This is one of the coolest UX projects I have ever been involved with.
VR is a fairly unexplored space, especially when it comes to user interaction. Oculus had a small problem. Users immersed in a virtual experience would often need to access their PC. This could be to check an email real quick, or just to skip a track on Spotify. This required them to remove their headsets and step back into reality. Oculus needed a way to give users access to their computers without leaving the current experience. The concept of “Dash” was born. This was a very unique and interesting problem to solve.
While I had input on VR prototypes and Unity mock ups throughout the project, my main contribution came early in the process. I was tasked with putting together an initial exploration study and kick off document. I researched several styles of UX delivery as well as basic ergonomics (something most UI doesn’t require but VR demands).
VR is a fascinating design space because it often blends elements of physical product design with completely new, unexplored UX paradigms.
This is a mock up of a fictional event for League Of Legends. Maybe in this event everyone has a weapon made by Jinx (inspired by Sevika’s arm)? I took a few approaches on the splash art
01: Jinx’s hand styles - Something focussed on her graffiti styles as well as her crafting abilities. I really like the hand drawn draftsman look here
02: A vector Jewelry approach - I wanted to make a clean vector art piece.
I was sketching ideas for letters when I came up with the idea to make a graphic based on something Jinx would maybe machine herself. I had the idea for this gold Jinx nameplate.
03: A 3D version of the vector jewelry direction - I had built the vector graphic in a bit of a vacuum in Illustrator. I thought it looked great when dropped into the workshop scene, but I had the thought, what if it was lit to match the scene.
That lead me to thinking about 3D. This was already a pretty skeuomorphic graphic, what if we just leaned into that and rendered it fully. I am very happy with how the lettering looks lit by the scene itself now.
Seems like one of the main features of this page is interesting frame breaks. In mocking up some sample pages I tried to choose some art that could lead to interesting versions of this.
01: Akali
With this hero I added a glint to the knife breaking out of the frame on the left. This makes it pop just a touch more.
On the right we have some steam floating out of the frame. It is not quite opaque, and the edge of the frame creates a nice “laser in fog” effect.
02: Cassiopeia
As I have yet to see it, I am not certain if the system allows to break out of the bottom of the frame. If so, Cassiopeia is an interesting hero to do so with. Her bottom-heavy snake body makes for an interesting graphic effect.
To celebrate the Rift’s first anniversary, Oculus released a set of game bundles as part of a limited-time sale.
These are the promotional graphics I designed for the bundles. I created each image by collaging assets from the games included in each set. There are two versions, corresponding to two different bundles.
This piece was created for an ILM art challenge on ArtStation. I designed the character with a video game progression system in mind.
She starts as a Rebel grunt, advances to Rebel lieutenant, then becomes a Jedi apprentice. Eventually, she rises to Jedi Master before ultimately turning to the dark side as a Sith Lord.
ILM actually sent me an email complimenting my work and suggesting we should work together in the future!!
This was an Oculus event featuring a gradual build-up of sales over several weeks. The concept behind the graphic was to visually represent that momentum.
Each week, the Rift headset would shed more of its exterior, revealing more of a gold version underneath. By the final week, the headset was fully transformed into gold, symbolizing the peak of the sale and its grand finale.
Oculus was big on rebranding for holidays and events. Christmas was obviously a big deal. During the holidays, we would fully transform the VR store, the Oculus Home environment, the mobile app, and the desktop app with festive themes.
After pitching several concepts to the team leads, this was the holiday theme I designed and implemented for Oculus Home one Christmas season. The concept was “Oversized Treats,” bringing a playful, larger-than-life candyland feel to the environment.
This was my project from start to finish. I developed the concept, designed the holiday assets, coordinated with a third-party studio to have them built, and then integrated everything into the scene myself. It was a ton of fun to bring to life.
There was even an unexpected legal issue involving Hershey’s Kisses appearing in the scene—happy to share more about that if you're curious.
I created this piece with the goal of building a portfolio specifically tailored for Magic: The Gathering. I found one of their design briefs online and intentionally chose not to reference the official card art. Instead, I followed the brief closely, and this is the result.
My intention was to demonstrate my ability to follow direction and work effectively from a brief, rather than submitting artwork based solely on personal preference. Additionally, I wanted to show that I can work respectfully and creatively with their characters and intellectual property.
While I’m happy with all three of these designs, I’m especially proud of the frame break on the first header. It was a clever way to work within the system’s standard rectangular constraint, using a white color break (matching the app background) to create the illusion of the graphic breaking out of its frame.
This was a promo for a Valentines day sale. I sketched up a bunch of quick ideas and the store manager loved the concept of two controllers together. I also pitched having a bundle of titles that promoted two player game play.
