NARRATIVE DEVELOPMENT
LITA ALBUQUERQUE STUDIO, Co-Writer | Creative Director | Editor | Installation Architecture
Since 2019, I have collaborated closely with the visionary artist Lita Albuquerque, shaping her expansive practice into cohesive cinematic and spatial narratives. Beginning with Liquid Light, I translated over twenty hours of raw footage and a single poetic premise into a five-chapter, 27-minute film that traces a 25th-century female astronaut’s journey through illumination, rejection, and transcendence. The work premiered at the 59th Venice Biennale (Biennale Arte 2022) and was presented as an immersive, large-scale triptych installation I designed, later continuing its international life at Museo MAXXI in Rome.
My work with Lita centers on translating her poetic language, astronomical research, and ritual gestures into cohesive storyworlds. This includes creating short films that document her installations and live performances, including NAJMA (She Placed One Thousand Suns Over the Transparent Overlays of Space) (2020), which premiered at Desert X AlUla; Najma Returns (2021), performed at the base of the Pyramids in Egypt; and The Sea Is Within Me (2025) at the Buffalo Bayou Park Cistern in Houston, alongside the development of installations at Caltech and Arcosanti. My role focuses on maintaining continuity across mediums, with each work contributing to Lita’s larger mythic continuum.
FUTUREKIN, Co-Writer | Editor
In early 2022, I co-wrote and edited the brilliant artist Lucy McCrae’s short film Futurekin, set in a post-CRISPR world where a group of women seek bodily autonomy by developing the ability to gestate children outside the womb. I structured the film intuitively around five days in the lives of six women, gradually introducing the characters and their work through quiet vignettes that favor observation over exposition.
While the premise is speculative and radical, the film is grounded in repetition and restraint. We watch the women wake, dress, and perform a daily ceremonial task whose purpose remains deliberately ambiguous. We’re never fully clear whether it is biological experimentation or ritualized self-care. Drawing on Donna J. Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto, Futurekin treats science as a provocation rather than a solution, offering a narrative scaffold that invites audiences to sit with uncertainty and reflect on power, equality, and a future that bypasses the womb.
THE HOME, Concept Development | Pitch Strategy | Installation Architecture
As part of my broader creative practice, I collaborate with directors and production companies at the earliest stages of development, helping shape concepts and pitches for immersive, live, and real-world experiences. I bring a hybrid approach that combines story architecture, interactive design, and technical visualization, translating strong ideas into cohesive experiential frameworks that can be clearly communicated, funded, and ultimately built.
One such collaboration was with multidisciplinary creator and director Annie Saunders on The Home, an emotionally powerful immersive installation for Santander Bank. Working closely with Annie, I helped articulate the core concept and developed narrative, spatial, and technological frameworks that shaped both the pitch and final experience. Staged as a one-person, headphone-based journey inside a reconstructed suburban home at the World Trade Center transit hub, the installation offered a visceral window into financial abuse within domestic violence contexts. The project received major international awards, including a D&AD Yellow Pencil, and is now archived in MoMA’s Department of Film.
LIT BY THE MOON, Concept & Visual Development | Proof-of-Concept Director
I also work closely with creators to develop narrative, tone, and visual identity for TV and film projects, helping shape early concepts into compelling, pitch-ready experiences. I bring a hybrid approach that blends story architecture, character development, and visual storytelling to translate ideas into a clear and cinematic framework.
One example is Lit by the Moon, a grounded, darkly funny drama about a musician rebuilding her life in Los Angeles after a personal and professional collapse. I co-wrote early materials, shaping character, narrative structure, and emotional tone, and designed the visual pitch deck to bring the story’s humor, vulnerability, and world to life. To further solidify the series’ identity, I directed and edited a short proof-of-concept mood film, providing a tangible cinematic expression of tone and story for collaborators and potential partners. The series is currently being pitched.
YEDI, Brand Development | Visual Development Identity | UX & Product Designer
I had the pleasure of developing the brand tone and visual identity for Yedi, an early-stage technology company transforming public restroom experiences through data and emerging technologies.
My work encompassed the creation of a complete visual ecosystem - logo, color palette, typography, illustration style, photography direction, and tone of voice - codified in a Universal Visual Identity system and Brand Book, alongside authoring the Brand Manifesto to define the brand’s ethos and emotional positioning.
On the product side, I designed the app’s look and feel, including wireframes, illustrative assets, and keyframes, while also developing presentation decks and the initial website concept. This integrated approach established a cohesive, mission-driven identity that aligned design, messaging, and product experience in preparation for Yedi’s strategic investment strategy.
