Thesis project

Campari Immersive

A VR playground on the Red Planet where visitors discover Campari's brand experiences.

Thesis (Politecnico di Torino) Video moodboard

A Martian plain at sunset: a white-lit column of vertical bars, small pavilions and a rover on red rock.

Year

2024

Role

Graduation thesis, developed at Arc's Design

Keywords

Brand storytelling, Virtual reality, Unreal Engine

Scenario

Technological context: after decades of evolution, virtual reality has matured into a cornerstone of digital experience, supported by infrastructure that enables rich, multi-sensory media engagement. Brand storytelling: Campari maintains its avant-garde position in advertising by embracing emerging technologies to express its creative spirit in innovative ways. Future landscape: as digital and physical worlds merge, building a strong virtual brand presence becomes essential for meaningful consumer connections and lasting brand heritage.

Concept

A VR brand experience: a city of five pavilions on Mars, explored through interactive storytelling.

A glass cylinder crowned by a ring of light stands in a dark garden on Mars, with glowing plants at its foot.

Spaces

Note 01 Padiglione Futurismo: Depero's historic artworks reimagined in 3D.
Note 02 Essenza Mixologia: interactive cocktail ingredient sculptures.
Note 03 Soda Infinito: an infinite reflective space featuring the iconic bottle design.
Note 04 Bar Alto: a virtual bar with an AI bartender and Martian views.
Note 05 Connected by a Milano-style tram system, the experience blends Italian design heritage with futuristic digital interaction.

From the thesis · Politecnico di Torino, 2024Read the thesis

Two pages of large red circles listing the stages of an immersive design process. — pp. 102–103 · The immersive design process, from briefing and scenario to concept, development and execution.

A concept map in a red haze on the left; a grey model of a Campari tower and the word Mars on the right. — pp. 112–113 · Mapping the concept, and the proposal: a pavilion city on Mars.

Five small white wireframe pavilions numbered 1 to 5 on a black spread. — pp. 116–117 · The five pavilions, drawn as wireframes.

A wireframe pavilion with keyword tags on the left; renders of a red-lit pavilion on Mars on the right. — pp. 118–119 · 01 Padiglione Futurismo, from wireframe to render.

A wireframe drum with a ring on the left; a glowing ring pavilion and two interior renders on the right. — pp. 120–121 · 02 Essenza Mixologia, from wireframe to render.

A full-bleed render: a ring of light above a glowing bar, a red liquid sculpture and fire bowls on dark ground. — pp. 124–125 · The bar under a ring of light.

A half sun rising behind a red ridge, with white vertical bars hanging beneath it.

Bar Alto: a long bar with backlit shelves of red Campari bottles, looking out over Martian hills.

A Milano-style tram crossing the Martian desert on glowing rails towards a glass pavilion.

Process

The project envisions a Martian landscape hosting a series of interconnected virtual spaces, each celebrating different aspects of Campari's heritage through interactive experiences. This is a collaborative project with the studio, so the design process sees creative ideas and technical implementation, such as digital asset creation, rendering performance and real-time gameplay interactions, put into implementation immediately, finding solutions for art direction. Developed with Unreal Engine for Oculus. Shown in the process journal: game level sketches, 3D modelling and a sketch storyboard.

Zen Desk

Back to Work