Swinburne design students collaborate with London College of Communication

Design students at the Swinburne School of Design and the London College of Communication have collaborated to bring the Stanley Kubrick Archive from the University of Arts London to audiences around the world.

From March through to the end of June, students from Swinburne’s Branded Environments Major collaborated with students in the London College of Communication’s Design for Branded Spaces program to create interactive spatial experiences for Stanley Kubrick Archive. With grant funding secured, one student team would see their design realised.

Students competed in teams to design their tech solution. Image from the Branded Environment Design Studio, taken by Renee Chung and Ellen Wadley.

Collaborating across international borders

The cross-institution student teams worked to a brief to design an interactive spatial experience to help bring the Stanley Kubrick Archive to audiences who are unable visit the space in person. The interactive experience needed to include augmented reality, with prototypes developed using Unity.

The students worked across time zones in Melbourne and London, with academic support across online platforms including Collaborate Ultra and Miro. At the same time, they participated in virtual guest presentations and workshops with Swinburne School of Design academics, futurist Bridgette Engeler from the Swinburne School of Business. They also heard from the Stanley Kubrick Archive staff and London College of Communication Creative Lab.

At the end of the project, industry guests – including Bonita Moulton-Smith, Design Director, Downstream, Melbourne and Nicole Cusack Exhibition Designer, Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney – were invited to the final presentations in Melbourne.

Students designed a digital ticket to provide access to view the exhibition.

The winning concept

A selection panel chose one student design as the winner: ‘Stanley Kubrick: A Symmetrical Experience’. The winning team is a group of three London College of Communication students – Jacob Harris, Rosie Mitchell and Tomoyasu Ishizuka – and Swinburne student Taylor Prokopiou.

The winning team was selected based on their chosen archive material and focus on the notion of symmetry and single point perspective explored in Kubrick’s films, which they translated into an engaging augmented reality experience.

The students have developed their augmented reality prototypes to present the final design to the Stanley Kubrick Archive. ‘Stanley Kubrick: A Symmetrical Experience’ will be launched for testing in the Stanley Kubrick Archive in September 2021. 

The 'Stanley Kubrick: A Symmetrical Experience' concept designed by Swinburne and London College of Communication features three rooms based on three Kubric films: 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange and The Shining.

The project was initiated by communication design lecturers Karen Fermo at Swinburne’s School of Design, Lucy Thornett from the London College of Communication, Swinburne Branded Environments tutor Bryce Calleia and London College of Communication tutors Irene Martin and Emilie Loiseleur. With the success of the first collaborative design, they have set the scene for a continuing collaboration.