Interviews with the World's Creative Technologists [7]I love it. I love it. I love it. And I was building a programming environment: Andrew Bell
Andrew Bell
Rare Volume
Togo Kida
Dentsu Inc.
At Dentsu Lab Tokyo, we refer to those who express themselves using technology as Creative Technologists. This series interviews Creative Technologists worldwide about their work and creations, exploring what new forms of expression emerge from technology.
Andrew Bell, developer of the Cinder programming environment
The sixth interview in our series with creative technologists features Andrew Bell. He specializes in creating special visual effects using technology, including work on visual effects for Nike+. He is also the developer of Cinder, a programming environment born from industry.
This April, Andrew founded the design studio Rare Volume and assumed the role of Technical Director. He oversees projects centered around design and technology. He is also renowned for winning the Grand Prix in the Innovation category at the 2013 Cannes Lions (a festival honoring creative advertising and campaigns) for his work with Cinder.
We interviewed him about Cinder, a versatile programming environment for business, while tracing his career as a creative coder (exploring new forms of expression through coding) that has taken him around the world.
(This interview was conducted via online messaging.)
Left the company, returned to propose work, and then started a business
Kida: First, tell us about your career leading up to founding Rare Volume. What kind of work have you done as a creative technologist?
Andrew: My first job was writing plugins for After Effects, a video production tool. Next, I interned on the development team for Photoshop (image editing software) at Adobe. My first full-time job was as a Technical Director for visual expression at Method Studio in Los Angeles (a group specializing in visual expression for commercials, animation, etc.). From there, I moved to New York and started working at Barbarian Group (an advertising agency focused on technology).
This move was a turning point. Barbarian taught me to think conceptually. Just doing video production doesn't give you opportunities to start from the concept. I also learned presentation methods. It was here I started drawing graphics using programs. A whole new world of creative coding opened up.
Robert Hodgin (co-founder of Barbarian Group and Andrew's collaborator on Cinder) is a great colleague. Our collaborative project, Magnetosphere, which visualized music, is still used as a feature on iTunes.
This was my first job creating 3D CG using OpenGL (short for Open Graphics Library, a set of commands for rendering images smoothly), and it became the prototype for Cinder.
Cinder was also used when Esquire magazine featured AR (Augmented Reality).
Kida: From your first job at Adobe, you've always been involved in visual expression. Your passion—"I love it," "I want to create it"—seems to define your career.
Andrew: After leaving Barbarian Group, I helped establish The Mill's digital division. I believe it now operates under Mill+ (a cross-functional team within The Mill that leverages technology for production beyond just video). This became a turning point, allowing me to apply the power of creative coding to visual expression. Then, I created "Mill Touch," enabling The Mill's past work to be viewed on touchscreens.
Andrew: But I wanted to focus on Cinder, so I reached out to the Barbarian Group. I returned to the company on the condition that I could dedicate 100% of my time to open-sourcing Cinder (making the source code public and accessible to anyone). Thanks to the Barbarian Group's generous contribution, we built what I believe is the largest programming environment ever created by an advertising agency.
Kida: Most recently, you founded Rare Volume. Tell us about your goals as an entrepreneur.
Andrew: Rare Volume is a design studio with a strong emphasis on technology. Our strength lies in providing both bespoke design and programming. Our partners include Robert Hodgin handling interaction design, Jonathan Kim as Creative Director, and Allison Keiley as Production Chief. We're experimenting with applying the high-quality design and expressive techniques used in television broadcasts to interactive installations for retail, museums, and similar contexts.
An environment where programmers and designers can each concentrate
Kida: Andrew created a coding environment called Cinder. It simplifies the use of C++ for specialized graphic expressions, right?
Previously, Dentsu Lab Tokyo interviewed developers of programming environments like Processing and openFrameworks, which enable the pursuit of new forms of expression. How does Cinder differ from existing environments?
Andrew: Cinder was born out of a "business necessity." At the time of development, I was working at the Barbarian Group with Robert Hodgin. He was proficient in Processing but had no experience developing in C++. So initially, Cinder was designed to provide an environment that was easy for Robert to build in.
But at the same time, we wanted to make it easy to optimize code for delivering commercial projects. Since high school, I'd been tinkering with C++ libraries (pre-written code that makes common tasks easier) alongside Hai Nguyen. Hai is now at Google and continues to make significant contributions to the Cinder community.
Hai and I developed this library further while working as technical directors in the film industry.
We incorporated creative coding concepts into the library we were building for VFX (Visual Effects, meaning special effects in video using computer processing), and the result was Cinder.
Kida: Recently, various new technology topics have emerged, including AI. As someone straddling technology and creativity, what topics interest you now?
Andrew: What I'm deeply focused on now is bringing designers into creative coding work. Traditionally, in creative coding projects, the creative aspects were handled by programmers. So developers were responsible for both technology and creativity, like a one-man band. Cinder was created to break this pattern, enabling programmers to collaborate with designers who can't program. Consequently, while Processing and openFrameworks focused on educating designers, Cinder didn't pursue that path.
What excites me now is creating tools that allow designers to focus on visuals and programmers to focus on programming, enabling division of labor. I'm far more interested in what two people can achieve by collaborating than what a single programmer can accomplish alone. This philosophy is the foundation behind Cinder and also underpins Rare Volume's approach.
Kida: Tell us what you want to create now.
Andrew: Rare Volume is already doing work we're proud of, and I can't wait for the day we can share it with everyone. We're running Cinder under cloud computing (a state where services can be accessed from any computer using the internet, etc.), and I believe this work will lead to exciting innovations. For example, it could be applied to title designs that play when TV programs start.
However, the exploration of combining design and coding has only just begun. Both as a company and as an industry, we still have a long way to go, so I'm most excited about seeing this exploration progress.
Kida: Thank you for answering each question, from your career to the history of Cinder.
[After the Interview]
Avoiding technology as a black box and actively embracing diverse talents
What I found fascinating in Andrew's story was that Cinder's users weren't limited to programmers. With "division of labor" in mind, the goal was to enable participation even for those who couldn't write code.
It's not just about creating a programming environment; it's about designing with a clear vision of how that environment should be used and how it can be used. When trying to create new forms of expression using technology, the key to success isn't turning things into a black box because they're unfamiliar. Instead, it's actively inviting people with unique talents and creating a process for trial and error.
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Author
Andrew Bell
Rare Volume
Born in Texas, USA. After earning a degree in computer science, he moved to Los Angeles to work on visual effects for films, commercials, and music videos. Realizing he thrived in challenging environments, he began life in New York City, where he has lived happily for the past decade. He is the principal designer of Cinder, a creative coding framework (a set of pre-built programs designed to streamline work) using C++ (a programming language extending C), and co-founder of the design studio Rare Volume.
Togo Kida
Dentsu Inc.
Born in Nagoya in 1985. Intended to study cutting-edge CG in the U.S., but somehow ended up dabbling in media art and graduated from UCLA's Design | Media Arts program in 2007. Joined Dentsu Inc. the same year. After working in the Sales Division, currently belongs to Dentsu Lab Tokyo. Has handled various clients including automotive, aviation, precision instruments, beverages, and publishing companies. Favorite programming language is Processing.