SEA LIFE Summer of Sharks

Date & Location

June, 2026
Orlando, Florida

From Kiosks to Cinematic Arcs

When tasked with retheming four education stations for a seasonal event, rather than treating them as isolated kiosks, I introduced a storytelling strategy to the team before starting the design process.

By mapping the aquarium’s existing guest emotional journey against the four designated touchpoints, the physical space revealed its natural rhythm—four spatial anchors transforming a linear guest flow into three dynamic narrative arcs, mirroring a classic three-act cinematic structure.

Anchored in this strategy, each station was intentionally tuned to both the location’s inherent atmosphere and the event’s educational goals.

This methodology transformed a standard seasonal activation into a scalable case study—driving a substantial increase in guest engagement—which our leadership will proudly present at the AZA 2026 Annual Conference under the session 'Interpretive Makeovers to Increase Impact.'

Project Type
Storytelling Strategy, Themed Experience Design

Working with
SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium

Keywords
Storytelling Strategy, Themed Experience Design, Graphic Design, Story-driven, Interpretive Design, Script Writing

Workflow & Storytelling Strategy

Design Process: Concept

Design Process: Schematic Design

Design Process: Final

Empowering the Learner: First-Person Narrative Design

My core philosophy is not to "educate," but to design an environment where self-driven learning naturally happens. To achieve this, I redesigned the original stamp booklet into a "Shark Tracker" to ensure the guest is always the first-person protagonist in the story.

The Shark Tracker positions each child as a field biologist, subtly reframing our educators from authoritative speakers into supporting mentors (the second person). To earn their stamps and become certified "Shark Guardians," kids initiate hands-on inquiries and biofact investigations with our team. This shift in narrative agency turned routine "stamp-and-go" interactions into an empowering, highly interactive discovery journey with extraordinary guest engagement.

Similar Projects