Technicolor’s The Mill Unveils the AI Future of Design

• “The use of this technology demonstrates the vast potential of human-machine collaboration,” said Robin Shenfield of The Mill.

Design and emerging technology teams from Technicolor’s The Mill have turned their talents to push the boundaries of traditional title sequence design. For 2018 AICP Week in NYC, The Mill team generated an animated title sequence live during the AICP Next Awards and the AICP Show –The Art & Technique of the American Commercial – at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

For the procedurally generated title sequence, The Mill built a custom piece of software – utilizing technologies that have never before been combined and code to generate unique visuals and audio upon every iteration. Camera feeds around MoMA were incorporated into the sequence live during the show. This demonstrated the real-time nature of the production, as guests could see themselves reflected in the animated design.

While no part of the title sequence was pre-recorded and the visual content was highly random, it always adhered to an underlying visual aesthetic – programmed into the code – inspired by the principles of traditional graphic design: grid-based proportions and compositional balance.

As 2018 AICP Show Chairperson, Robin Shenfield, co-founder and CEO of The Mill, elaborated on the title sequence: “The use of this technology demonstrates the vast potential of human-machine collaboration, a subject that The Mill has been exploring through the use and development of AI, real-time animation, and generative art. It highlights the beauty of discovery, as no one iteration of the audiovisual narrative will ever be the same.”

“The titles for the AICP Award shows have always been special and reflect the state of the art in motion design,” added Matt Miller, President and CEO of AICP. “Having The Mill on board this year to bring to life this creative marriage of human ingenuity and computing power delivers unique breakthrough sequences. This is the forefront of possibility for the industry and is truly what’s Next.”

Visit The Mill for a look at their title sequences pushing the boundaries of design.