CIRQUE DU SOLIEL, Immersive Design Development | Concept Development | Experience Designer
After working with Cirque Du Soleil on a project with Google, I was fortunate to be invited to Montreal from 2012 to 2016 to participate in a series of internal, future-facing projects at Cirque du Soleil, exploring the evolving intersection of live performance and digital interactivity. I helped conceptualize hybrid experiences that blended live theater with interactive online participation, developing narrative frameworks, audience engagement strategies, and immersive design systems. I also worked closely with creators in Las Vegas on MJ ONE, Cirque’s theatrical tribute to Michael Jackson, designing a narrative-rich second-screen smartphone integration that synced AR storytelling and visuals with live performance, audio cues, and audience location. While these initiatives remained internal, they exemplify my narrative-driven interactive design and multisensory storytelling, bridging physical and digital worlds in innovative ways.
FLOWER & TRIM, Brand Development | Visual Development Identity | UX & Product Designer
From concept to execution, I collaborated with writer Jessica Hundley to lead brand development for Flower & Trim, a client cannabis lifestyle brand designed to celebrate and redefine modern cannabis culture through the lens of vibrant, trendsetting women. Together, we shaped the client’s brand voice, identity, and strategic foundation, developing a bold, playful, and sophisticated platform that speaks directly to a diverse, underserved audience of women—curious, conscious, successful, and culturally engaged. We grounded our approach in research and audience profiling, creating a psychographic framework that informed brand voice, content strategy, and product vision.
I led the creation of the client’s visual identity, establishing a cohesive language that reflected Flower & Trim’s elevated, approachable, and feminine tone. From art direction, color palette, and digital design to user experience, every element aligned with the aspirational lifestyle the brand champions. I also designed and oversaw the build of the digital platform, serving as both a content hub and e-commerce destination, blending editorial, culture, and cannabis with seamless usability. Our work extended beyond design, establishing a roadmap for growth through licensing, premium product development, immersive experiences, and scalable content partnerships.
LE PALIZ, Brand Development | Visual Development Identity
I led the creation of Le Paliz’s complete visual identity, serving as the sole designer responsible for logo, iconography, packaging, and promotional assets. My goal was to craft a cohesive, elevated aesthetic that reflects Le Paliz’s pioneering approach to traditionally-crafted fine hashish, balancing the brand’s artisanal heritage with a clean, contemporary sensibility.
Every design decision was guided by the product’s refined nature and cultural significance. I developed packaging that feels both luxurious and grounded, using tactile materials and minimalist design to evoke ritual and craftsmanship. The logo and icon system were crafted to be distinctive yet timeless, communicating trust, quality, and the transcendent experience the brand offers. With a unified visual language, Le Paliz is positioned to make a strong debut in the premium cannabis market.
ADVERTISING INTEGRATED CAMPAIGNS
CORONA, Creative Director | Brand Strategy | Experiential Design
As Creative Director at CAA’s Observatory agency, I led the creative development for Corona’s landmark campaign La Cerveza Más Fina, celebrating 90 years of the brand’s history and its deep cultural connection to Mexico. This integrated campaign for the Mexican market spanned digital, social, experiential, and broadcast platforms, aiming to elevate Corona’s quality perception in contrast to imported brands.
At the center was The History of La Cerveza Más Fina, a Spanish-language stop-motion film narrated by Gael García Bernal and inspired by Pedro Friedeberg’s surrealist art. Produced by Nexus Studios and directed by Nicolas Ménard, the film featured 421 handcrafted miniatures, eight detailed sets, and over 350 hand-painted bottle replicas, animated at 24 frames per second and accompanied by a 50-piece orchestral score.
The campaign became the most successful in Corona’s 100-year history, generating over 1.7 million mentions in 2019, driving brand power to an all-time high of 18.4%, and significantly increasing perception in key categories: +2.7% as an international brand, +2.7% as a high-quality brand, +2.6% as more refreshing than competitors, and +3.2% representing national pride—a distinction no other brand had achieved. Corona was also recognized as the most valuable beer brand globally in 2019 and 2020, and the most valuable brand in Mexico in 2020. More than a commercial effort, La Cerveza Más Fina fused craft, heritage, and storytelling to reframe Corona as a cultural symbol and celebration of Mexican identity.
