Digital

IBM Quantum Computing

Date

2018

Client/Agency

IBM/Spinifex Group

Role

Creative Direction & Design

Experience Walkthrough - :50

IBM wanted a web experience that could explain quantum computing to a broad audience, people who knew IBM but had never thought about quantum, and curious people with no technical background at all. The subject matter is genuinely fascinating but also dense, and the challenge was finding a way to make it feel as extraordinary as it actually is.

The Challenge

Two things had to work together. The story needed a clear narrative arc that could carry someone through technical information without losing them, and the visual experience needed to match the weight of the subject. Quantum computing isn't boring, but explaining it can be, and the design had to do a lot of work to keep people engaged as the information got more complex. IBM also provided raw CAD data of the actual machine, which we needed to texture and render into something that looked and felt like a real, physical, awe-inspiring object.

The Approach

The concept was to literally fly the user through the quantum computer itself. Rather than explaining the machine from the outside, the experience took you inside it, stopping at five to six distinct locations as the camera moved through the hardware, with each stop revealing a new piece of the story about how it was built and how it works. The journey became the structure.

Look development was something I pushed hard on from the start. I wanted the opening to feel moody and mysterious, the kind of dark, cinematic quality that makes you lean in before a single word of explanation has appeared. The IBM Q System One is a genuinely beautiful object and I wanted the rendering to honor that, pulling people in visually before asking them to read anything. As the journey progressed the lighting and atmosphere opened up, letting the warmth and intricacy of the machine's internal components carry the story forward.

The experience worked across both desktop and mobile, with smooth 3D transitions connecting each chapter so the camera movement felt like travel rather than navigation.

UI Designs

The Outcome

The experience gave IBM a way to introduce quantum computing to a wide audience without dumbing it down, using the machine itself as the storytelling device.

Jeff Levine

Fake-Up

Creative Director, Designer & Artist