A 14 week project conducted with IDEO to envision an iconic museum experience for a 125,000 sq ft museum in Dubai and create a place for the world to immerse in groundbreaking futuristic innovation and design. In June 2018 a team of 4 designed the entire museum programming and created a sustainable system for establishing a series of experiences that remain
differentiated, timeless, and impactful for years to come. We created a place where visitors are free to wonder, imagine, and create in a context where freedoms have often been restricted.
The project was broken into two main directions - Vision & Experience.
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differentiated, timeless, and impactful for years to come. We created a place where visitors are free to wonder, imagine, and create in a context where freedoms have often been restricted.
The project was broken into two main directions - Vision & Experience.
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01 - VISION
Branding
Role: Art Direction
Museum of the Future is a portal where we can see, touch, and shape our shared future.
This is no ordinary museum, with ancient relics behind velvet ropes. This is a time portal that invites visitors to step into a future world, crafted by policy makers, visionary technologists, and artists. The museum’s immersive, interactive exhibits aren’t predictions, but challenges.
At every turn, visitors are led to wonder: What future do we want for our world? How should we shape our aspirations? Visitors emerge through this portal transformed and empowered, with a new appreciation of our world, each other, and our human potential.
A Living Organism -
The continued system for the museum’s logo mark -
Logo Mark in Context -
The formation of the portal is represented as a void when it shows up outside the museum. This mysterious symbol just hints at the museum’s brand as a question making users inquisitive.
The portal is a timeless emblem. A statement-making symbol that stands for an emotional movement. A mirror that reflects your aspiration to create a better future.
Our portal is a responsive, transformative life-form that flourishes based on the visitor engagements within the museum. Through ongoing virtual interactions, visitors can alter the portal’s color, texture and dimensions even after they exit the museum. The portal becomes a metaphor for aspiration, constantly changing through our combined human effort.
Each and every visitor’s digital artifact will be unique in their shape, coloration, and formations. These artifacts are transformed, personalized states of the museum’s brand identity. Visitors receive a physical printed version of their portal when leaving the museum.
02 - EXPERIENCE
Design & Environments
Role: Lead Designer
An organizational structure for the whole museum.
By encouraging visitors to go through an exploration of contrasts moving from innerspace to outerspace. There is a physical and visual transition, but also a personal one. By exploring the unknown visitors find out more about the future, but also more about themselves. Contrasts create surprise and excitement. They ignite human neurons, as our minds stretch to resolve tensions.
Goal and impact of the visitor’s journey -
The overarching emotional equation for the museum.
An overwhelming force of awe has the ability to ignite curiosity, which then fuels visitors onwards into exploration. Visitors are empowered through a self-guided journey of interpretation and realization, which leave them transformed and inspired. An overwhelming force of awe has the ability to ignite curiosity, which then fuels visitors onwards into exploration. Visitors are empowered through a self-guided journey of interpretation and realization, which leave them transformed and inspired.
This equation provides the structure for how our identity morphs and shifts in personality and expression and is reflected in the color palette and visitor journey above and below.
The museum mirrors our human experience. We’ve arrived at a historical turning point, where we need a place to recognize our differences and reconcile our dreams. This allows for the creation of a new world, where we’re free to wonder. This all shows up across the museum’s spaces and exhibits. They are broken down below by signature experiences.
Signature Experiences -
( A through F )
( ︎Clickthrough Each Experience Below )
A - Entry
Approaching the museum you get a glimpse of what you will experience inside of the museum.
The museum is a time portal that transports visitors to awe-inspiring future worlds, designed by the world’s leading policymakers, scientists, artists, technologists, and visionaries.
B - Lobby
You cross the threshold,
Into a dreamscape where nothing is familiar.
In these dreamscapes, visitors encounter extraordinary sights, sounds, scents, and sensations—but there is no obvious path to follow here. To find a way forward, visitors must summon the courage to enter the unknown, unlock new possibilities, and create a world they hope to inhabit.
C - Lift
Step through this future portal,
and suddenly you’re leaping ahead in time.
Lift Narrative - the narrative that occurs in the lift as you go from ground floor to floor 5 or innerspace to outerspace.
( Play Lift Narrative Video )
The museum mirrors our human experience. We’ve arrived at a historical turning point, where we need a place to recognize our differences and reconcile our dreams. Onto the Exhibit Floors ︎
D - Exhibits
Leaving the portal,
Entering into the most abstract future state
Floor 5 - Where We’re Going
Floor 4 - How We Live
Wayfinding & Artifact :
The wayfinding system and artifact help guide you on your journey and track progress throughout the museum.
A destination for curiosity, awe, and hope. A dedicated space to transform our world and ourselves. Now, in our time. For all time.
E - Profile Reveal
Gaining an understanding,
of the future and of yourself
Floor 3 - Who We Are
A personalized portal is created that lives on with you throughout the rest of the museum, but also when you leave this profile forms your online presence when interacting with the museum. Here you can continue to track and develop your skills and experience.
Profile Reveal Animated - an animated view of what the profile reveal moment will look like.
( Play Profile Reveal Video )
You decide to head down to the retail area first to personalize and print your guidebook.
Explore Tomorrow Today ︎
F - Retail
Take this understanding,
Move forward with your profile and vision.
Floor 2 - Workshops & Lab Spaces
A place for visitors to dig deeper and engage with personalized content, while connecting with experts and like minded people.
Summary -
A summary of the signature moments and the visitor journey -
A summary of all of the signature moments presented above.
A summary of all of the experiences presented along the visitor journey above.
MOF Book -
As a final deliverable for this project we deisgned and fabricated a 950 pg book to summarize the work and how to move forward for our client - Here is an excerpt from the design:
MATTHEW AVALLONE
PORTFOLIO
©2021
©2021