Experiments anddevelopment notes.
Interactive experiments, working studies and notes from the process. Explore a material, try an interface, or follow an idea as it takes shape.
15 studies
Drop Dead Gourdgeous
Procedural pumpkins, carving, painting and candlelight, connected by one editable recipe. Includes earlier scooping studies.
Article + interactive labScraping pumpkins
What scraping borrows from digital snow. Control the remaining wall and turn depth into light.
Article + interactive labBuilding a candle maker
Shape, wax, wicks and volume flames. How a standalone study became editable candles inside the pumpkin app.
Interactive studyInside the iris
Nine moving blades and layered transmission. Take apart the material behind the homepage iris.
Interactive experimentMoss controls
Glass, worn metal and soft growth. Play with keys, a knob and a slider made from generated animation frames.
A friendly giant
References, shape decisions, materials and typography behind the developing one-eyed jelly giant.
Series article 1 of 9Building an expressive Giant Aperture mascot
One eye and a soft silhouette. Build a character whose face, body and attention can be directed separately.
Series article 2 of 9Turning reference pictures into a useful mesh
Separate shape from appearance, prepare agreeing views, and inspect what reconstruction has actually built.
Series article 3 of 9Giving a mesh meaningful part labels
Carry visible part evidence into 3D, then distinguish a plausible colour boundary from usable anatomy.
Series article 4 of 9Making painted eyes look and move like eyes
Preserve the drawing while giving the iris, pupil, lids and live highlight different jobs.
Series article 5 of 9Finding an ear and making it bend
Find the root and blade on this body, then keep the attachment flexible without grading it as a rigid surface.
Series article 6 of 9Turning a mouth line into an opening
Cut the intended part of the smile, build its interior, and keep the corners and surrounding face coherent.
Series article 7 of 9Fitting movement to the body in front of us
Reuse the fitting method, then measure where movement stays clean on the actual character.
Series article 8 of 9Composing expressions and character behaviour
Open the real expression map, distinguish a held pose from a performance, and let interrupted motion continue.
Series article 9 of 9Gaze, breathing and character behaviour
Let a character notice, follow and lose interest while breathing, blinking and reacting without competing motion taking over.
One structure.
Thirteen forms.
The same lines become a family of objects. Matching their point structure lets the browser interpolate between forms instead of crossfading pictures.
Drag or use the arrow keys to turn it. Choose a form or ask for the next one. The floor shadow follows the object’s footprint; motion settles after each change.
A lightweight interaction: vector paths, direct controls and finite animation.
A place to investigate.
The Lab is the experimental side of Giant Aperture: interactive work, tests of visual ideas and the process behind them.
It sits alongside a broader software, product development and research engineering practice.
About the practice