Episode 5: Behind the Platform Curtain with Luke Hurd

In this episode, I chat with creative powerhouse Christian Venables. He shares how his background in architecture has informed how he creates and brings textures to life in the digital realm. We chat about his strategies for refining his art, knowing when to push a piece and when to say "it's done!" and how working in collaboration with others can take your best work to the next level.

We reference Christian's collaborative group of virtual reality artists - see more of their work here!

Lianne Baron
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who works at Meta where she supports the world's top AR/MR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

*All views shared are her own*

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Christian Venables
Christian Venables is an XR artist & developer from the UK. His background in Architecture and 3D has provided a solid foundation for exploration in XR and AI discovery. He's recently completed AR work for Coachella, Universal, Hyundai and has been researching heavily on how AI can optimise the asset creation workflow.

Find him on Instagram, LinkedIn and every where else!

I sit with my co-host Luke to do a quick review of the year and how the approach in producing AR experiences has shifted with the introduction of new tooling such as ML on different platforms.  We share our enthusiasm for what's to come in 2024 and talk about how vital it is to stay nimble in this rapidly-changing space, particularly in being thoughtful of the audiences we are producing for. We also share insights on where AR sits in the funnel and setting realistic expectations about converting users to customers. 

Happy New Year and a big thanks to all our listeners for continuing with us on this journey! 

Host bios:

Lianne Baron
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who works at Meta where she supports the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

*All views shared are her own*

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Luke Hurd
Luke Hurd is an immersive artist, innovator, and experience designer who specializes in the latest immersive experiences for the global brands under VMLY&R and WPP. As one of Meta’s Spark AR Curriculum creator and instructors, he teaches thousands of new students of Augmented Reality each month and consults for brands and agencies across the world how to strategize, concept and create captivating experiences that reach billions of people.

His work has been featured on Good Morning America, Adweek, NBC News, and his clients include heavy hitters like Wendy's, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, NASA, Meta, Coachella, Intel and National Geographic.

Find him on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn.

On this episode, I chat with Anne Horel about how to exist as a creative on social channels, and we discuss the ebb and flow of her creative process. We chat about creativity and play, revisiting our inner child, plus the value of producing tangible work and how AI has been integrated in her workflow.

About Anne

Anne Horel is a Multi Award-winning Digital Artist based in Paris.

Her work has been seen all around the world - Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Japan, Dubai, Istanbul, New York, Paris - in galleries, museums, Art fairs, Festivals, amonst prestigious institutions like Art Basel Miami, Palais de Tokyo, AWE and Time Square.

She is now represented by Julie Caredda Gallery in Paris.

 Creative technologies pioneer, her favorite place to broadcast her creations is on the Internet, especially Giphy, Instagram, Snapchat & TikTok where she creates AR Experiences since 2019, and Spatial where she creates Metaverses. Her work constantly evolves with pop culture, new technologies and social media who have been her main sources inspiration since 2008.

Her AR effects count over than 100 million views on Instagram, Snapchat - where she is an Official Lens Creator - & TikTok -where she is an AR Ambassador.

Her GIFs have been seen over than 1.7 Billion times on GIPHY where she is a featured artist since 2015.

She is represented by Partizan since 2015 where she makes Music Videos, Documentaries, Animations, and Branded Content for Social Media.

Not only working in the Web3 Fine Arts field, she also works with many clients like Meta, Giphy, Guerlain, MTV, Red Bull, Lego, Twitter, Ubisoft, Martini, Taco Bell, Trolli...

And has directed documentaries for Canal +, Disney & Arte.

About Lianne

Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who works at Meta where she supports the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

*All views shared are her own*

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

On this episode, we debrief about Lensfest, Snapchat's developer conference and hackathon hosted in Los Angeles, California. We underscore the importance of staying nimble across the AR ecosystem to embrace the inevitable changes that will influence the landscape of the industry. We celebrate 5 years of Luke launching record-breaking AR experiences and talk about lessons learned, and we identify how we decide to chase opportunities that will land you at the front of the pack. Finally, we share our first impressions of the recently announced AR/AI gadget "hu.ma.ne" AI pin.

