AR Talk | Doddz

You are described as one of the biggest AR Creators in the world. How do you feel about that title? Does it add a bit of pressure, or give you more motivation?

I don’t think about that stuff really, I’m fortunate enough to enjoy my work so I spend my energy exploring new and exciting routes for AR. I know from experience that focusing on what others are doing or saying slows you down in the long term so I’m enjoying sticking in my lane.

We know that art was always your main focus, but what was the turning point for you? Do you remember the exact moment when you thought “Yes, AR is the right direction for me”?

I was in the process of experimenting with lots of different art styles to try and find my own. I was on my phone one day, lying in bed, and got served an ad showcasing a very very basic example of AR. I’d never seen anything like it, it felt like the closest thing to real magic so I decided to give it a go. The reaction my art got once I started adding AR to it was 10x previous mediums and I enjoyed trying something new so I doubled down.

Home Alone Forum
by adidasoriginals

Ramadan Kareem
by dior

Speaker Head
by tommyhilfiger

While we’re on the subject of your experience with different types of art, we would like to ask you about some advantages of AR in comparison to more traditional art. What do you love about working with Augmented Reality?

From a creative point of view, there is now no limitation to what you can produce, as I said in my last point, it’s the closest thing to magic and the capabilities are only getting better. It’s easy to stand out from the rest of art history if you can use something they weren’t able to use. I can have a living breathing piece of art that changes every day, it’s exciting.

In one of the interviews, you mentioned that you love the freedom of being able to work from every corner of the world. How does traveling affect your creativity? Are you using those experiences as inspiration in your art?

It’s been difficult to navigate traveling and working. I feel guilty if I’m on the move and not working and also feel guilty if I’m working and not out experiencing a new place. I probably need to just give myself permission to enjoy the time I get to spend traveling, but what I have seen on my travels has certainly inspired my art and ideas. I take a lot of photos and recently I’ve been putting together some initial ideas for exhibitions so I’ve been going back through my camera roll and picking out the best pieces from different experiences and combining them into a show. Traveling is also not as glamorous as it looks on IG, there are lots of times when I’m just traveling to different Airbnbs and spending the whole time inside sitting at the kitchen table.

We can imagine that the size of your platform brings many great opportunities for partnerships. After all, you worked with big brands like Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, and many more. How do you choose a project that you want to work on – are there any specific criteria, or just the one that feels closest to you?

We’re in a fortunate position where we can say no more often now but I like to hear all briefs. AR touches all aspects of business in any industry so with every brief there are new problems I’ve never considered that AR can solve. In terms of criteria, I’ve seen a transition recently from briefs to make AR effects on social for a campaign almost as an afterthought to much bigger briefs about how we can use AR as a tool to transform the business. Two recent examples off the top of my head were how we can use AR to revolutionize the luxury fashion in-store experience across an entire country of stories and how we can use AR though-out an entire music festival with multiple touch points to make it an unforgettable experience.

Do you think AR will change the way we look at fashion? How do you think this technology will affect the industry in the long run?

Short answer, Yes. The long answer is that it already is. A recent Deloitte study done for Adidas reported that for audiences aged 13 to 24 years old, digital fashion provides an avenue to address the industry’s notorious shortcomings, especially body diversity. The fashion industry has to change if we’re going to save the planet and there are new tools at our disposal to help us with that. Just like artists couldn’t make 3D art before AR but we can now, the fashion industry couldn’t be saved with digital fashion 5 years ago, but it can now because there’s a new alternative to things like fast fashion. As the tech gets better and we move to glasses with more realistic models, I’ve never been more confident that digital fashion is on the rise.

Kobe
by doddz

Invitations
by doddz

Sometimes You Win
by doddz

Working in a creative field requires your mind to work at top speed all the time, so we wanted to ask about your ways to avoid burnout. Or maybe it’s something that keeps you motivated?

Going to the gym is very good for your mental health. It gives me some downtime to think through problems. I’m answering these emails on a treadmill right now. Walking my dog also helps me clear my head, I don’t think there’s ever been a dog walk I’ve come back from and haven’t had an idea to solve a problem. I’m keen on goal setting too, it helps keep me aligned and I’ll refer back to the goals to make sure I haven’t strayed too far off the path.

Workouts
by doddz

Gymshark
by doddz

Fruit Ninja
by myprotein

And finally – since we’re at the beginning of 2023, do you have any New Year’s resolutions regarding your AR work?

I want to put on a few exhibitions this year showcasing what’s possible with AR. Last year I felt like I started a transition from an AR freelancer to Doddz the artist and I’d like to fully complete that transition this year.

Huge thanks to Doddz for giving us the time of his day to share thoughts and opinions on the Augmented Reality world! 💜 We are keeping our fingers crossed for all the New Year’s resolutions, and we can’t wait to see more of his work. 👏

The journey of the AR World is yet to be discovered, but with its limitless potential, we can’t wait to find out how brands and Creators will shape the future. Stay tuned for more news and inspiration directly from artists in our AR Talk format – there’s much more we want to share with you!