When you listen to Jonathan Beals talk about design, it doesn’t feel like a conversation about software or production lines. It feels like a conversation about purpose. Whether he’s recalling the moment he snuck into The Matrix or reflecting on how digital materials can save millions of dollars, what shines through is clarity: 3D design isn’t just about making things look good — it’s about making things make sense.
On a recent episode of The Future of, hosted by Mike Festa, Beals took listeners through his unconventional but compelling journey — from an initial interest in aerospace as a student, to discovering a passion for 3D graphics at Nike’s virtual material studio — and now at Adobe, where he’s helping brands worldwide rethink how they create, visualize, and scale products.
From Storytelling to Systems: A Creative Pivot
Jonathan Beals’ career didn’t begin in product. It began in awe.
Movies like The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix stirred something in him — a desire to create worlds people could step into. That spark took him from engineering to art school, then into the world of VFX. But life has its own way of editing scripts. “That industry was magical,” he said, “but not sustainable for the life I wanted.”
His pivot came in 2014, when Nike gave him a shot as a 3D designer. What started as a role focused on modeling and rendering quickly grew into something much more: a seat at the table of innovation.
And at the time, Nike was still exploring what 3D could be. “We didn’t have proper material scanning. Visualization was limited. The footwear studio had fewer than 12 people,” Beals said. “It was raw. But it was also full of potential.”
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Building the Case for Change — and Then the Systems
In those early days, Beals brought in his background from film and visualization to elevate design reviews and pre-manufacturing renders. But pushing for change in a heritage-driven organization is never easy.
“I believed in the vision — seeing designs in full form before they ever hit manufacturing. But my early pitches flopped. I was talking about spectral rendering and light physics,” he laughs. “That’s not what executives want to hear. They want to hear what saves time, what saves money.”
Beals did what great systems thinkers do: he learned the language of business without letting go of the designer’s eye. Eventually, the leadership team bought into his vision — and Nike invested in visualization, material scanning, and scalable design tools that would later become central to the brand’s digital transformation.
Over time, his team grew tenfold. Visualization went from a “nice-to-have” to a critical engine of decision-making.
“We saved hundreds of millions not because we cut corners, but because we brought clarity earlier into the process,” he explained.
Designing an Ecosystem, Not Just a Toolset
This passion for clarity followed Beals into his current role at Adobe. There, he advises global brands on how to modernize their pipelines — not by chasing the latest tech trend, but by building integrated ecosystems that actually work.
One of the standout examples is the ZCaptus scanner, a joint collaboration between Adobe and HP. The scanner allows teams to digitize materials with extraordinary precision, while directly integrating into Adobe’s Substance suite.
“The difference isn’t just in the hardware,” Beals said. “It’s in the workflow. With ZCaptus, you scan a material and drop it right into the same tool you’re using to design. No conversions. No rework. That’s what changes things.”
The value isn’t in making shiny content — it’s in reducing friction. For designers, it means more time creating. For businesses, it means faster launches and fewer costly surprises in production.
The Art and Science of Realism: Photogrammetry and the Color Problem
Not all problems in product design are about pipeline or process. Some are about realism — and that’s where things get tricky.
Footwear, in particular, poses a unique challenge. “Shoes are hard to model. You’re dealing with both soft and hard surfaces, and if you get the proportions even slightly wrong, the whole thing looks off,” said Beals.
Photogrammetry — the process of turning images into 3D objects — helps. It ensures products are grounded in real-world dimensions and textures. But it’s not a perfect solution.
The real thorn in the side? Color.
“People think color is simple. It’s not,” he explained. “Change the base material — from leather to suede — and the same color behaves completely differently. That’s physics. That’s chemistry. And it affects how consumers perceive a product.”
And in a digital-first world, that matters. Because consumers may be making decisions based purely on renders. Getting it wrong doesn’t just hurt design — it hurts trust.
A Word of Caution — and Encouragement — for Brands Entering 3D
With 3D becoming more mainstream, many brands are rushing to implement digital workflows. Beals’ advice: take a breath.
“This isn’t something you solve by hiring a big-name consultancy. You need people who understand how product pipelines work,” he said. “Film and game designers are brilliant — but product design has different stakes. You can’t fake a shoe.”
He encourages brands to look for smaller, specialized partners — or better yet, to learn from the trailblazers who’ve already done the work. “IKEA has nailed 3D content. Wayfair’s done amazing things. The templates are there — just don’t reinvent the wheel blindly.”
The Road Ahead: Accessible Creation and Smarter Tools
Beals is clear-eyed about the future. It’s not just coming — it’s already unfolding.
We’re moving into a world where traditional 3D modeling — with its complexity and steep learning curve — will give way to more intuitive, intelligent systems.
“In the next few years, anyone with a phone will be able to scan a product and generate a usable 3D model. And not just a visual — a fully-textured, properly lit, production-grade asset,” he said.
But again, it’s not about the tech. It’s about what the tech enables.
“3D isn’t just for designers anymore. It’s becoming a core language of commerce, marketing, and storytelling.”
And while AI will accelerate this shift, Beals believes the most enduring work will still come from people — from creatives who understand both the tools and the story they’re trying to tell.
The Human Behind the Pipeline
What makes Jonathan Beals compelling isn’t just his career path. It’s the way he sees design as a conversation — between disciplines, between industries, and between people.
He’s walked the road from modeling in Maya to managing visualization teams, from explaining light wavelengths to shaping multi-million-dollar design strategies. And through it all, he’s held onto a clear belief: the best technology doesn’t replace creativity — it reveals it.
“Tools are only as good as what we do with them. And if we build with care, we can design things that are not only accurate or fast — but deeply human.”
SuperDNA 3D Lab is a full-service 3D solutions provider. It creates 3D content, distributes it across various channels, and manages it in its own cloud servers for elevated eCommerce and other endpoints.
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