Host bios:

Lianne Baron
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who works at Meta where she supports the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

*All views shared are her own*

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Luke Hurd
Luke Hurd is an immersive artist, innovator, and experience designer who specializes in the latest immersive experiences for the global brands under VMLY&R and WPP. As one of Meta’s Spark AR Curriculum creator and instructors, he teaches thousands of new students of Augmented Reality each month and consults for brands and agencies across the world how to strategize, concept and create captivating experiences that reach billions of people.

His work has been featured on Good Morning America, Adweek, NBC News, and his clients include heavy hitters like Wendy's, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, NASA, Meta, Coachella, Intel and National Geographic.

Find him on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Back after a brief break, I'm joined by innovative artist and pioneer Adrian Steckeweh where we discuss how the delightful architecture and culture of Japan influences his creative experimentation, how exploring a feeling determines the delivery tool for his work, trusting the process even when it's scary, taking signal from all emotions to experiment creatively and we also share our techniques for capturing quick ideas especially when out of the shower or emerging from a dream.

This was a wonderful conversation, thank you for sharing your view of the world with me - we hope you enjoy this chat as much as we did!

About Adrian

Adrian Steckeweh aka Omega.C was born in Germany, living in Tokyo and is an Architect, Designer, and CG XR Artist, working in the field between reality and virtuality. Adrian experiments with haptics and visuals through XR experiences, virtual art and installations.

Find Adrian on Instagram at Omega.C

About Lianne
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who currently works at Meta where she supports the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

We debrief after hanging out in San Francisco during Meta's annual Connect developer conference. We share our experiences about who and what we saw, we compare this moment in the tech timeline to the early days of AOL, and try to define why we need to reframe how we think about content for the headset and "always on" AR.

Host bios:

Lianne Baron
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who most recently worked with Meta where she supported the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Luke Hurd
Luke Hurd is an immersive artist, innovator, and experience designer who specializes in the latest immersive experiences for the global brands under VMLY&R and WPP. As one of Meta’s Spark AR Curriculum creator and instructors, he teaches thousands of new students of Augmented Reality each month and consults for brands and agencies across the world how to strategize, concept and create captivating experiences that reach billions of people.

His work has been featured on Good Morning America, Adweek, NBC News, and his clients include heavy hitters like Wendy's, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, NASA, Meta, Coachella, Intel and National Geographic.

Find him on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn.

In this episode, I chat with multidisciplinary artist Heather Dunaway Smith. We talk about the importance of trusting yourself and willingness to adapt. We discuss how to navigate life as a working artist, the benefit of creative constraints, how to prompt your audience to participate in storytelling through AR and to leave space for discovery in your workflow.

About Heather
Heather Dunaway Smith is an award-winning XR artist that blends storytelling, illustration, animation, 3D, audio, and interaction into immersive art experiences. A lifelong interdisciplinary artist and storyteller, she’s spent 16 years as an interactive designer and creative director. During that time, her career has featured a wide range of clients (from start-ups to fortune 100 companies) and projects. Her work includes websites, apps, virtual worlds, immersive museum exhibits, games, and AR/VR/MR artworks. After a 2020 AR art residency at Adobe, she was a featured speaker at Adobe MAX and curated the AR art gallery at Adobe MAX 2022. As a Snap Lens Partner, she’s designed and developed a number of experiences for their AR glasses, the Spectacles. Her XR art experiences have been exhibited around the globe: New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, and many more. A passionate advocate for the evolution of storytelling, she continues to push boundaries and inspire others in the exciting world of XR.

Follow her journey on socials:
Instagram
TikTok
X
LinkedIn

About Lianne
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who most recently worked with Meta where she supported the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

For creators looking to build a career in AR on social platforms, this episode will demystify and reveal how platforms work with creators and clients when ad spend is mentioned in the conversation.