BRAND & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
TOYOTA, Creative Director | Brand Strategy | Interactive Design
As Lead Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi, I conceived and led the development of Yaris. It’s a Car!, a bold, irreverent, all‑digital campaign for the 2012 Toyota Yaris that embraced the car’s simplicity as its central creative advantage. At the heart of the campaign was itsacar.com, an experimental HTML5 microsite starring comedian Michael Showalter, where users embarked on a looping, gamified tour of the vehicle’s “features” with deadpan humor and absurdist commentary. The site pushed technical boundaries - incorporating WebGL, real‑time physics simulations, CSS3, adaptive sound, and multi‑user socket communication - to create a responsive, interactive world that even allowed users to explore the source code themselves.
Deliberately digital‑first and targeted at younger, web‑native audiences, the campaign expanded into a rich ecosystem of custom Funny or Die sketches, satirical unboxing videos that parodied tech culture, interactive games, and playful social extensions that reinforced the Yaris’s self‑aware, no‑frills spirit. By February of its launch cycle, Toyota had already achieved 80% of its annual Yaris sales goal, a powerful performance indicator tied directly to buzz and engagement generated by the campaign. The work was also recognized for its innovation in the digital space, including a feature on Google’s Creative Sandbox for excellence in web‑based creative technology. Yaris. It’s a Car! stands as an example of how humor, interactivity, and technical experimentation can elevate an integrated campaign and redefine consumer conversation around a product.
MICROSOFT, Creative Director | Brand Strategy | Interactive Design
FREE THE NIGHT is a VR an immersive brand campaign created exclusively for Microsoft to support the 2017 launch of the Windows Mixed Reality platform. Set at twilight in the hills overlooking an iconic cityscape, the experience invited audiences to physically “liberate” light from the urban environment, pulling street lamps from the ground and coaxing illumination from buildings with simple gestures. Each released light transformed into swarming, ember-like particles that moved between fireflies and fireworks, reinforcing a poetic narrative of technology as wonder, play, and transformation.
Developed in close collaboration with Microsoft’s developers while the platform’s SDK was still being finalized, the project pushed the technical and experiential boundaries of real-time VR storytelling. We built a custom, GPU-driven particle system in Unity that enabled large-scale, reactive visual behavior synchronized to user interaction and narrative moments. The experience launched as a five-minute in-store demo and a longer-form application within the Windows Mixed Reality home, and premiered at Future of Storytelling 2017. It was later presented at SIGGRAPH, with a published abstract in 2020, positioning the project as both a brand statement and a technical milestone for immersive media
BRAND EXPERIENTIAL
EXPO 2020, Creative Director | Lead Experience Designer | Interactive Design
As Creative Director and Lead Designer, I oversaw the visual, experiential, and interaction design for a suite of interactive kiosks developed for Expo 2020 Dubai (held in 2022 due to the pandemic). In collaboration with Hexagram, I helped shape three custom-built installations that used cutting-edge computer vision and augmented reality to create playful, deeply personalized guest experiences.
Each kiosk featured a stereoscopic camera system embedded within a conventional display, transforming it into a responsive portal. Real-time face and pose detection encouraged guests to move, dance, and explore, while reactive visuals brought the Expo’s mascots to life in unexpected and delightful ways. (additional work for Expo here)
WING LUKE MUSEUM, Art Director | Lead Experience Designer | Interactive Design
As the Art Director and designer of the Be Water My Friend interactive exhibition at the Wing Luke Museum, I was responsible for shaping the exhibition’s narrative flow, interactive elements, and all visual components. Working alongside producer Jessica Kantor, illustrator Andrew McDonald, and Shannon Lee - who generously shared her father’s personal library - I helped create an immersive experience that invites visitors to explore the mind, body, and spirit of Bruce Lee. The exhibition highlights over 2,000 books from Lee’s private collection, offering a deeply personal look at how his lifelong thirst for knowledge informed his iconic philosophy. Through a blend of storytelling, interactivity, and design, the exhibit encourages guests to reflect on their own paths of growth while honoring Bruce Lee’s enduring legacy.
MAGIC MIKE LIVE, Creative Director | Lead Experience Designer
As Creative Director for Anything For You, an AI-powered concierge experience developed in collaboration with Hexagram for Magic Mike Live, I led the creative vision and narrative development, shaping both the look and feel of the final product. Working closely with Hexagram’s team, I helped define the brand voice to reflect the humor, charm, and personalized care that the show embodies. I spearheaded the initial research phase, identifying user needs through detailed demographics, user personas, journey mapping, pain points, and goals. This research informed the experience design, which I helped guide through the creation of interaction mechanics, Phase 1 feature planning, and a comprehensive experience blueprint. I also directed the art and content strategy, developing UI references and narrative samples that defined the platform’s tone and visual identity. The result was an immersive, AI-enhanced booking and planning tool that redefined the entertainment experience from start to finish.