This live session is part of module 3 of the XR Design Fellowship Series.

This presentation will explore Don Carson’s past as a theme park designer for Walt Disney Imagineering and then jump to his current work for the VR title Walkabout Mini Golf. Don explores both the similarities as well as the workflows that both forms of entertainment can leverage as they create these narrative-driven worlds.

Session Takeaways

• The design rules and principles used in creating immersive physical spaces can apply to virtual ones.
• Working within the expectations of your audience and then exceeding them is the gateway to connecting with your customers in the XR space.
• Traditional mediums can easily be used along with new cutting-edge tools.
• Learning to communicate your concepts and designs to the team responsible for implementing them will ensure that your ideas make it all the way through to your XR customers.
• Finding the similarities between the design process of creating physical and virtual environments.

Speaker: Don Carson, Sr. Art Director at Mighty Coconut

Don Carson was trained as a commercial illustrator, his work has branched out to focus on the design of physical and virtual spaces. Working as a Senior Show Designer, and freelance contributor to Walt Disney Imagineering, Don’s job is to communicate design through conceptual sketches and 3D models. This work has expanded to include everything from designing entire lands for the Disney parks to guiding teams of designers as they build 3D environments in virtual worlds and 3D games. Don is currently the Sr. Art Director at Mighty Coconut, creating attractions to be experienced in VR.