Course Syllabus
Experiential Design
Bridging theatrical design methods with themed entertainment, immersive environments, museums, restaurants, and brand storytelling spaces.
Commercial storytelling through space, audience, and experience.
This course asks scenic designers to apply their skills beyond the stage. Students think through story, circulation, branding, environment, and client-facing presentation as part of a more expansive design practice.
The work moves between concept development and professional pitching, with projects that reflect the layered constraints of long-term public spaces and experience-based design.
Using theatre design skills, this course bridges the world of commercial design: theme parks, restaurants, museums, interactive installations, and other environments centered on storytelling or concept-based communication.
Students are asked to embrace the specific constraints of commercial work, including integration, longevity, audience engagement, and the translation of ideas into a pitchable, client-ready format.
Course Objectives
Develop design concepts for themed and non-traditional environments.
Translate client goals into spatial storytelling decisions.
Visualize experiential ideas through digital modeling and rendering.
Understand commercial design workflow, presentation, and collaboration.
Software and Materials
Vectorworks and SketchUp for 3D modeling
Twinmotion for real-time visualization
Adobe Creative Cloud for presentation and image work
Evaluation and project structure.
The semester builds through increasingly complex projects, ending in a final collaboration that asks students to synthesize concept, branding, visualization, and presentation.
Guest Presenter Evaluations
200
Written responses to four industry guest lectures.
Project 1: Theme Park R&D
50
Initial research and concept development for a park zone.
Project 2: Themed Maze
300
Midterm attraction design focused on layout, flow, and experience.
Project 3: Mascot Design
100
Character design with branding integration.
Project 4: Arena Remodel
100
Renovation concept for a sports and entertainment venue.
Project 5: Restaurant
550
Semester-long final project with treatment, updates, and final pitch.
Total
1300
Semester total
Weekly modules.
Foundations of Immersive Design
Week 1: Introduction to themed entertainment and industry history
Week 2: Concept development and "blue sky" ideation
Week 3: Presentation techniques for commercial clients
Spatial Design and Visualization
Week 4: SketchUp and 3D modeling review, plus themed maze launch
Week 5: Twinmotion workshop and rendering workflows
Week 6: Lighting and sound integration for immersive environments
Character and Brand Integration
Week 7: Character and costume design in commercial spaces
Week 8: Midterm critiques for mascot design and branding
Large-Scale Environments
Week 9: Arena remodel and crowd-flow analysis
Week 10: Feedback and critique on arena concepts
Capstone Collaboration
Week 12: Restaurant project launch with concept and menu narrative
Week 13: Initial design pitch and simulated client meeting
Week 14: Drafting and 3D development
Week 15: Preliminary review
Week 16: Final design deck, renders, and walkthroughs
Featured Course Article
Student work from this class, documented as a full themed entertainment studio project.
This article follows the Studio Ghibli-inspired immersive dining project developed by Stephens students in the experiential design course, showing how the class moves from concept development into collaborative world-building, visualization, and pitch-ready presentation.
