Innovate Design made a triumphant return to BBC One’s The Apprentice, having previously helped candidates create a Smart Toothbrush and App in the 2022 series. This year, Innovate was asked to help Lord Sugar’s candidates with the design task on Episode 6 of Series 18.
The task was to develop a new children's cereal with a box design that included a QR code linked to an Augmented Reality (AR) game for kids to play on phones. To make the AR game, Innovate helped candidates create custom illustrated characters and animated them using a motion capture system. We had to create the cereal box, animated character, and AR app in 16 hours. We also asked the candidates to wear blue morph suits, but that had nothing to do with the task.
This article explains the story behind the episode, as told by our design team, Ben, Peter, Charlie, Adam and James.
Meet The Team
Peter Lidstone-Scott - Digital and Print Designer, Adam Davies - Digital and Print Lead, Charlie King - Digital and Print Designer, Ben Shutler - Product Design Lead and James McInerny - Co-MD Head of Design
Preparation
Preparation is key, especially when you only have 16 hours to create an AR game including a character animated with motion capture - a task that usually takes around 6 weeks. To make things harder, compared to the 2022 episode we worked on, the team we picked was half the size and had less than half the time to prepare.
It would have been impossible to make an animated 3D AR game during the episode, so the team put their creative heads together and came up with a “diorama” style solution, layering 2D animations to create a stylish 3D diorama result. “The AR software wasn’t designed to create animated 2D games but we found a workaround, exporting the characters in multiple images and animating them in the AR software” explains Adam.
The new system came with new challenges. Ben recalls: "During the practice runs something different went wrong each time, a rogue eyebrow, a flailing arm, but we kept going until we found solutions, and it all went smoothly on the day."
Filming Day
The action-packed day began at around 2 pm in London. “I knew what to expect this time,” explains Ben. “We arrived first thing in the morning and started setting up for what we knew was going to be a long 16 hours of hectic work”.
Filming got off to a good start, but the pressure was on when Baroness Karren Brady arrived in the studio and the producers wanted to start filming the motion capture straight away. The team rushed to finished the character rigging and were soon ready to film again.
Innovate’s designers rigged the characters within 15 minutes on the day, which was faster than any of the practice runs. Rigging - the process of creating the structure used to animate a character - is a key step in bringing it to life. The skeleton-like structure is used to move the 3D model like a puppet to create the final animation.
Over on the packaging side, Peter and Charlie were helping candidates create their logos and cereal box designs. Peter, who was making his first Apprentice appearance, coped well with the pressure - “he smashed it”, affirms Ben.
Filming on day one ended at around 8 pm but the team couldn’t relax just yet. “Working with the candidates was just the beginning” explains Adam. “Once the filming stopped, we turned the hotel room into a makeshift office and finished creating the AR games to the candidate's specifications”.
"Staying up all night to finish the games was strangely enjoyable," shares Ben, a sentiment echoed by everyone.
The Final Handover
The next morning after repeated attempts to wake Adam, the team finally piled into a taxi and headed to the candidate’s house. Despite working until 5 am, the thrill of unveiling the final products to the candidates the next day, and witnessing their reactions, made it worthwhile.
“It was a bit nerve wracking to find out whether the apps would work when they filmed the candidates trying them for the first time” recalls Adam, “But when we saw the AR working and the candidates turned to fighting over who screwed up, we knew it was time to get out of there and head home.”
With our second Apprentice episode successfully completed, James reflects on how it went “This year with a smaller team and shorter preparation, it took the challenge to a whole new level. But our team did an amazing job, and created some incredible work. It couldn’t have gone better and I am extremely proud of them.”
Will Innovate return for another season? Find out next year!