Anamorphic Billboard
Design Challenges
Create a 10 to 15 second looping anamorphic billboard experience for M&M. Use anamorphic illusion and forced perspective techniques to make the product appear as if it’s physically bursting out of the screen and into the viewer’s space. Design a dynamic, immersive activation that goes beyond a static image to captivate and stop people in their tracks.
Software Used:
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Cinema 4D
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Houdini
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After Effects
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Nuke
Credits:
Designer and Animators:
Teja Hickenbottom, Hailey Mcmahon
Research
Trompe L’oeil
Trompe L’oeil also known as Trick of the Eye. Originating in ancient Greece and Rome, Trompe L’oeil is an art technique that uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that depicted objects exist in three dimensions. It tricks the eye into seeing painted details as real, often making flat surfaces appear to have depth and texture.
M&M's Branding
M&M’s uses a fun, story based branding approach that brings its colorful candies to life through playful characters. Each M&M has a unique personality, like Red being confident and Yellow being silly, which appear in humorous ads and short stories. These lighthearted interactions make the brand feel lively and relatable, turning M&M’s from just candy into a fun, character-filled experience that spreads joy and creativity.
Color Mood Analyzer
When a guest steps up, the machine asks things like “What is your color mood?” and uses your responses (and sometimes your image or silhouette) to determine which color of M&M you are.The result assigns you a specific color of M&M’S, for example, you might “be” a red M&M, a blue one, etc.
It’s interactive and fun, intended as an in-store experience rather than a simple vending machine.
Chocolate Appearance
Thickness
Shine
The glossiness and contrasted highlights and a slightly darker tint to the brown make the chocolate feel thinner
There is less contrast to the highlights and a more matte appearance, which the chocolate appear thicker
The melted chocolate has harsh highlights, making the material feel glossy and wet, The shine impacts the feeling of richness and how savory it tastes
The solid chocolate is dull and has no clear highlights at all.
Color
People recognize chocolate and caramel as different through their color and feel, chocolate is darker and richer, suggesting depth and indulgence.
Caramel is lighter and golden, giving a sense of warmth and sweetness.
Movement
Overall, after examining various chocolate textures and appearances, we incorporated those observations into our simulation. Our goal is to achieve a thinner, drip-like consistency similar to the first reference image so the animation flows efficiently while still looking believable. The coloration will be a smooth, milky brown, and we plan to increase the specular weight to give the chocolate a glossy finish.
Take Away
Overall, after examining various chocolate textures and appearances, we incorporated those observations into our simulation. Our goal is to achieve a thinner, drip-like consistency similar to the first reference image so the animation flows efficiently while still looking believable. The coloration will be a smooth, milky brown, and we plan to increase the specular weight to give the chocolate a glossy finish.
Storyboards
Style Frames
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The scene was designed to hint at machinery without looking too technical. We took cues from M&M Stores, using their white tiles, yellow accents, and signature wall-mounted M&M décor. The side tubes reference the real color-sorting machine. Since the background needed more detail in this first draft, we added an extra tube and circular lights.
Simulation Exploration
The simulation is behaving more like flowing water than melted chocolate.
In this version, I introduced an additional object to observe how the sim interacts with it. The collision behaves correctly, and the liquid tapers toward the middle, but it still doesn’t create the distinctive V-shaped flow you typically see in melting chocolate.
The liquid is moving far too slowly and is so thick that it begins to pile up.
In this version, I incorporated the half M&M shells to observe how the chocolate behaves around them. The simulation is accumulating too much at the bottom of the right M&M, and the volume of chocolate pouring out looks unrealistic for what would be inside a real M&M.
Animation Technical Execution
To create a smoother animation, I split the movement across different M&M’s. The first M&M was animated using vertical (Y-axis) movement, entering and exiting the scene to create a natural flow. The second M&M is animated to spin through the scene along a smooth spline path, creating a more seamless motion. Both animations are controlled using display tags, allowing each M&M to be turned on or off as needed.
Animation Pass
