Citadel: Diana Technology Design

Our team was brought in due to our past science fiction technology work and contributions to the original Citadel show, which included crafting a complex narrative sequence to describe the history of Citadel. For Citadel: Diana, our work shifted from the Citadel organization to the Manticore organization, an evil agency featured throughout the various Citadel shows.

Because the American Citadel series was focused on Citadel instead of Manticore, there was no prior suite of technology crafted for this antagonist group. This gave our team full creative freedom to conceptualize futuristic technology while also establishing the organization’s design language for future series.

We constructed several different UI projection tables – large tables in the headquarters, medium tables for individual desks and small, handheld tables. These tables were all based on the same design but modified to ensure the UI fit within the various platforms without losing the original detail.

In our early concepts for the UI projection table, we looked at brutalist architecture. We wanted the UI to feel utilitarian and slightly cold, which we found in brutalist design. We evolved and changed the design to fit within a more technological, UI environment that aligned perfectly with the atmosphere of Manticore.

However, despite Manticore being the villains, we did not want all of their technology to be dark and red. By using bright colors like blue and green, we avoided the trope that “evil UI” is always red. This organization is aware that they are the antagonists, but they do not believe they are evil. Therefore, their UI should look like any other organization’s UI, but with hints of being cold and utilitarian.

Our final UI projection table was crafted in Adobe After Effects and Cinema 4D. Each element of the table was animated in After Effects. Then, we brought everything into Cinema 4D for lighting and to be placed within the 3D space.

Some of the smaller tables are shaped like cubes, similar to the standard tables. Others project the UI on a seemingly flat “surface”, offering more room for interacting with complex data.

Our team designed two different styles of monitors – long, wide monitors and standard, square monitors. In the series, these monitors can be seen glitching with an access denied message as the Manticore facility faces threats.

To craft these lenses, we began by laying out different UI formats. The design could not be too busy, since these lenses had to display information while still focusing on the scene. In each of our options, we tested how they could be used for the various functions Diana needs them for, such as driving, scanning and translation.

Since this technology is a major storytelling device, our UI could adapt to whichever plot point needed to be executed.

In total, we created over 10 different modes for Diana’s contact lenses using After Effects. Each mode lives within the same design family with distinct details and keys to signify their purpose.

Citadel: Diana takes places roughly 8 years in the future. Therefore, we were aiming to design a phone that could be realistically available in the consumer marketplace in that timespan. We stayed away from holograms and glowing technology. Rather, we studied current phones, advancements made 8 years ago through today and explored how we could make similar and complex advancements to project smart phones further into the future.

Our overall designs for the phones have a militaristic edge and brutalist nature. The OS lives within traditional spy technology, allowing Manticore agents to blend in with the public and keep their technology under wraps.

We designed all elements of these interfaces based on the predetermined sizes of glass brought in for filming. These displays range from smaller, compact displays to wall-sized screens. To create the Edo Lab, we used a combination of After Effects and Cinema 4D for the design and animation of the UI elements.

We worked with the Amazon team to determine what style of scanning they wanted for the series. We presented concepts of a laser wall, a haze of lasers and direct point of contact lasers. Each involved unique patterns and motions to help the audience understand what the technology is looking for.

Ultimately, we landed on several point of contact lasers scanning specific areas of Diana’s body to search for weapons and danger points.

For the UI of the scanner, we wanted to communicate what the lasers were pinpointing during their scans. We included subject body shapes, data and calculations based on the results which would appear in real time as the lasers scanned across Diana.

To design the bracelet UI, our team experimented with different ways the technology could boot up and wrap around this thin platform. We also constructed several sample wireframes to help prioritize the data that is visual around the user’s wrist.

Since this technology helps display important narrative details, we wanted our UI to be formatted in a way that was both visually appealing and quickly legible for the sake of the audience. Our final design was completed using Cinema 4D.

While most of our technology was created for the Italian Manticore agents, the bracelets are used mainly by the French Manticore agents. The devices are connected to a larger network, but have some design differences from the Italian agents due to the differing headquarters. The French technology was more blocky and industrial.

To begin designing this tablet, we tested how the user could appear both on screen and off screen while the tablet was flat or folded. Despite the tablet having several orientations, we wanted our UI to adapt to whichever way the tablet was folded in order to show how advanced and seamless this technology is.

Unlike our Manticore technology, which was completely new to the Citadel series, the origami tablet is technology designed by the Citadel agency. For this tablet, we looked back at the technology that previously appeared in the American Citadel series and expanded upon it, progressing it several years into the future with advanced UI.

Beyond designing the key pad, we also conceptualized the elevator UI. This UI calculates the distance to the desired floor while also keeping track of important data. Within the UI, we included features stating that the elevator is constantly recorded, file updates and elevator scans.