Design – Ryan Lintott

Old English Wordhord App

Ryan Lintott — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 21:13:53 +0000

Project Type: iOS App
Role: Designer, Developer
Client: Old English Wordhord
Completed: 2021

word-hord, n.n: a word-hoard, a store of words.

The Old English Wordhord is not a dictionary — it’s a museum exhibition in your pocket that you can digest in bite-size chunks. Every day a new Old English word appears in the app along with its description, written and audio pronunciation, and often images of medieval manuscripts.

The content for the app is written by the creator of the Old English Wordhord (and my wife) Hana Videen. She has been tweeting an Old English word since 2013 and the entire back-catalog is available in the app. Users can browse by category and also save their favourites. The word of the day can also be seen right on the Home Screen in the form of a widget.

This was the first mobile app I developed in SwiftUI and after the launch I released some of its components as open source Swift packages (Links to related projects below)

Related Projects:

LookingGlassUI
OEVoice

External Links:

Taikoo Place

Ryan Lintott — Tue, 07 May 2019 19:12:21 +0000

Project Type: Interactive Show Suite
Role: Pitch Development / Technical Director
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: Swire Properties
Completed: 2016

Taikoo Place is hub of 9 interconnected office towers in Hong Kong. In 2014, Swire Properties hired MET Studio to design The Taikoo Brand Experience Centre, a high-end interactive show suite to present their new development. Squint/Opera was brought on board to create films, animations, and interactive content for the space including:

Swire Brand Film – A 4k CGI animation played on an 8-screen video wall.
Taikoo Place Interactive – A Unity 3d interactive presentation on the same 8-screen video wall
Taikoo Place Film – An 8k film on a curved 220-degree 48-screen video wall.
Immersive Office Scene – A CGI view from inside an empty floorplate presented on the same 48-screen video wall.
Virtual Window – A simulated augmented reality window.
Swire Portfolio Interactive – A portfolio presentation app running on an iPad controlling a presentation screen.
Mobile Presentation App – An app to control all of the content as well as the lighting, audio and doors in the show suite.

The result was a series of unique narrative or interactive experiences, telling a story of Taikoo Place and Swire Properties that’s being curated by a presenter on the fly.

As one of the company directors and CTO at Squint/Opera, I worked on the pitch and then as the technical director for this project. For the interactive elements I led the UX design and creative direction. I also helped manage the on-site installation.

External Links:

Messy Goes To Okido: Music Maker

Ryan Lintott — Wed, 21 Dec 2016 20:37:42 +0000

Project Type: Mobile Game
Role: Game Designer / Unity Developer
Company: Doodle Productions
Completed: 2016

“Zim, Zam, and Zoom have built a new machine to allow Messy and the gang to make their very own music. As a strange side effect, every time they change their tune, the world around them changes along with it. Somehow Messy’s Music Maker has the ability to remix OKIDO itself!” My goal when designing this game was to make an interactive experience that rewarded creative exploration. With 7 characters, 16 instruments and 3 different play styles for each that can be remixed in sequence there are over 11 billion combinations to discover! The backgrounds also change along with the music so many hidden objects and characters can be revealed with special combinations. The target audience is kids aged 3-8 but it really can be enjoyed by all ages. Instead of collecting stars or going for a high score, kids are motivated by curiosity. How does the music maker work? How can they find all the instruments and hidden combos? There are no tutorials or guides as there is no right or wrong way to play with the music maker. Each player will find their own interesting path. With only a small team, my role as game designer stretched to include several responsibilities. At times I would be managing production as well as working in Unity alongside the developers and 3D artists to build prototypes, layout the scenes, test and tweak animations, assemble and update assets and test gameplay. I also worked with the music and sound designers to select the sound effects, the 4 main songs and match the various loops to the instruments and visuals. The game is free on iTunes so if you have an iPad or iPhone please go check it out and let me know what you think!

Related Projects:

Messy Goes to Okido: Season 1

External Links:

Messy Goes to Okido: Music Maker on the App Store

WCMC Discovery Wall

Ryan Lintott — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 16:42:35 +0000

Project Type: Digital Installation
Role: Pitch Development / Designer / 3D Prototyping
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: Wiell Cornell Medical College
Completed: 2013

A wall-sized digital art piece created from thousands of tiny screens and lenses was designed by Squint/Opera for the $650m Belfer Research Building, part of Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) in Manhattan. The shimmering and animated foyer installation celebrates the college’s research work.

The large-scale digital installation (approx 4.6m x 2.7m) comprises 2800 mini screens set in a grid pattern behind a panel of thousands of circular acrylic discs – a reference to the lenses used in medical research. The dual layer construction makes it possible to read the wall from a distance as a single image, while up close each screen gives information about medical discoveries and other news from WCMC’s website. The installation is programmed so that the images and stories change constantly.

