The word Entertainment comes from Latin and French, “to Hold Mutually, or to hold intertwined”. "to engage, keep occupied, the attention, thoughts, or time of a person". A word entangled with our current society and our present epoch where every second our attention is accosted and vied for. This is a world driven by entertainment where the art of theatrical design flourishes.  

And this is where our personal journey into “Entertainment” design really begins. We decided to take a step back, to pause for a moment and consider our role as designers and ask what does Immersive Design mean to us. How do we achieve it? What are the key ingredients? and is there a way for it to exist in balance on a planet experiencing climate change. 

Our simple question was can we achieve immersive design in harmony with our period of history defined by ecological breakdown and exponential rate of technological change and what came out of this question were two key points we knew we had to explore further. 

Those were, Material Impact and Imagination. Where the audience becomes a partner in the work and we help nurture an individual's creative capacity all the while considering our material impact of physical and non-physical space. 

To hold mutually. This speaks of a conversation, of an element that asks the viewer to participate and allows themself to be engaged with. The imagination of the viewer as a participant in the narrative. Allowing them to explore their own imagination with cues from us. Immersive design in our eyes should not equate to submersive or  submissive or to the idea of keeping occupied. Why can’t it be something that works to foster a deeper relationship with us that inspires but also asks us to question what’s around us. 

Immersive design for us is the entanglement of these ideas plus narrative/storytelling.

So what does that look like for us now? 

What we hope for and see in the future of experiential design is a world of entangled immersion. Where placeness, scale, ecology, duration, the body, and curiosity all lead to a more rewarding experience for all, that hopefully broadens our collective understanding of the world and helps nurture critical and playful thinking.