John LePore changed how we imagine the future of technology, with Tony Stark on his side. As the principal creative director of Perception, the Emmy-nominated design lab from New York, he has pioneered UI in films for the past 16 years. If you’re watching any Hollywood blockbuster where a character interacts with an advanced technology, there’s a solid chance that he and his team created it.
Just in the Marvel universe alone, he’s been part of The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, and the beautiful Black Panther technology that could empower any tribe. Listen to the Verwondering design podcast to discover how to take audience members on a journey where they can understand future interactions – and why it’s important to obsess over the reality of any detail.
Foto: Harald Dunnink in conversation with John LePore
Verwondering is the leading design podcast of the Netherlands. In every episode, creative director Harald Dunnink – founder of memberful design agency Momkai and co-founder of journalism platform De Correspondent – talks to other creatives about the impact of their work.
This eye-opening podcast is a visual journey too. You can view all the designs that Harald Dunnink and his guest discuss, by visiting the show’s gallery – at verwondering.com.
Highlights
5 gallery highlights from this episode:
In 2001, Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report came out. A film that captures so much that a kid in digital design could dream of. The story is about a Precrime Chief, played by Tom Cruise, who stops crimes before they’re being commited. To do so he and his team swipe screens of future visions, left and right, with big hand gestures to construct spicy murder plots. Watch this video to see how the film’s interface worked.
As John shares in the episode, actor Robert Downey Jr is a master at improvising. The billionaire playboy Tony Stark, the man behind superhero Iron Man. You can find the full film UI design case of Iron Man 2 on the site of Perception, the New York based creative company where John was leading the troops.
Ever since this iconic scene with Obi Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars film from 1977, holograms have shown as glowing blue graphics. Remarkably, that’s how everyone designs them, although they do not exist. Each designer references the movie before it. The future became a look and not so much an idea.
In 1951, Raymond Loewy described his design strategy: It is essential to design for the future but improve the present product gradually. He devised what is called the Maya principle, “Most Advanced Yet Acceptable,” which states that people like things that are familiar but surprising and vice versa. Loewy sought to give his users the most advanced design, but not more advanced than what they were able to accept and embrace
John talks about the Lamborghini Countach; one of the most outrageous car designs ever. The name ‘Countach’ in local Italian dialect even means ‘holy shit’. It's such a fitting name for one of the most iconic supercars ever. You might know the car from the scene in the 'Wolf of Wall Street' where Leonardo di Caprio crawls back to his white Countach. Check out its great history at Donut Media, one of Haralds favorite car channels.
