Advertising of the ‘future’.

Can you believe what you see in advertising? Come into my world. I’ll show you…

From an experienced fashion photographer working 14 years in this industry, I’ll show you why you can’t believe anything you see in advertising, print, social media or on the web:

I’ll start it off with photos of fashion model: Imma. She’s the asian model below in the pink wig.

Imma is one of the most photogenic Asian models blowing up social media. Her portfolio is diverse and she’s taking the mainstream by storm as well as social media, with a current following of 76K followers on Instagram and rising.

No matter what lighting or camera, Imma manages to take flawless photos with ease. (Even in a selfie)

Imma taking selfie with a fan:

But why are these standard photos so mind-blowing?

Because ….

she’s not real…

Totally.Computer.Generated.

Imma is one of a handful of the new ‘Virtual Influencer ’ trends taking social media by storm. She was created by Tokyo-based CG company Modelling Cafe and recently graced the cover of CGWorld magazine.

You can’t believe what you see on the web anymore.

Silently, 1/8 of the advertising industry is being replaced with 3D rendered people and models. Why do you think automobiles look so flawless on TV?

Now it’s moved on to fashion models being replaced by 3D rendered people who look so hyper-realistic, one can’t differ anything apart.

Imma has promoted brands like Dior, and many others. This is just a small taste of what’s to come. Who would have thought that computer render artists would cut out model agencies and go to companies directly and create conceptual and photorealistic ads, placing models out of work.

If Imma were a real model, she’d likely be in the ballpark figure of $100,000 a year if not more. Now multiply that by many virtual models that can be created? It’s endless.

The ‘virtual model’ trend is growing more and more, so much that KFC has a somewhat “millennial” Colonel Sanders model of their own through Instagram.

Combine this with automation, artificial intelligence, and deep machine learning. In 10 years our world will be changed in ways we can’t imagine.

Virtual Influencers are slowly taking over the advertising industry and some don’t realize these two I’ve shown you are just a .OBJ file sitting on someone’s hard drive waiting to be re-rendered into another advertisement.

Furthermore, “Virtual Colonel” even has his own resume comp card. Real companies are partnering with the idea. Mindblowing or disturbing?