- Experiential Design
- Master Planning
- Architectural Design
- Concept Design
- Show Design
- Exhibit Design
- Art and Sculpture
Experiential design is the art and science of making places into experiences. Experiential design has become an important component of any public awareness campaign. By creating physical experiences out of ideas and information, we make complex messages easy and enjoyable to absorb. In addition to entertainment projects, experiential design is ideally suited to community and urban master planning, museum exhibit design, interpretive centers, zoos, aquaria, resorts, urban redevelopment, corporate campaigns, and cultural sites such as architectural and historic landmarks.
Clients come to us with many different kinds of projects. The categories listed above are just a few of the types of projects in which we are involved. Our staff includes artists, architects, writers, and specialized designers. Our capabilities begin with master planning, the "bird's eye view" of a property. It is the 'map' that determines all future plans. From there, we continue our work into detailed development: individual districts, neighborhoods, and venues for urban projects; theme parks have their lands, streets, and attractions. This work is often misunderstood: it doesn't just involve plans, but also key art to "sell" the project to investors, project guidelines to ensure a unique, harmonious offering, narrative descriptions of all the parts of the project, as well as digital models and other tools to help visualize the intent of the development.
For some projects, we are involved from the beginning. For others, we enter the workflow to deliver a specialized piece of design. This is frequently the case with existing theme parks, museums, and zoos and aquaria, for which a new land, attraction, or exhibit is required, within a venue that is already up-and-running. We are also called in to projects already underway, when a previous vendor of services has had difficulty delivering the required design work. Remedial design can be more complex than starting from scratch.
Distinct from this is rehabilitation of existing venues, to update and freshen an offering; this is a valuable aspect of our services, because it brings new life to older investments. This kind of work is vital in such places as theme parks and museums, where the impression that audiences have "already seen everything" can mean the difference between high and low guest attendance. A robust schedule of improvements keeps a property engaged with the marketplace.
Finally, we offer art direction and design services a la carte, for individual projects that require talent that a client doesn't have on staff. Our work integrates seamlessly with that of architectural offices and others, providing the creative component without the need to hire new personnel.
Whether the project is a trade show exhibit or a 500 million dollar theme park, the process by which it is created is the same. Call it 'the 5 C's': Context, Concept, Content, Construction, and Continuity. This is a simple way to understand the major aspects of developing a project.
Context
The Vertex team explores what the client wants to achieve. Learning the intent of the project helps us determine what the best 'big idea' to achieve these goals will be. Challenges and opportunities are identified. The who, what, why, and where is determined. Considerations of budget, schedule, and facility issues are examined. A variety of approaches are explored, tested, and the ideal solution is turned into a concept proposal that sells the idea in words and pictures.
Concept
We determine how to best implement the big idea. Based on the concept proposal, Vertex refines the idea into a concept package: if the concept proposal contains the who, what, why, and where, the concept package defines the how. Scope of work, schedule and budget are refined. Here we define the parts of the project, everything from how it will fit in its space to story outlines, media issues, technological considerations, the color palette, and many more aspects of design required to turn a good idea into a real place that people can visit.
Content
Ideas take shape. The concept package is now developed with ever-greater detail through specified steps: Schematic Design, Design Development, and Construction Documentation. This process allows for regular client input and budgetary checks to make sure the message is delivered and the budget is met. Architects, engineers, designers, writers, and experts in many other disciplines create precise specifications for every aspect of the project. Text, models, reference materials, drawings, and images all come together so that everything is thoroughly defined. The big idea becomes a detailed design that can be successfully implemented in the real world.
Construction
The project is built . Now Vertex oversees the creation of the project in time and space. During this exciting phase, we provide creative direction to the vendors and fabricators, making sure that everything is implemented exactly as it was intended to be. We maintain the integrity of the big idea as its component parts are created, everything from the media (sights and sounds), to lighting, setwork, costumes, and graphics are supervised by Vertex to ensure the experience is delivered on time and on budget.
Continuity
The project is up and running. Once the project is built and operable, it is 'tweaked' to make sure everything runs properly, cycle after cycle, through a process called 'test and adjust'. The teams that will maintain and operate the project become familiar with their roles. Select groups of guests are brought in to enjoy the experience, and the experience is refined based on their responses. Finally, the project is opened to its intended audience, after which Vertex's primary responsibilities are done. Thereafter we perform a quality control function, assuring the experience remains functional, fresh, and attractive.