Portfolio

• • The Creativity Playground (Co-Director and Puzzle Maker)

    • • This event was designed alongside the students of EXD 150- Community Experience Workshop as part of the Department of Experience Design’s “Mystery Room” series.

      • This exhibit-style installation featured information tiles regarding the brain's response to creativity, as well as interactive activities that included personality tests, brain-teasers, reflective exercises, and sensory crafts in a bright, colorful environment.

• • The 2nd and 3rd UIndy Cultural Experience Extravaganza (Director)  

    • • The second and third iterations of the UIndy Cultural Experience Extravaganza featured student projects based on the countries of their choosing and was delivered in the form of hands-on, multisensory educational activities. Projects ranged from food demonstrations to a “create your own playlist” of foreign music, as well as demonstrations of traditional cultural games and rituals.

• • Journey with the Green Man (Co-Director)

    • • This event was designed alongside the students of EXD 150- Community Experience Workshop as part of the Department of Experience Design’s “Mystery Room” series.

      • This event features original scale models created by UIndy students based on the traditional Scottish legend of the Green Man, as well as activities where visitors could create their own “Green Man Face,” listen to relaxing nature audio, and participate in a real-life game of I Spy.

• • The Search for Krampus (Co-Director and Props Maker) 

    • A "murder mystery" style event where guests were taken into the setting of a small German village and tasked with uncovering the mystery behind a string of disappearances using clues that drew inspiration from Bavarian folklore as well as CSI methodologies. 

    • For this event I acted as the co-director and also created many of the props that were used to create the gamified, immersive world itself. 

• • Dr. Overton’s STEAMpunk Escapade (Co-Creator, Lead Designer, and Puzzle Maker)

    • • This experience was the launch of the Department of Experience Design’s “Mystery Room” series, which took place in a designated exhibit space in the Krannert Memorial Library.

      • This experience was set up as a “untimed escape room” in which participants were thrust into the story of Dr. Overton, a missing professor in a Steampunk world, and tasked with solving the mystery of his disappearance.

      • To solve the mystery, participants had to complete a series of puzzles based on the educational concept of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math); the event included original props, graphics, and puzzles created from the ground up.

• • The Dark Side of the Calendar (Co-Creator)

    • • This was the second installation in the Department of Experience Design’s “Mystery Room” series.

      • This installation was based on the “Dark Side of the Calendar” (the months of October through March) in traditional Celtic culture and featured thematic décor, information tiles that covered the various celebrations and festivals of Celtic tradition, and a bit of history on calendars themselves.

      • At the center of this installation was an original board game that took players on a journey through Scotland in the dead of winter, where they encountered (and had to escape from) creatures and entities of Scottish legend. 

• • 1st Cultural Experience Extravaganza (Director)

    • • As part of EXD 101- Intro to Experience Design, my students were tasked with choosing a foreign country at the start of the semester; for their second project they were required to pick an element of that country’s culture that was seen as interesting, unique, or significant, and then create an original tabletop exhibit based on said topic.

      • All displays were designed to be educational and experiential, with topics ranging from translation game activities to the teaching of holiday customs to sampling of cultural foodstuffs.

• • M.U. Marketing Event (Staff)

    • • As a way of marketing our semester-long project (M.U.), the Department put on a mini-marketing event in which a member of the “Men in Black” (me, playing a 1st person character) showed up on campus, interacted with students, and handed out fliers with QR codes that led to the project’s website. 

      • This event included multisensory elements, 1st person interpreters, original student-built props, and special effects that helped draw in passersby and inform them about the upcoming experience.

2022 UIndy United Way Campaign 

• In 2022, I served on the United Way Committee at the University of Indianapolis. During this time I worked hand-in-hand the with the Chair of the committee to create three events to raise money for the United Way of Central Indiana.

Cornhole for Change (Co-creator/Organizer) 

• A simple event marketed towards students in which, for a donation of any amount, they could play cornhole against their peers and professors for a chance to win prizes. 

