How can 3D design enhance your product? An example from outer space

3D design has been on a steady rise in a number of sectors for the past few years, and with the current pandemic, more and more brands are embracing it as a key to building better customer engagement and to making their products stand out from the competition.

In this blog post, I wanted to give a brief overview of how 3D design works, using the example of one of our recent apps – Falcon Tracker. I will also discuss why I believe that this element can truly enhance your product.

So what is 3D design and how does it work?

3D visualization allows users to have a detailed, multi-faceted view of the designs featured in your product, ultimately meaning that they are able to better engage with what you’re offering.

Visualization of the 3D model allows you as a user to see in detail what the designer created. It lets you rotate the model, and show it at a convenient angle without losing quality, unlike a photo. All details are clearly visible both individually and as a whole.

In a nutshell, the benefits to the user are:

• A bright, rich and interesting image
• The ability to control the camera and change the scene
• Animation and the effect of full presence in a projected stage
• There is almost no limit to the resolution and scaling of the visualization

Example: Falcon Tracker

Interested in tracking rocket paths? Want to land a virtual rocket on your desk? If so, I think you’ll be interested to hear about our app, Falcon Tracker, which showcases SpaceX rocket launches and has a simple, user-friendly interface.

Our aim was to create 3D rockets in an interactive way, so that users could see exactly what each element, such as Fairings or Payload, was responsible for. We portrayed all of the SpaceX rockets using one visual style, which simplified the user interface and made it easier to understand. The same rockets were then applied to the augmented reality features, which enabled users to quite literally launch a rocket from the desks if they wished to.

For more information on this project, check out our Behance page.

Considering using 3D elements in your project? Here are the benefits.

A powerful boost for e-commerce

Vogue Business recently reported that 3D design is becoming a crucial lever for the fashion industry:

“It means that brands can design items quickly and remotely; once created, 3D assets — which are three-dimensional, photorealistic digital models of products — can be used in myriad situations, from creating marketing materials and virtual showrooms to customer-facing e-commerce pages and augmented reality experiences.”

But this is not only the case for fashion – many large scale e-commerce providers are seeing increased purchasing after the implementation of 3D imaging on their product pages. The largest upswing has been in clothing and furniture sales modelled in 3D.

Brand recognition through motion

Motion graphic design takes 3D to the next level, using graphic design principles in a filmmaking or video production context. If you’ve seen the station identification logos used on certain television channels, or the graphics used in the opening sequences in film and TV, you’ll know what I mean.

Motion graphic design is often used in the film industry, but it’s slowly making its way into a whole range of different sectors. With global technology firm Cisco projecting that 82% of all web traffic will be video by 2022, marketers and advertisers are putting a lot of effort into creating 3D animations and video content. If you’re a start-up looking to make a great first impression, or if you’re launching a new product, 3D motion graphics may well give your product that much needed edge when it comes to audience engagement.

Maximum returns through minimized production costs

If you’re a brand managing various products and consumer needs, you might consider working with product configurators, which minimizes production costs while at the same time driving higher customer satisfaction.

The makeup brand Guerlain recently released a campaign promoting their iconic lipsticks and used a 3D product configurator to enable customers to personalize their products according to color and case. After the introduction of this 3D element, the page saw a 200% increase in conversion rate. Other companies have reported similar sales increases using this model.

It’s important to remember that in the past every object had to be created in a classical animation or stop-motion format which took a lot of time, and was therefore very costly. Now, with ongoing technological advancements, objects can be created dynamically in a virtual studio – the process is infinitely cheaper and more efficient. Designers can upload whole sequences into the Cloud and render them in a matter of minutes.

Conclusion

The famous saying goes:

“You only have one chance to make a first impression – always be ready.”

– 3D design might be exactly what you need in order to succeed here with a new digital product. Likewise, if there’s an element of your existing users’ purchase journey that isn’t performing as well as it should, you might consider testing the use of 3D elements on a fixed section to see the impact on conversion. With so many production options available, this need not be expensive – and might well give you the sales boost that you’re looking for.

Looking to create your own project using 3D modelling? Want to find out more about our work across a range of different frameworks? Why not drop our experts an email on hello@10clouds.com or visit our website:www.10clouds.com