Who I Am
Greetigs reader, my name is Luka Brajović, I am an unconventional interactivity designer and software developer with a master in arts in digital game design.
As an efficient and reliable team member i had the pleasure of working on a variety of projects across the world, manipulating the game technology potential, in new experimental ways and integrating it into simple, intuitive, and attractive applications and/or systems.
Otherwise i spend a lot of time researching and developing electronics and digital experiences of many sorts.
The goal has always been providing something new to the world of interactive medias by designing and developing efficient and intuitive software that extend the zeros and ones into a memorable user-centered journey using what i believe to be the most powerful technology available for entertainment and education: Interactive Real-Time 3D or Digital Game Technology.
Aside from 3D modeling and programming i also work with Sound Design, Web Design, Graphic Design, 3D Fabrication, Installations, Events, Stores, Consulting, Lecturing and other fields. I am a naturally curious person with a strong tenacity in finding a way to make something tick right.
What I Do
With a solid understanding of project production mechanics and many of the creative fields involved in the development process (ie. Research, Concept Process, CG modeling, graphics, music, programming, design, production, PR, etc..) I have always successfully collaborated with my team-mates with dedication and passion for my work, being able to go into details with colleagues from all development areas, while also providing support and being quick and efficient when needed for solving those technical and creative issues that always arise during development.
My current research is focused on Body Tracking (TOF Cameras), Augmented Reality, Interactive Surfaces (Tables and Globes), Gesture Recognition, Thought Recognition (EEG systems), Sound Design and Electronics (Arduino/Raspberry/Custom). Most of these applied to or from interactive 3D software.
For a better understanding of my vision on Interaction Design, feel free to read "The art of interactive design" by Chris Crawford, as we seem to be incredibly like-minded on this topic (although not on the same level, still working on that ).
How i got here
As i follow the belief it is impossible for me to properly portray my personal experiences with words (as in principle described in Ronald Barthes "Death of the Author" if you will), i leave it to you to create a persona by clicking around this website or if you wanted to, I invite you to contact me directly. What follows is a more personal read on my Curriculum Vitae i hope gives a better understanding. For more detailed information on projects and awards look at the portfolio section of this website.
Growing up in the 90s with Dr. Halo on my XT, Atari's and Amiga's games and Commodore's BASIC i found myself utterly fascinated by the digital world in all its now primordial glory. As a hobby, at the time, i also took apart any and every toy that had some of that mysterious electronics in it just to see what makes it tick and what else i can make it do. After joining various competitions with some digital art done in rudimentary applications and growing my interest in "devices" i ended up signing up for a Product Design university in Spain, so at 18 i packed my bags and a towel, and embarked on a life long adventure as if i knew what i was doing. I learned a lot about product design and methodology, but with such a conventional school i eventually found the lack of applied technologies in my studies too lacking. Luckily at the time i was surrounded by amazingly creative people, and Barcelona was all ready for us digital tinkerers. So we joined forces and opened a studio for digital medias called SU-Studio at which i spent most of my after-school hours. SU-Studio kick started my digital career in all sorts of ways, we performed in all kinds of locations and developed pioneering projects of camera vision, body sensors, experimental music, theatre scenography, architecture and whatever else we could think of; that was from 2000 to 2004, years in which just about everything was allowed in Barcelona with its many festivals, creative explorers and a beautiful city culturally centered posture. During my years there i also got a diploma in 3D modelling and Animation in Maya that i needed to satisfy my digital education. It seems my focus has always been primarily "Virtual Reality" or any kind of interactive real-time 3D digital environment.
Eventually things started slowing down so after signing up for the unfortunately mandatory military service in my country(I.T. Special Forces) i opened my own company in Croatia and it has been with me ever since. The company also run a industrial-looking LAN House that aside from gaming and surfing, also organized and events, competitions and courses. A couple of years later though, when the military life washed out of me and the small-town-life washed in, I decided to move to a new environment again, and head back to school to move my, at the time, quite empirical designs to a higher level that included the proper methodology a projects needs.
In 2008 i moved to London and signed up for a Master in Arts in Digital Game Design at the University College for the Creative Arts. I learned a lot about research methods and game design during these years and it has become, as a technology, my primary focus in life.
After successfully completing the master i was asked to stay and lecture game programming at that same course for the next year, which i humbly accepted. I had lectured in many workshops before, but having year-long students was a very enlightening adventure of which i loved every step.
After my time in the game-developer-packed-england, i was invited to work on the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai by an interactive solutions agency. So i left for Shanghai, where i spent almost three years in the event industry moving away from the Game Industry and somewhat closer to the artistic experiments i used to work before. Designing, developing and sometimes producing relatively large temporary interactive projects; the largest of which would be the interactive solutions at the Brasil and Monaco pavilions, and the Montblanc Concept Store which had millions of users over 6 months.
During my time there i learned a lot about programming, teamwork, project management, production and the whole range of things that make such large projects possible.
After a couple of years, the winds of change started blowing again and i found myself in need of a more colorful land than the previous two, so after working on a project in Sao Paulo while still employed in China, i decided to say 拜拜啦! and move to Brazil, a place where my brother also had his Architecture Studio.
Once i arrived for good in Sao Paulo in 2010 i joined up with YDreams Brasil, a large company based in Portugal with an impressive project curriculum and many patents in AR to their name, along with some interesting spinoffs. In this time i worked on an accompanied the development of a lot of projects and demanding clients, too many perhaps, so i decided to look for a smaller, more independent company that could focus on doing less projects-per-year but give more time and attention to detail.
I ended up meeting D3, a wonderful team of creative people that leave the box at home before going to work, just so there's no confusion. I stayed with them for almost a year and had participated on some really interesting projects on which the proper amount of freedom and attention was given.
Eventually those silly change-winds came back, and while i decide what happens next, i am focusing on some overdue personal projects while also freelancing for new creative ideas. Im currently spending most of my time on learning, 3D fabrication on my heavily modified Replicator2, programming, electronics and music, while always also prototyping something in real-time 3D.
I am also involved in the byNature initiative with my brother that organizes events and workshops on bio-mimicry and offers me a lot of time in the beautiful Brazilian nature. I have also recently co-founded a new-media association in Croatia with a bunch of interesting people called Faro11.
So there You have it dear reader, thank you for sticking with my monotonous writing all this way. I hope this gives you a more personal view than a standard curriculum and bullet points would.
For more detailed information please visit the Portfolio and Links pages.
