Quin Heins
index_happyar.jpg

Happy! AR

In fall of 2017 I oversaw design of this funny, strangely addictive app to promote new series Happy!. My team designed the interface and worked with Glimpse to produce what I thought was a really smart, and ultimately successful, real-world extension of the show’s concept. In the series, main character Nick Sax, after experiencing some traumatic events, begins to see his daughter’s imaginary friend, a small flying blue unicorn named Happy. The apps lets users interact with Happy as well, in their own environment, ask him questions, make him do tricks, customize his appearance and share recordings of his antics with friends. We had a blast sampling the ton of original audio Patton Oswalt recorded and trying to resist making Happy poop festive decor all over the office!

 
pixel_black.png

01 | Getting Started

After a brief walkthrough and the obligatory prompt to scan their surroundings, Happy is ready to play! Leave him idle too long and he gets bored, triggering some funny interactions.

 
 
happyar_home.png
happyar_intro.png
happyar_touch.png
 
 
pixel_black.png

02 | Interaction

Users could tap Happy and get an unpredictable reaction, ask him a yes or no question and get some magic-8-ball-style hilarious wisdom or choose from a deep menu of actions for him to perform on command. Then they could share photos or video of all of the above on social.

 
 
happyar_actionmenu.png
happyar_action.png
 
 
pixel_black.png

03 | Customization

Using the My Happy feature, users could change the color of each of Happy’s features and choose from a bunch of gear to outfit him with for maximum swag. Now he’s ready for that closeup!

 
 
happyar_editcolor.png
happyar_editaccessory.png
happyar_share.png
 
 
pixel_black.png

Credits

Role
Design Director

Designer
Brendan Broderick

Developer
Glimpse

pixel_black.png

Recognition

W3 Awards 2018
Gold, Marketing, Augmented Reality

Webby Awards 2018
Honoree, Use of Augmented Reality

Cablefax Awards 2017
Winner, Mobile Experience

Shorty Awards 2017
Audience Honor, Augmented Reality