Creating an augmented reality (AR) experience is all about overlaying ones visual sense with other sensory information and bringing it into the world in order to enhance one's experience.
This augmented experience as part of this project aims to bring a story and connectedness between the viewer, Time Magazine and the character ‘Kang The Conqueror’ due to his prominent role in the article that this experience is based on and for future depictions of the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
According to the comics, Kang is a temporal warlord who is a regular Avengers antagonist. Nathaniel Richards, Kang’s original name, reappears a thousand years after the 31st century, having being expelled from this universe by a time-displaced Fantastic Four. He conquers the Earth and transforms into ‘Kang the Conqueror’.
He begins to rule over past, present, and future versions of the galaxy, establishing his own temporal kingdom in a series of spaces, timelines and existences.
As stated in the article, The Kang we meet in the 'Loki' series isn't the out-right villain that was expected by viewers. However, Kang is a game-changing figure that offers up new pathways and possibilities for many characters in the future of the MCU.
This being said, the layered pieces of the character provides a sort of X-ray vision, revealing pieces or features of the illustration in a step-by-step narrative of this multifaceted approach and appearance of this character 'Kang The Conqueror'.
'Kang The Conqueror' has had various incarnations over the years and each identity has its own, ever-expanding history.
The standard colours of blue, purple and pink are used in the character for the comics, however, the illustration includes oranges, yellows and reds as part of Jonathan Majors portrayal of ‘Kang The Conqueror’ as part of the character in the MCU.
The contrast of colours and layers also depicts the range and depth of the character and his appearance throughout the comics and his variants.
The contrast of colours attract the viewers attention and guides them through the illustration from warm colours at the top and a pop of colour in the eyes, to more cooler colours towards the bottom and in the characters face.
The aim of colours moving from light at the top toward darker colours at the bottom is to emphasise the layers and depth of the character. Making it easier for viewers to visualise the 2-D space and being wowed by the 3-D space of the augmented experience of the layers. The background gradient of colours used in the characters also symbolises this ever-changing and almost endless mass of space that Kang essentially comes from and what he conquers.
The almost blur effect of the background gradient puts the focus of the viewer directly on the character illustration, emphasising the character and easily introducing the viewer to the main content or focus of the article. Also making it easy to spot the QR code and text for the augmented experience as those are also one of the main parts of the cover.
People of all ages, who appreciate the comics and also the artistry it takes to illustrate, will feel a sense of magic when the flat image in front of them opens up into another dimension. When the real environment we perceive around us is improved by a digital overlay of relevant data and advice where and when it is required, there is no better user interface.
This wavy and layered illustration in print and paired with multiple elements in AR replaces the viewers reliance on out-of-context and difficult-to-process 2-D information of the illustration on pages and displays with a vastly improved capacity to interpret and use information in the actual environment of the cover and in a 3-D space.
Constructed in a variety of softwares, such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Dimension, the final build of the AR experience was developed in Adobe Aero.
In the above images, the pieces that make up the composition is apparent from different angles in the actual software of Adobe Aero.
Another option to experience the AR in Adobe Aero for IOS is to click on the link below:
The covers of books and magazines that augment how we consume knowledge by augmenting reality are a gateway to a variety of stories: of tales about comic book characters, such as, Kang and many other, offering viewers with perspectives and valuable life lesson through a combination of art and AR experiences such as this one.
Herewith a link to the 'Time' Magazine article:
