Across 2025, Journey created a myriad of diverse projects, from orbiting space stations to national museums, world expos, touring art exhibitions, cultural landmarks, and fan-first hospitality. What connects this work is not a single technology or method, but a shared goal: shaping the future through experiences that connect people, brands, and culture.
The reflections that follow bring together perspectives from individuals across our agency on the projects that shaped their year, what made them meaningful, and where everything is heading next.
Starlab
This year, Journey took experience design into space with Starlab. Working alongside Starlab Space, Airbus, and Hilton, the project focuses on reimagining how astronauts live and work in orbit, shifting the space station from a purely functional environment to one that considers comfort and hospitality.
For Lionel Ohayon, Chief Creative Officer, Starlab fundamentally altered how the studio thinks about design.
“Spending days with mission control teams, engineers, and astronauts completely rewired my brain. Applying everything we’ve learned over the last 20 years to microgravity has changed how we think about design at its most precise. Small decisions in space lead to massive consequences.”
“We can’t prototype in space, so we rely on simulation, digital twins, and perceptive thinking to understand how ideas translate in low or zero gravity. The digital twin becomes the central nervous system that connects every discipline. It shapes how we conceive, design, test, and deliver experiences, whether we’re designing a spacecraft for eight astronauts or environments here on Earth.”
For David Taglione, Managing Director, the project marked a shift in both scale and ambition.
“Speaking directly with astronauts about the realities of living and maintaining a human experience in zero gravity gave us a much deeper understanding of what it truly means to design beyond Earth.”
Zayed National Museum
Zayed National Museum is the national museum of the United Arab Emirates, designed by Foster + Partners and dedicated to the life, values, and legacy of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Journey worked across narrative, immersive media, sound, interaction, and technology to help tell the story of the UAE across six main galleries and sixteen interior and exterior spaces.
For Max Italiaander, Creative Director, the scale and range of storytelling defined the work.
“The scope was huge, from a seven-screen immersive expression of nature in the Emirates to much more archival, introspective pieces about Sheikh Zayed and the formation of the UAE. We explored different techniques, combining AI and animation to extend archival images, and using 4D scans of actors to create soft, atmospheric vignettes of life in the 1970s.”
Akiane: A Journey of Faith through Art
Akiane: A Journey of Faith through Art stood out this year for both the cultural weight of the story and the scale of the delivery. Built around the work of Akiane Kramarik, who began painting biblical scenes at age 8, the project required a rare level of sensitivity, trust, and end-to-end involvement.
For Judy Suh, Lead Creative Director:
“It was rare to be involved from the very start, even down to choosing the location and shaping the exhibition setup with the client. Just five months later, we launched a full-scale immersive exhibition at a working church in Seoul, translating Akiane’s work into an experience that combined physical design, projection, sound, and film. It has now become the first stop on a global tour, with the team already preparing for the next country.”
Constance Nuttall, Project Director, noted the way the experience was shaped by the artwork itself.
“Our focus was on translating Akiane’s work into an immersive format without losing its intimate quality. The exhibition was designed to guide visitors clearly through the story of the artist’s life and work, from her origins to the ideas in key paintings, using bilingual interpretation and immersive media that genuinely supported the art and artist rather than overshadowing them.”
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pavilion
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pavilion at World Expo 2025 was one of the year’s defining projects. Journey delivered immersive experiences across the pavilion’s four galleries and central courtyard.
The pavilion ultimately introduced more than three million visitors to Saudi Arabia’s culture, history, and evolving identity; it received multiple international awards, including Best Large Pavilion and Best Use of Technology, with the Sustainable Seas gallery also recognized for Innovation.
Alice Britton, Executive Director, reflected on the scale and significance of the work.
“From day one, we integrated physical exhibition design with interactive, large-scale media and haptics to create truly multisensory environments. In the Pinnacle of Innovation gallery, visitors could physically feel the films through a haptic ‘wall’, adding a tactile layer to the storytelling.”
Morgan Cameron, Head of Technical Design, AV, explains how storytelling at this scale demanded a new level of orchestration between architecture and immersive art.
“Delivering immersive AV at this scale, particularly in the open-air courtyard, required projection, sound, lighting, live performance, and architecture to operate as one. Basically, we were weaving storytelling into the fabric of the building.”
For Cassiano Sala, Managing Director, the Pavilion’s importance lay in its cultural reach.
“The pavilion introduced millions of visitors to the culture, history and evolving identity of a country that had long been closed to many. Seeing a global audience come to understand Saudi Arabia’s vision for the future was incredibly rewarding.”
Prehistoric Planet: Discovering Dinosaurs
Narrated by Damian Lewis, ‘Prehistoric Planet: Discovering Dinosaurs’ takes audiences 60 million years back in time through sweeping prehistoric landscapes to encounter life-size Tyrannosaurus rex, Mosasaurs, and Adalatherium.
For Lysander Ashton, Managing Director, its success lies in how it reconnects people with one of the great stories of natural history.
“This project brings one of natural history’s greatest stories to life, and the response has been incredible, with more than 120,000 visitors so far. It has just opened in Paris and we’re rolling it out to another five venues. My kids also love it, win-win! ”
For Rebecca Collis, Commercial Director, a shift in audience focus defined the project.
“We were reimagining the Apple TV+ series as a fully immersive experience, something audiences could move through, inhabit, and emotionally respond to, rather than just watch. What made it truly distinctive was designing it with children as the primary audience, without simplifying the science or dialling back the spectacle. That shift in audience focus changed how we approached everything. Seeing how strongly families have responded has been incredibly rewarding.”
Category 10
Category 10 stood out this year as a powerful example of fan-first placemaking. Reimagining the legendary Wildhorse Saloon, the project transformed a Nashville institution into a four-floor, uninterrupted music experience centered on country culture, live performance, and community, developed in close collaboration with Luke Combs.
For Greg Merkel, Principal Design Director, its impact was immediate and visible.
“Category 10’s reach in Nashville went far. Being voted Best Bar in Nashville was huge in itself, and the news that it’s expanding to Vegas has also made waves. In terms of eyeballs and attention, that one definitely wins.”
2026 + Fortune Telling =
Digital Twins, R&D, Brick & Mortar.
As we look ahead to 2026, we see four key trends emerging:
1. AI Fatigue is real, AI is really useful
2. R&D is the key
3. Digital Twins reshape the world.
4. Brick & Mortar makes a comeback
To Infinity & Beyond (2025)
As we look back on 2025, what stands out is not just the scale of the work, but the curiosity, care and ambition driving it. Our teams across studios, disciplines and continents pushed new ideas forward while staying grounded in the craft.
The year ahead will bring new horizons and new challenges, but one thing remains clear: Journey’s strength comes from the people shaping these experiences every day, and from the shared belief that our work can reach people where it counts.
