MAKING TRACKS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Creativity, problem solving, and thinking outside the box has landed a third year Bachelor of Games and Interactive Design student a once in a lifetime project in the See Change Sand Tracks project, which is part of Festival 2018 and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (GC2018).

Leon Lee, who is studying the degree being offered by TAFE Queensland Gold Coast Region in partnership with the University of Canberra, put his 3D modelling and printing skills and training into practice for the See Change Sand Tracks project, which has helped to play an active role in the sustainability of the environment using mixed media with 2D, 3D and Augmented Reality.

Leon arranged and produced the mixed media product and overcame issues in effectively implementing the 3D technology behind the mechanics for the display of the giant sand art impressions.                                                                                                                       

City of Gold Coast (City) and Relative Creative engaged TAFE Queensland Gold Coast Region and Leon to help develop an interactive media component for the See Change Sand Tracks project.

Leon was asked to work professionally to produce the 3D Modelling, 3D Printing and project manage the process between the artistic collaborators.

“It was a great experience to work in collaboration with Tristan Schultz from Relative Creative with support from the City on this project and to have our work showcased at this special event. The conceptualizing process ran on a very tight timeframe and the production of the 3D Futures Maps had to be completed within two weeks,” said Leon.

Leon combined creative and technical elements learned in the course to apply to the practical outworking in order to produce the 3D tiles.
“I have such great respect for these artists.

It’s been great to apply my theory and skills in finding a solution and outcome for a project that will make the visitor think about sustainability.

I had to adapt existing artwork using multiplatform workflows from Adobe Illustrator project files to 3Ds Max to create .STL files ready for the 3D printing of the tiles,” said Leon.

The 3D printing of the 18 specifically created tiles was necessary to launch the Augmented Reality (interactive media) component of the See Change Sand Track project.

Ms. Karen Dickinson, General Manager of TAFE Queensland Gold Coast Region says, “These types of projects provide students with opportunities to apply the skills they’ve learned throughout their course and as interactivity in today's technologies become more prevalent digital media skills are increasingly in demand.”

The sand prints featured responses to future challenges such as climate change and food security. The responses have been explored by the public during workshops with Relative Creative and autonomously via a tailor-made interactive online digital platform to help create artwork ‘blocks’ that showcase participant’s responses.

“I was privileged to be directly involved and to have this opportunity to be a part of Festival 2018 at the Games,” said Leon.

“This project has been extremely exciting and I’m very supportive of my teachers who encouraged me throughout the process and delivery of the tiles. They kept me on the right pathway and helped me to stay focused ensuring my artistic mind stayed on track.”

The giant sand art impressions are designed to inspire locals and visitors to the Gold Coast and to think about our future sustainability.

Leon is aiming to become a professional 3D artist and eventually secure work in the gaming industry.