How Does Experiential Design Differ
Experiential design is a design approach that emphasizes storytelling and interaction, creating more engaging spaces. It’s a broad definition, but that allows designers flexibility to focus on the experience they want to create. It’s used to create brand experiences in a variety of environments, from retail stores and hotels to airports and sports stadiums. It’s also often utilized in branded environments, such as theme parks, and for special events and exhibitions, such as at museums, zoos or universities.
While it may be easy to lump Experiential Design in with a particular type of marketing strategy, the two are quite different. Marketing has become less about shouting a message and more about making a personal connection with a brand. This means that brands are turning to design experts to help them craft a story and connect with customers.
A good example is the pioneer of themed restaurants, Hard Rock Cafe. The entire restaurant is designed to give visitors a sense of what it’s like to visit a rock-n-roll memorabilia museum and dine on food. In contrast, an experiential design space is carefully curated to ensure that the entire experience is cohesive and memorable.
How Does Experiential Design Differ From Traditional Design Approaches?
In addition to the physical environment, experiential design is often paired with digital experiences that can be captured on social media and shared online. This is a growing trend in brand engagement, and an important aspect for nonprofits to consider as they strive to reach new donors, build relationships with existing ones, and engage volunteers. Getting people involved in your mission is one of the best ways to keep them coming back and advocating on behalf of your organization.
While a project may have an aesthetics-driven basis, a good experiential designer will always delve deeper and consider the bigger picture for the client. They will ask how a space will impact an audience, and what the objectives are for a specific project. They will then use this information to develop a creative brief for the project and identify the core messaging and goals of the experience.
When designing an experiential space, a great experiential designer will also incorporate branding into the design so that it is easily identifiable. This will ensure that the experience will live on after it is completed and can be shared and talked about far beyond just a specific location.
White swears by developing a content strategy early on in the process. “If you think about it ahead of time, you’ll thank yourself,” he says. This will ensure that the installation has longevity and can be used to achieve your organization’s goals, whether those are short-term donor retention or long-term community engagement. It will also make sure that the space can be updated and enhanced over time as your needs change. This is the key to a successful design.