide my work. The layers that wrapped my mind, like energy, became the inspiration for each artwork. Giving as a result an ode to the creative block in which instead of fearing it, it is encouraged to embrace it and understand it as part of the path.
From my own experience, the desire was born to investigate the creative process and therefore find the perfect way to facilitate the journey for other artists.
Artistic culture, in addition to being part of human society, is a powerful weapon with which to transform, inform and evolve. The development of the human species is due to the creative occurrences of a few. Those who look at the problem from another angle. Those who break with the established. Those who are not satisfied with following patterns or rules.
This project arises from the need to honor creativity and in turn, provide a new tool, perfectly adaptable, functional, and with a new approach. The Creative Fortune Oracle is the key to a new artistic universe.
Pages from my sketchbook while planning, researching, and designing the oracle's world
CONCEPT AND MANIFESTO
The deck is a new rethinking of the tradition of the world of astrology and the development of new technologies and daily experiences brought to a technological-virtual level. The letters and the tangible experience of the product itself are comparable to a physical wormhole capable of functioning as a bridge to an alternate reality, in this case, creative intuition.
This "key" is the key to emerge the power of creation and freedom of expression that reflects the individuality and experience of the artist. It grants more than it offers, it promotes instead of directing, and it creates instead of repeating.
Freedom is the concept that balances what already exists with its transformation. Creative freedom is the culmination of the awakening of self-knowledge attached to the soul, the being, and the self.
The project aims to create the perfect formula to encompass the three main pillars. Culture, health, and community. These pillars form the foundation of the values and beliefs of Creative Fortune Oracle.
It is thanks to these pillars that the project has been built in an ideal plan and situation, helping to meet the goals and objectives both for the deck of cards and for the development of the user's creative work.
The term community guarantees us to develop the project in a safe environment for the audience in which interpersonal connections are fostered, whether online or offline. Belonging to this group of creative people will not only foster confidence when working, but the fact of feeling part of something will improve mood and attitude.
All these concepts together provide incalculable value to group participation and intrinsic cultural enrichment from different age groups or locations.
MARKET RESEARCH
After analyzing the market and existing products related to the concept of the project to be developed, a common problem was found. The complexity that is created when using the deck makes the introspective process highly tedious. It is necessary to spend time understanding each letter by reading eternal booklets.
That's why the three concepts of deck design are easy, intuitive, and straightforward.
PRODUCT DESIGN
Searching for a suitable tool that manages to blend effectively with the creative work routine was a challenge that had to be taken on. From the first moment, the idea of creative tarot gave rise to being able to connect the ethics of the brand and in this way present the perfect product for the audience.
Thus the oracle deck was born.
3D SOFTWARE DESIGN
The key piece of the project is the use of Blender software for the realization, design and creation of each of the 50 oracle cards. From realistic materials, to animated fabrics, procedural clouds, moving fog, different daytimes and hours of light, and even holograms, have been created thanks to this tool.
The main objective is to clearly reflect the different stages in a visual way that has not been done before. The surreal 3d brings a divine dimension to the cards, something intangible, that we can connect with our imagination and dreams. Each card is located in the unreal world created in the metaverse, in which they coexist and coexist in a united way.
In addition, thanks to the application of 3d software, the cards develop visual changes between stages, reflecting the journey of the artist's project, as the work is transformed from idea to conception.
All the cards have been rendered and processed in Cycles, with an 85mm camera lens to guarantee the portrait effect of each main element.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Analyzing the 5 stages of the creative process we can differentiate two main personalities, the doers and the dreamers.
The dreamers belong to the stages 2-3-4 and are characterized by being artists whose entities do not stop working. They are based on the visualization of the project rather than on the very act of starting to work. They continually change their minds or are simply indecisive. His work changes radically from the beginning to its final development.
On the opposite side, the doers belong to stages 1-5 and are characterized by being artists who feel the need to do, create and work. They like improvisation and shaping projects as they spend their time on them. They find it difficult to create concepts and define storytelling, but their instinct precedes them.
BRANDING
The branding objective for the product was clear, something simple, and minimalist, and that represented both the 5 stages of the creative process and the campaign statement "Unlock your creativity"
The packaging of the oracle deck is understood as the key that opens the door to the unconscious reality of the artist. Thanks to it, the innermost being of the individual is accessed and it is possible to connect with the true self.
For this reason, following the main pillar of the “Unlock your creativity” project and with the help of the oracle deck logo, which represents the 5 stages of the creative process, it works as a lock on the door to reality of the metaverse.
This logo will appear throughout the packaging located at the same central point, creating the illusion of dismantling that lock that prevents us from reaching our creative selves.
In addition to the product itself, the oracle deck, in the packaging, there will be inclusions such as postcards, instructions for use, and the hologram kit, which will provide a new reality when using the deck.
INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE:
THE APP
To give the digital character to something as tangible as an oracle deck, the tool for mobile phones appears. This app not only works as an information library about the deck but also seeks and manages to turn the user's experience into something interactive and communicative.
This is achieved thanks to different aspects such as the integration of a card interpretation guide and detailed explanations of its design, a portal where you can make your spreads "on the go" without the need to use the physical deck, which makes the creative oracle deck something accessible to those who cannot physically afford it.
On the other hand, the interactive and communicative function appears. Thanks to the “creative friends” portal you can share reflections, spreads of the day, or even your progress on projects. The community is created.
In addition, a hologram experience section is offered. In this section, you can enjoy and use the hologram kit integrated into the oracle deck packaging. Thus offering a new means of performing your thoughtful spreads by completely changing the routine of using the oracle.
Following the narrative of the project, the interior of the application is divided into 4 segments which correspond to the 4 original stages of the creative process. Each of them provides a different experience depending on the tool you need at any given time.
These stages provide an organic experience that continues the flow of the artist's journey from preparation to elaboration. In this way, the interactive routine of the user can be adjusted to the routine immediately by adding elements of personalization, tangible experience, and creation.
INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE:
THE HOLOGRAM KIT
The technological age advances and with it the need to seek new digital and augmented reality experiences.
With the birth of the metaverse, creative possibilities have been amplified to stratospheric levels, from the NFT market, through online concerts in digital worlds, augmented reality shopping experiences and many other possible applications of this intangible world for our daily lives.
Among these new proposals are born the "Metaverse Oracle Cards" that promise to change and innovate the reflective ritual carried out for centuries in the world of tarot and astrology.
This new way of understanding the oracle reflects the intangible vision of reflective thought in the form of a hologram, becoming a mirror of the creative mind by giving shape in a 3D image to the answers that the user is looking for.
Thanks to this implementation, the experience can be enjoyed visually and auditorily thanks to the perfect mix between the animations created in blender and the sum of sound effects depending on the stage of each card.
The hologram kit is the tool that turns the tangible experience into something interdimensional. It is the portal that connects the human world with the unreal world that exists in the minds of artists.
With the kit, it will be possible to carry out daily consultations through the mobile phone, without the need for large and expensive equipment thanks to physics. You will be able to create and customize your animations and spreads immediately and make augmented reality adapt to what the individual needs.
With the hologram, the reflection in the water of the cards becomes tangible in the form of a geometric trapezoid assembled thanks to laser cutting. Allowing almost immediate and simple construction by the user.
Animations and hologram video template in cross-presentation