Pie Your Professor Charity Event (Organizer/Designer) 

• Charity event where students, staff, and faculty were able to "hit" famous UIndy faces with unlimited whipped cream pies for a donation of $5. 

• There were also select "VIPs" (the Provost, Deans, Head Football Coach, etc.) who had to be bid on for the chance to pie them in the face. 

Annual UIndy United Way Charity Auction (Organizer/Designer) 

• I was responsible for reaching out to local Indianapolis businesses and organizations to secure donations in the form of items, services, coupons, or tickets. I was also put in charge of designing the QR code auction fliers for the event as well as designing the in-person experience promoting the auction. 

• Items were auctioned off both online and promoted during an in-person event featuring a hot cocoa bar and prize giveaways. 

UIndy Trading Card Experiential Marketing Campaign

• This project was part of the Experience Design 360- Experience Mapping and Experiential Marketing class that I developed and taught. As a class, we created a large set of "UIndy Trading Cards" to act as a product, and then each student in the class was tasked with creating a Brand Activation to market the product to the campus community. For each of these experiences I acted as Director, as well as co-creator and sometimes a staff member/interpreter. They included- 

• The Dawn of the University of Indianapolis (Director)

  • • One of the students in EXD 360: Experience Mapping and Experiential Marketing created this event as part of their overall assignment to market a product that we invented as a class (UIndy-Themed Trading Cards). 

    • The student designer created an improvisation-type game experience that utilized the UIndy Trading Cards as prompts to create a scenario; students could only play the characters or go to locations on cards that they currently had in their hands and were given props to act out the scene. 

    • The entire experience was wrapped in a story; an eccentric director and his crew (1st person characters played by the students) have been tasked with creating a film on the UIndy campus. However, the director knew nothing about the university, so he enlisted the help of the student population to help him come up with ideas. At the end of the experience, the director chose the winning story, and the members of that team were awarded a complimentary gift basket donated by Books and Brews.

•  Healthy Hounds Challenge (Director, Staff)

  • • One of the students in EXD 360: Experience Mapping and Experiential Marketing created this event as part of their overall assignment to market a product that we invented as a class (UIndy-Themed Trading Cards). 

    • This experience took on the role of a fitness challenge (led by the student designer) in which willing participants came to Smith Mall and did an exercise circuit in front of the different buildings on campus. If they successfully completed the challenge, the students got a special trading card that was exclusive to this event. 

•  70s Pyramid (Director)

  • • One of the students in EXD 360: Experience Mapping and Experiential Marketing created this event as part of their overall assignment to market a product that we invented as a class (UIndy-Themed Trading Cards). 

    • For this experience, the student designer created a 70s-style game show (based heavily on Million Dollar Pyramid) that paired participants into teams and made them guess clues based on UIndy locations and important people on campus. Prizes were period-appropriate, such as retro candy and pet rocks. 

    • The host of the show was a 1st person character (played by the student designer), though the rest of the EXD 360 class took part as 3rd person costumed characters based on different 70s archetypes (the “rocker,” the “nerd,” the “professor,” and so on). 

•  Cierra’s Commuter Comfort for Connection on Campus (Director)

  • • One of the students in EXD 360: Experience Mapping and Experiential Marketing created this event as part of their overall assignment to market a product that we invented as a class (UIndy-Themed Trading Cards). 

    • This experience was done as more of a “commuter lounge” style event where students could show up, turn their trading cards into tickets, and then use said tickets on different microexperiences. 

    • Microexperiences included a human vending machine with a live interpreter inside (all custom built by the student), as well as arcade games, cornhole, duckpin bowling, and a “jukebox” where guests could trade in tickets for song suggestions. Other EXD 360 students walked around the event with clipboards and surveys, asking guests about their experience at the event. 

•  UIndy Detective Club (Director)

  • • One of the students in EXD 360: Experience Mapping and Experiential Marketing created this event as part of their overall assignment to market a product that we invented as a class (UIndy-Themed Trading Cards). 

