Designing an Immersive Flagship Retail Experience

The North Face's new London flagship store needed a defining experience – something that embodied the brand’s “Never Stop Exploring” ethos while functioning within a high-traffic retail environment. The goal was to create a central emotional anchor that encouraged customers to pause and engage while reinforcing the brand identity. I led the experience strategy and creative direction for a large-scale digital installation. At the center was a 360-degree “Base Camp” dome combining projection, sound design and spatial storytelling to create an immersive experience. Generative AI was used as a production tool to develop dynamic mountain landscapes that evolved through seasons and day/night cycles. The installation reinforced brand positioning while encouraging longer dwell time within the space.

My Role

  • Led the creative direction and experience strategy for the “Base Camp” installation, defining the narrative concept and spatial intent of the immersive environment

  • Guided visual development of the 360° dome environments, overseeing the generative content workflow from early concept exploration through final projection output

  • Directed collaboration between motion designers, engineers and sound designers to ensure cohesion across visual, environmental and audio elements

  • Shaped the integration of the dome experience with surrounding LED displays and interactive elements to maintain a unified in-store narrative

  • Oversaw execution from concept through deployment, ensuring the final installation aligned with brand standards and experiential goals

Approach

  • Began by defining the emotional objective: create a moment of pause inside the flagship that translated the brand’s spirit of exploration into a physical, immersive experience

  • Reimagined the store’s central space as a “Base Camp” - utilizing a suspended 12-foot projection dome surrounded by a physical campsite environment

  • Incorporated generative AI early in the visual development process to rapidly explore and refine global mountain landscapes across seasons and day/night cycles

  • Enhanced and extended the AI-generated environments through motion design, environmental effects and sound layering to create seamless 15-minute cinematic loops

  • Used 3D visualization and projection mapping tools to align hardware placement, content geometry and dome curvature during installation

Impact

  • Established a signature experiential centerpiece for the flagship store

  • Encouraged extended customer dwell time within the retail environment

  • Integrated immersive storytelling into the physical architecture

  • Contributed to industry retail design recognition and awards

My Responsibilities

  • Creative Direction

  • UX Strategy

  • Content Strategy

  • Team Leadership

  • Project Management

Solutions Provided

  • AI Generative Content Creation

  • In-Store Digital Content Strategy

  • 360° Synchronized Projection Dome, Large Format LEDs, LED Tickers, Interactive Touch Screens, Inlaid Floor LED Screens

  • Integrated AV and Scent Systems

Team Members

  • Seth Woodall - AI Generative Design & Motion Design

  • Daniel Utter - Motion Design

  • All store photography and video courtesy of Mood Media and The North Face

AI Generative Content Creation Process

  • Began by developing base mountain scenes in Midjourney, combining text prompts with curated reference imagery to establish visual tone, geography and mood

  • Iterated extensively to refine composition and realism, then generated variations of each scene across day/night cycles and seasonal shifts

  • Enhanced source images using Topaz to ensure sufficient resolution and clarity for large-scale projection across the 360° dome

  • Integrated atmospheric effects in Adobe After Effects - including weather, wildlife and environmental transitions - layering sound design to create a full sensory experience

  • Extended each scene into a seamless 15-minute cinematic loop, allowing the space to feel alive without repetition

  • Converted the final compositions into 360° Domemaster formats using VIOSO software to align projection across the suspended dome

“Every digital element in our Regent Street flagship serves a clear purpose: bringing the outdoors inside and helping customers prepare for their next adventure. We've learned that success comes from carefully integrating these experiences into the customer journey, using shopper feedback to refine and adapt the space.”

— Martina, Cerletti, Director of Retail Marketing, The North Face EMEA

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