We'll pull back the curtain to share the holistic perspective of how a large brand or agency structures an AR campaign - including how money is spent, and what to expect from platforms when ad revenue becomes part of the equation.  Our observations may surprise you if you haven't worked with Meta, TikTok or Snapchat in this capacity and is an important conversation for any AR creator building a career in this space, so they can better understand how the game is structured in an effort to level the playing field.

*This conversation is a reflection of our personal views, and observations based on our own experiences.

Host bios:

Lianne Baron
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who most recently worked with Meta where she supported the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Luke Hurd
Luke Hurd is an immersive artist, innovator, and experience designer who specializes in the latest immersive experiences for the global brands under VMLY&R and WPP. As one of Meta’s Spark AR Curriculum creator and instructors, he teaches thousands of new students of Augmented Reality each month and consults for brands and agencies across the world how to strategize, concept and create captivating experiences that reach billions of people.

His work has been featured on Good Morning America, Adweek, NBC News, and his clients include heavy hitters like Wendy's, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, NASA, Meta, Coachella, Intel and National Geographic.

Find him on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn.

In this episode, I speak with multifaceted artist Manu Sainsily where we discuss how he keeps up with emerging tech in near real-time by journaling on social channels (more than 500 days in a row and counting!), while staying true to his core values. We talk about the 'family we choose' and the value of having a place of belonging, methods of staying grounded across shifting realities, and the profound topic of what it means to be human amidst AI and digital immersion.

This one hits a vibration that I hope you'll resonate with!

Recommended reading:
Simon Sinek's "Start with the why"

About Manu
Manuel is a renowned futurist, artist, and advocate at Unity, where he pioneers advancements in mixed realities and AI. He also teaches XR Design at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal. Born in Guadeloupe, Manuel is celebrated for his multidisciplinary approach to technology and art, and his advocacy for ethics, diversity, and inclusion. As the cofounder of The Haptics Club podcast and the first French/Caribbean artist to collaborate with OpenAI, Manuel has been featured in Fast Company and The Guardian for his work with Dall-E. His exhibition in Montreal, Caribéanofuturisme, introduced ChatGPT to over 900 attendees and led to his collaboration with Meta at the Oculus Gallery in New York. A trailblazer in the tech industry, Manuel continues to inspire, innovate, and educate on the global stage.

Find him on all socials @manu.vision

About Lianne
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who most recently worked with Meta where she supported the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

On this episode, we wish Luke a happy birthday and discuss the fallout of a leaked product video. We demystify the types of various stakeholders - including creators - in a typical AR project, and share our strategies for how we select creators for projects. 

Get your notepads ready, this one is full of power tips!

Creators mentioned in this episode:
Marc Wakefield
Piper ZY
Paige Piskin
Matthew Chen

Lianne Baron
Lianne is an experienced Augmented Reality strategist and partnerships expert who most recently worked with Meta where she supported the world's top AR creators to create impactful experiences that leverage the latest in immersive technology. She has worked with the world's leading brands and agencies to design and execute innovative AR campaigns that drive engagement, brand awareness, and revenue.

Lianne's expertise lies in matching creators and compelling AR experiences that deliver measurable results, from product launches and interactive installations to marketing campaigns and educational programs. As an accomplished speaker and thought leader in the immersive arts space, Lianne is dedicated to sharing her knowledge and inspiring the next generation of creators and innovators.

Find her on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Luke Hurd
Luke Hurd is an immersive artist, innovator, and experience designer who specializes in the latest immersive experiences for the global brands under VMLY&R and WPP. As one of Meta’s Spark AR Curriculum creator and instructors, he teaches thousands of new students of Augmented Reality each month and consults for brands and agencies across the world how to strategize, concept and create captivating experiences that reach billions of people.

His work has been featured on Good Morning America, Adweek, NBC News, and his clients include heavy hitters like Wendy's, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, NASA, Meta, Coachella, Intel and National Geographic.

Find him on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and LinkedIn.