    • This experience was an unstaffed geocaching game that took place all over campus; the story was that a new organization on campus (the UIndy Detective Club) was looking for recruits, but they only wanted to take in people who could prove they were worthy. As a result, seven “caches” were hidden around campus, and each one included a clue and a puzzle that would lead participants to the next location. At the very end of the experience participants were able to take a small prize and were led to an online survey where they could share their experience. 

•  Food of the Revolutionary Period (Co-Creator and Presenter)

  • • This experience was a community partnership with the local Samuel Bryant chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

    • This experience was a 3rd-person presentation over the food of the Revolutionary War, which included recreations of authentic recipes that were then sampled out to participants during the presentation itself. The content was split into three categories– The food of the soldier, the food of the farmer, and the food of the gentry, and each section included multiple dishes from each class. 

• • 2020 Gnome and Fairy Festival (Co-Creator)

    • • Though this experience was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown, EXD 300 students and faculty designed multiple activities and set pieces for the first ever Fountain Square Gnome and Fairy Festival. 

      • Students designed interactive activities such as a gnome scavenger hunt, "create a character" booths for attending children, and a scale model vignette for a local coffee shop. 

• • Edible Identities Expo (Co-Director and Lead Marketer)

    • • Though this experience was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown, students designed multiple activities and exhibits for the Edible Identities Expo.

      • Students in EXD 101 were put into teams and tasked with creating interactive exhibits based on the food of a specific regional cultures and how they impacted said culture's identity. 

      • I was responsible for gathering contacts for potential presenters, creating the advertising, and helping to organize the logistics of the event with UIndy offices. 

• •  Abraham Lincoln Elementary School Science Event (Co-Creator)

    • • Though this experience was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown, EXD 300 students designed multiple activities and set pieces for this experience. 

      • Students created different "wings" of a science-based experience center set to take place in the hallways and classrooms of Abraham Lincoln Elementary School.

• • Multiplying Good's "Community Power Hour" (Director and Coordinator)

    • • This experience was part of the local organization Multiplying Good's annual leadership conference. 

      • EXD 101 students created four interactive educational experiences focused on teaching cultural sensitivity and leadership skills. Experiences included:

      • A "Breaking Down Barriers" game in which guests had to pull out a color coded Jenga blocks and then answer the question that corresponded with it. These questions were focused on cultural sensitivity and eliminating leadership barriers that may cause issues. 

      • A role playing activity in which groups were stuck on a desert island and had to make decisions about how to survive. The catch, however, is that they were given different leadership styles (democracy, dictatorship, oligarchy, etc) that impacted who had the final say in the decision making process. 

      • A "Defining Culture" activity where participants received a brief overview of the different perspectives and definitions of culture. They were then given a ball with different cultural questions written on it, which they passed to each other and answered whatever question they received. 

      • "Cross-cultural Similarities" tasked guests with identifying one element of their own culture and then discussing the similarities and differences within a small breakout group. 

• • Ludensvilla in the Park (Co-Creator and Staff)

    • • A story-driven experience located in the park outside of Schwitzer Student Center on the UIndy campus. 

      • Gave guests a tour through the mythical town of Ludensvilla, complete with interactive musical instruments, games, miniature set pieces, and information on why a playful nature is key to designing experiences. 

      • Acted as both a fun experience and an educational tool for those who knew nothing about XD. 

      • Students and faculty portrayed third person tour guides that led guests through the city. 

• •  XD Expo (Co-Creator and Staff)

    • • Experience co-created by multiple EXD classes with the intention of educating the UIndy population about the field. 

      • Divided into 4 sections: 

        • • • Queue line that featured posters, infographics, and key terminology associated with the XD field. 

            • Immersive game "testing zone" that featured a fully immersive experience set in a fantasy version of Renaissance Europe. This section had costumed interpreters, immersive environments, props, special effects, and a scaffolded original live action role play game. Guests were asked to take on one of several roles that dictated how they played through the game. 

            • An XD Agency room that was designed to be just as immersive, though it was created to emulate the office of a real world creative agency. Student interpreters portrayed the roles of the different agency employees, such as the creative director, costume designer, environment designer, and the like. 

