The crew at Detroit design, animation, and post studio Lunar North help clarify the mission of Newlab’s newest deep-tech incubator in the heart of their city with this approachable and engaging explainer.

Lunar North EP Scott Waraniak: “This project was an exciting opportunity to help showcase some of the amazing work going on in our city. For their grand opening, Newlab wanted to highlight the work they will be doing creating a home for mobility-focused entrepreneurs to build companies in the newly renovated Book Depository building next to the iconic Michigan Central Station.
 

“Our approach was to create a miniature model-based environment to explore the problems that exist in the transportation and mobility world today and how Newlab plans to tackle them.”

 
“Our goal was to bring Newlab’s vision to life. Our approach was to create a miniature model-based environment to explore the problems that exist in the transportation and mobility world today and how Newlab plans to tackle them. This allowed us to craft a vision of the future that felt less science fiction and more grounded in what is possible today.

“In a short window of just 15 days, our team had to build street-accurate layouts of Corktown, one of Detroit’s oldest neighborhoods, and the surrounding city. Managing large scene files filled with dense vehicle geometry and smoke simulations was daunting enough, but many of the shots had to flow together with sweeping camera moves which meant 750-frame-long sequences with nowhere to hide any seams.”
 
 

 
Client: Newlab
Design Strategy Lead: Christopher Ioffreda
Head of Partnerships: Rich Fahle

Production: Lunar North
CD: Marcus Mullins
EP: Scott Waraniak
Animator/Designer: Jim Vance, Alex Day

Audio: Proper Sounds
Sound Design: Bryan Pope, Steve Saputo
Voice Over: Kaylan Waterman