The Campaign

Living Landscapes is an activation inspired by David Hockney’s vibrant landscapes, and designed to preserve them. Housed at the National Gallery of Victoria, the experience invites gallery goers to paint a greener future using AR technology. For every tree drawn in augmented reality, La Trobe University committed to planting one in actual reality at their campus wildlife sanctuary. The model itself is based on the topographical landscape of the campus sanctuary when it was founded in 1967. At first appearing bare, as unique Hockney inspired trees are created using the custom I-pad app, the digital landscape layered upon the diorama grows richer and more vibrant, representing the impact the activation has on the environment. Once their creation is added to the virtual Living Landscape, participants were emailed their unique, shareable artwork with the message that a real tree would be planted on their behalf at La Trobe’s Wildlife Sanctuary.

Creative Execution

The Living Landscapes experience revolves around the design of a physical diorama and bespoke iPad App that allows gallery visitors to paint a David Hockney inspired tree and plant it in a scale representation of La Trobe University's Wildlife Sanctuary. The activation took place every Friday from January 13 - March 10th, 2017 at the National Gallery of Victoria. It consists of a physical diorama and bespoke iPad app to bring the model to life. A feature rich painting mode leveraged the familiar ‘iPad’ finger painting paradigm, with custom brushes and colours inspired by Hockney’s art. The AR component utilized a combination of SLAM and marker based tracking to allow users to place their creations on the ‘diorama’. The landscape of the model was transformed with every uniquely created tree. Once digitally planted, the baron diorama was overlaid with a virtual forest representative of what would be created in reality.

The success of Living Landscapes can be observed in both business and environmental impact. Its ability to engage audiences in the gallery space led to users spending an average of 5+ minutes interacting with the experience. Participants were required to share their contact details, creating a database of individuals with an interest in the arts, the environment or the tech aspect of the activation. All three of which are represented in La Trobe’s course offering, which was highlighted in an email to the participant. The email, which earned an open rate of 47%, also included a shareable link to their custom creation. Most importantly, over 4000 trees are currently being planted at the university’s wildlife sanctuary as direct result of the activation. Helping preserve not only the campus environment, but the landscape that inspired one of the greatest artists of our time.

Most universities celebrate tradition. But instead of looking to the past, La Trobe University chooses to look to the future. This is reflected not just in their courses which are tailored to an ever-changing world, but in their foresight in creating things like the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary, protecting and preserving a 28 hectare stretch of land and the flora and fauna within it. Knowing this, they wanted to attract students that share their future-focused thinking. People that don’t just want to learn about the world, but change it. So our approach to reaching our target of potential tertiary students and their families was to create a brand activation as innovative as the university itself. Participating with the experience would give people a taste of studying at a university that prides itself on bettering the world around it. Something unexpected and interesting enough that visitors would be drawn to it.