            • A "trade show" room that included video interviews with several prominent XD scholars from around the country, as well as posters with job statistics, employment opportunities, and posters detailing real world XD agencies like the ones they had just seen. 

• • Ludensvilla: “Building” Transformative Experiences (Co-Creator and Presenter)

    • • This event was a three-day intensive workshop that took place at Meeting Professionals International’s 2018 World Education Congress. The workshop was designed to help event professionals “stop planning meetings and start designing experiences,” which also happened to be the theme of the conference overall. The workshop started with a “TED Talk”-like presentation before shifting to a more hands-on experience where participants were tasked with creating a fully immersive world for the other conference participants to explore.

      • In this event, I-

        • • • Co-authored guidebook given to workshop participants

            • Acted as a presenter and a coach during the workshop

            • Co-designed and fabricated props for experiential section of workshop

            • Co-developed theories and content for theoretical section of workshop

            • Co-created written handouts and brochures for event

            • Attended meetings with MPI representatives

• •   Otherworldly Objects and Legendary Locations (Co-Creator)

    • • Part of the joint grant project “The Materiality of Ghosts” between UIndy Archeology and Experience Design.

      • Researched and designed informational posters over Spiritualism for the “haunted museum” that was created in the UIndy Archeology Lab.

      • Assisted with exhibit planning and installation

      • Performed field research at Camp Chesterfield (2017) and Stepp Cemetery

• • Shared Scares: What’s Your Story? (Staff)

    • • Part of the collaborative “Materiality of Ghosts” grant between UIndy Archeology and Experience Design, this event brought students and faculty together and asked them a single question- Have you ever had a paranormal experience? 

      • I created a digital version of story collecting template for this experience and digitized data collected at event, as well as assisted with the fabrication of the “fire pit” set piece located at the center of the event space.

• • Southport Middle School Innovation Day (Co-Creator and Presenter)

    • • Co-created Powerpoint presentation on the field of Experience Design for middle school students.

      • Co-created hands-on design activity

        • • • Repackaging of 2017 International Congress on Medieval Studies presentation.

      • Acted as a leader for student activity groups.

• • Theme Parks Through Time: Influence on Culture (Co-Creator)

    • • Built a simulation of a pirate theme park ride using our “sensory deprivation booth,” which included multisensory effects such as gunpowder scent, rocking floors, and auditory sound effects.

      • Designed educational poster teaching about the categorization of theme parks. 

      • Created exhibit panels over different types of theme park rides.

      • Edited together a “greatest hits” video of theme park shows and attractions.

• • Southport Middle School Innovation Day (Co-Creator and Presenter)

    • • Co-created Powerpoint presentation on the field of experience design for middle school students.

      • Acted as a leader for student activity groups.  

• • DAR Food Demonstration (Co-Creator and Presenter)

    • • Researched content about Revolution-era America and its foodways.  

      • Recreated an authentic Revolutionary-era recipe and served it at one of the DAR’s meetings.

      • Acted as team liaison with DAR representative.

• • Hound County Fair (Co-Creator)

    • • Assisted with design and fabrication of the indoor “Haunted Maze” section of experience.

• • Traveling Through Legends and Fantasy Worlds: An Epic Quest (Co-Creator, Designer, and Presenter)

    • • This experience was an immersive walk-through game featuring scale models based on different legendary creatures from around the world.

      • For my section of the experience, I:

        • • • Researched a traditional Papa New Guinean folk legend for design inspiration.

            • Built a scale model based on research

              •  4’x4’ wooden tile covered with foliage to look like Papa New Guinea jungle, and a 4'x4' wooden tile made to look like a beach. 

              • Custom, to-scale figures repurposed from old toys and sculpted out of polymer clay. 

• • Pure Imagination: Social Work Banquet (Co-Creator and Gobstopper Machine Operator)

    • • Fabricated props and décor for a “Wily Wonka” inspired banquet for the Department of Social Work at UIndy.

