Artropolis Designs Prepares to Enter the Metaverse in 2022!

It had to happen. Eighteen months of creatively chomping at the bit (studying, networking and freelancing) while the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, Mark Ambrose has finally charted a course for the continuation of his career. Realizing that the face of live events will never be the same despite the determination of the industry to rebound during this time, the leader of Artropolis Designs has decided to go back to school for his M.A. in Art and Technology, charging headlong into the world of virtual activations. Thirty years of success in the design of exhibits and expositions was too much of a fine ride to walk away from, and rather than throw away all those valuable years of experience on another pursuit, Mark prefers to stand by his industry and join in the quest for the new normal. What this will be exactly is still yet to be determined, but present indicators suggest that it will involve some sort of combination of face-to-face and virtual interaction for the live event attendees of the future. This future is already happening now.

When Mark started his creative educational journey too many years ago to mention, most graphic production was still being handled in the form of physical mechanical boards with pasted up elements, overlays and registration marks. Upon graduation, the first Macintosh computer came on the scene, changing the field of graphics and advertising forever. With an early leaning toward 3D design, he took a different path via an internship with a major east coast exhibit fabricator and never looked back. Although this route delayed his involvement with digital technology for a decade, he grasped the opportunity for full immersion upon starting a rewarding tenure with a global leader in experiential marketing for live events. Going from Senior Designer to Regional Design Director of the West Coast during this twenty-year run, he faced yet another professional crossroads when a massive pandemic layoff shut down his studio and eliminated his position along with those of 80 percent of his colleagues across the organization. One of many in the industry forced to reinvent his future, Mark had to once again plan a bold move to find his place in a radically changed employment market.

Commencing his M.A. degree program with University of Oklahoma this Spring, for the next eighteen months Mark will be focused on the coursework that will prepare him best for understanding and direct involvement of the technologies most applicable to virtual events including coding, 3D animation, motion graphics, game development, interactive media and mixed reality. During this period, he will also still be actively employed in the industry, either full-time or part-time, to continue his contribution to the field he loves best, while preparing for its evolution into the metaverse. This may be a controversial concept for some considering the value traditionally placed on onsite engagement for the development of business in our economy, but the place of digital engagement in tandem with this must be recognized as it existed long before the pandemic, and will most certainly not recede after it. Elements of the metaverse are already in motion independently, and many organizations including Meta (formerly Facebook) are preparing fast and furiously for an eventual coalescence similar to the development of the internet. Looking back, this was also a target of the naysayers, as was the launching of the Macintosh back in the day. As the march of time has proven repeatedly, it takes the first few brave souls to start a revolution that later becomes a way of life. Artropolis Designs stands for the responsibility of designers to be there at the forefront leading the way. Consider hiring Mark Ambrose today!

Post-pandemic Dreams: Walking the Long Road Back

It has been a while since my last post, so I felt it was finally time to wrap up my thoughts about the pandemic that is still ongoing despite our best efforts to overcome it. At this time, I have still not secured full-time employment in the creative industry that I love, but I have managed to find freelance work in graphic production layout, however sporadic that pursuit has been since July of this year. I was a bit downhearted over the news that this Administration’s policy toward mandatory testing and vaccines for large business employees had been stymied by the U.S. Federal Courts, but it is understandable considering how highly politicized these issues have become since the last Administration. Popular opinion is already taking the position that COVID-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future and that the public at large here in the U.S. and much of the rest of the world will need to move on with their lives as best they can regardless of individual threats to their health and well-being.

This is a sad comment on humanity, but not a new concept considering how major disease outbreaks have shaped society since the beginning of recorded history. The best example of this I can think of as a creative is the Black Plague of the 14th century and how it shifted the focus from the spiritual afterlife to physical existence, ushering in the Renaissance period which elevated representational art to a much higher plateau. One might say this was a double-edged sword, as nature did its callous work to control the population through survival of the fittest, while those lucky enough to live through the pestilence were allowed to develop their skills in preparation for the next economic transformation. Similarly, former design leaders like myself on the brink of age susceptibility have enhanced their skills for the next shot at economic security, and are forced to take educated risks moving back into social situations without support of modern health system protocols. No wonder remote employment opportunities are twice as popular as onsite ones in a culture where many would rather not be forced take responsibility for their own health, let alone the health of others. What happened to the world in which we used to exist that eradicated all the major diseases, and the public at large was willing to cooperate with the healthcare community to support? Has humanity become so selfish and resource-starved that we are willing to sacrifice our fellow humans for the sake of our own share of the spoils? If so, we are doomed to walk that long road back to “normal”, gloating over our achievements while allowing our less fortunate brothers and sisters to fall victim to a continuing scourge along the way.

That said, I am ready to do whatever it takes despite the risk to succeed in the post-pandemic economy. This ordeal has made me realize the value of real relationships, and the futility of virtual business networking toward the ever-elusive pivot in an economy turned upside down by crisis. From my standpoint as a traditional experiential designer, I am starting to see the flickering light of returning solvency, but we have so much further to go while much of the rest of the business world seems to be settling back into its former selfish pursuits, a trend that sickens me to no end. It is our responsibility as humans to design a better future for everyone, so that we are prepared for the next crisis that comes along, as most assuredly it will. The landscape of creative has changed, and those organizations savvy enough to diversify their operations while staying nimble for future change will be the ones to prosper.

Digital Transformation: Don’t We All Want the Same Thing?

Since my last blog post, I have gained a bit more pandemic perspective having still been on the network watch and still unemployed. Recently I have been seeing data reflecting frustration on the part of employers regarding their challenges in transforming to the digital environment across all industries. This really makes me want to chuckle considering the consistency of most job postings during the pandemic that all stress working experience in every digital platform imaginable. Clearly these employers are having difficulty finding candidates to fit these qualifications as many postings have been in constant circulation since December when I started sharpening my focus on a career pivot.

Ironically the only individual who has come through with effort to cut me a break economically during this crisis is a long-time friend of mine who happens to value the quality of my artistic talent rather than my technological prowess. He commissioned three original color pencil drawings which brought my mind back to where I originally started in this crazy design business. I remembered I had been here before, although under less extreme circumstances. Back when the emergence of Windows 95 for the PC made all drawing board work virtually obsolete, I had successfully made a similar transition 20 years ago. The only way I was able to do this was for employers to give me the opportunity to learn with them, and it was a pretty successful dynamic that took only a short time to prove itself.

Where is that spirit now in 2021? We all want to get to the same destination, but is it really fair or even valid for employers to hold out indefinitely for a new workforce that is slowly being strangled by the economic effects of a pandemic? Even those who managed to find employment in other industries risk their time and resources being eaten away as they lose the opportunity to pivot within the area where most of their true talents reside. The next question is, what is the ultimate goal for organizations anyway? According to “Sell Like Crazy” by Sabri Suby which has been a runaway best-seller during this crisis, potential customers are not even moved so much by the latest digital whiz-bang advertising technology, but rather by basic email communications and marketing that play to their deepest emotional needs. If you subscribe to his philosophy, you don’t need a digital marketing degree and years of experience at this game. Anyone can follow what he preaches and be a success with the right amount of moxie and tech support. Or is this roadblock more about the “us and them” mentality that always seemed to prevent crossovers between 3D and 2D marketers simply because of the tools they use (PC’s vs. MAC’s)?

Job posters need to get on the same page with job hunters in the post-pandemic economy, or there’s not going to be an economy worth returning to. Like the spirit of our first responders which we all applaud so loudly, organizations should drop their selfish interests and help their potential supporters out in time of need!