ScaleNine

It seems everyone was a-buzz when Iron Man was released in theaters not too long ago and rightfully so. When I saw the movie I was amazed by the visual effects and details that seemed to go into every minute of the film. Being involved with UI design I couldn’t help but stare at the intricacy of the interfaces that Tony Starck interacted with, whether while he was building the suit or when he was controlling it from the inside. A lot of work went into that.

If you’re interested in some of the background of the design of the HUD and POV systems, the UI Resource Center (UIRC) has posted a great article based on an interview with Kent Seki (Pixel Liberation Front), the Visualization and HUD Supervisor on Iron Man. I actually had the opportunity to sit in on the interview and I think the dynamics of the interview carried pretty well into the article. It was great hearing the thinking that went into things like the evolution of the suit, the way the HUD was treated as a character in the film, and more.

Here’s a great quote by Seki describing part of their process, which I think can apply to a wide range of design:

When you can justify all the visual elements, then you know you’ve done your job because you don’t have to worry about anything being random. We took out all randomness and made sure we had a purpose to everything. That way, when we consciously decided to do something that is random, we knew we were doing it for a reason.

You can read the article in its entirety on the UI Resource Center website. If you haven’t checked out the UIRC before, it’s a great source for articles on a variety of topics surrounding the world of user interface technologies and design.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 13th, 2008 at 8:41 pm and is filed under design, movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.