      • Built a fully functional “Gobstopper Machine” that I helped operate during the event itself.

• • 2nd Annual Green House: Trash Transformed (Co-Creator and Props Maker)

    • • This event was a partnership with the UIndy Green Team and Sustainability Committee to promote recycling and sustainability efforts on campus.

      • For this event I fabricated several upcycled props.

      • Co-designed new sections of the core experience by adding two additional rooms to the “Green House” itself (a skeleton of a house built out of PVC pipe).

• • Wonders of the Unknown: A Paranormal Experience (Co-Creator, Props Maker, and Presenter)

    • • Constructed 8’x4’ “Sensory Deprivation Booth” with multisensory special effects to simulate a Bigfoot encounter. 

      • Co-created the “Cryptozoology” section of the experience, which included games, lighting effects, and information panels about various paranormal creatures.

      • Designed exhibit panel holders out of PVC.

      • Researched content for and designed multiple exhibit posters.

• • Little Red Door’s Big Red Bash (Co-Creator)

    • • Co-created designed environment for Little Red Door Cancer Agency’s “Big Red Bash” event.

      • Researched and developed two first-person characters to teach about healthy lifestyles and cancer prevention.  

• • 1st Annual Green House: Trash Transformed (Co-Creator and Prop Maker)

    • • This event was a partnership with the UIndy Green Team and Sustainability Committee to promote recycling and sustainability efforts on campus.

      • I co-designed a 20’x 20’ PVC structure for the experience in the shape of a house, which was then filled with upcycled props in an effort to reduce waste and promote the recycling of unwanted items.

      • Fabricated several original upcycled props. 

• • Over the Rainbow: Social Work Banquet (Co-Creator)

    • • Fabricated props and décor for a “Wizard of Oz” themed environment for the Department of Social Work’s end of the year banquet.

• • Engaging and Celebrating with the Burmese Community of Indianapolis (Co-Creator, Coordinator)

    • • Acted as project lead for co-created event that was a part of the 2014 Spirit and Place Festival. This event was designed in conjunction with the Burmese American Community Institute to promote the culture of Burma and celebrate the Burmese immigrants in the Indianapolis community.

      • Designed brochures and posters for experience, and acted as a liaison between the BACI and UIndy.

• • IHS Ugly Sweater and Karaoke Night (Co-Creator and Prop Maker)

    • • In this event, which was sponsored by the Indiana Historical Society, we created an “Ugly Sweater Party” on the UIndy campus and invited the public to join us as part of the IHS’ annual holiday celebration.

      • I personally designed “Hot Chocolate Bar” for the experience and assisted with the selecting of props.

• •  1st Annual Zombie Toxin Attraction (Co-Creator, Props Manager, and Interpreter)

    • • This event was a partnership with the City of Southport, Indiana as part of their Halloween celebration in the local park and community center.

      • I acted as a first-person interpreter at the experience, as well as co-created different vignettes in the style of a family-friendly haunted house. I also acted as props manager, and I helped to fabricate props and special effects for the experience.

• •  Haunted Toy Store (Co-Creator)

    • • This Halloween experience was based around a “haunted” doll house that was brought to life with miniature special effects that I co-created with other students and a UIndy professor. 

• • The Crusader’s World: A Crossroad of Cultures (Co-Creator and Staff)

    • • This event was designed as part of the EXD 480- The Crusader’s World class that I took my Sophomore year of college, and was based on the Crusades of the Middle Ages and the context of the world around it.

      • I designed the main poster for the experience, as well as co-created and staffed the “Games” section of the interactive museum exhibit.

The Predestination Paradox: An Untimely Situation (Co-creator, Props Maker, and Interpreter) 

• Immersive experience where guests were sent "into the future" to experience the culture of the year 2062. They were then accidentally sent a hundred years further into the year 2162, which was a dystopian world. 

• For this experience I played a character named Zeke, a survivalist in the dystopian section of the experience. I designed the character from the ground up, as well as built his costume, vignette, and the interactive activity that went along with it.