To bring the concept to life, every aspect of the hardware was designed from scratch. I was part of the small design team working with the producer, the hardware consultants (Hirsch & Mann) and other designers to develop the initial pitch. We went through many design iterations and I experimented using virtual 3d models to test various lens and screen combinations throughout the process. I also developed a pipeline to produce bespoke image and video content for the wall.

The project has won the CODAworx design award for best educational installation and was a Media Architecture Biennale future prototypes award finalist.

External Links:

Al Maryah Island App

Ryan Lintott — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 18:04:28 +0000

Project Type: App / Interactive Installation
Role: Director / Producer / Technical Director / UX
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: Mubadala
Year Completed: 2013

The app describes every aspect of Al Maryah Island, a massive new district in Abu Dhabi. A 3D map with hotspots allows users to explore many aspects of the project from transportation and phasing to the specific functions of various buildings. The interface was designed to be flexible with a moving menu bar so that users could increase the size of the map window or image window as desired. Flexible navigation allows users to click on specific hotspots on the map or simply swipe through images with the map adjusting accordingly. The app runs on an iPad sitting in front of a large screen that mirrors the content allowing for presentations to larger groups.

My role involved developing and pitching a new app and installation concept for Al Maryah Island’s marketing campaign. I designed the app and worked closely with the client to ensure it presented the marketing content (mostly images, films and 3d models also created by Squint/Opera) effectively.

Testbed1 Website

Ryan Lintott — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 21:48:14 +0000

Project Type: Website
Role: Director / Technical Direction / UX
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: The Doodle Bar
Year Completed: 2013

Testbed1 was a creative, experimental arts “space with no agenda” formerly located in an ex-dairy in Battersea and operated by The Doodle Bar. I developed a concept for a website that would give the user an intriguing preview of the space while at the same time serving information on upcoming events. Three.js and WebGL (relatively new technologies at the time) were used to add a 3-dimensional depth to the background so that the user could shift slightly within the space by moving their mouse or tilting their mobile device.

The Crystal Exhibition

Ryan Lintott — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:34:06 +0000

Project Type: Interactive Exhibits, Installations and Films
Role: Director / Technical Director
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: Event
Completed: 2012

I worked with Squint/Opera and Event to complete an ambitious and broad ranging set of interactive exhibits for the Siemens Crystal building in east London. The Crystal, at Royal Victoria Docks, was founded as an independent global hub for debate on crucial issues of sustainable urbanism, and it is home to the world’s largest exhibition dedicated to the future of cities.

In collaboration with Hirsch & Mann, Squint delivered a complex set of interactives, films and installations to communicate challenging issues, ranging from services infrastructure and density to fire safety, in a visually engaging way. The creative solutions included simulation games targeting very specific engineering challenges, films, and generative art installations interpreting city data.

Squint/Opera created a representation of the new building on a whole new 3d navigational platform. This new type of touch screen experience helps visitors understand what makes the Crystal so ambitiously – and successfully – sustainable through feature-led hotspots.

My role involved designing and pitching initial concepts as well as directing and developing the technical solutions required for the 3 interactives, 2 installations and 3 films. Further details on my role in each of the projects can be found on the individual project pages below.

Related Projects:

Prevent Fires

External Links:

Prevent Fires

Ryan Lintott — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:04:21 +0000

Project Type: Educational Game
Role: Director / Technical Director / Game Design
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: Event
Completed: 2012

Subproject of: The Crystal Exhibition

Prevent Fires is a game designed to teach fire safety with respect to building design. A player is given a floor plan and a set of fire safety devices (such as smoke detectors, pull alarms, exit signs, etc.) to install throughout. Once the player decides where to install the safety devices, they trigger a fire simulation. If all of the devices were placed correctly, the building inhabitants escape unharmed. There are 3 levels to the game, each one dealing with different, increasingly sophisticated devices.

My role was to design and then direct this project from start to finish. After winning the pitch I worked closely with the client, 3d artists and the developers from Hirsch & Mann to produce the game. I also developed a render pipeline to efficiently produce the 3D-rendered sprites for the game.

External Links:

Newham Media Wall

Ryan Lintott — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 21:41:30 +0000

Project Type: 9-screen Interactive Installation + App
My Role: Director / Technical Director / UX / IT Support
Company: Squint/Opera
Client: Newham Council
Year Completed: 2012

This multiscreen installation contained everything anyone might want or need to know about Newham, telling the story of London’s fastest growing borough. Using an iPad app, visitors were encouraged to explore the history of Newham, today’s public infrastructure (including schools, hospitals, public transportation, cultural venues) and ongoing regeneration projects alongside future investment opportunities.

My role as director and technical director of the project was to design the interactive experience and ensure it could be implemented. At the time we were pushing the hardware and the software beyond their known limitations to play 4k video and Flash animations on a 9 screen video wall.