Cortina Productions

The Studio

Cortina Productions is one of the most respected interactive design studios in the country — known for building deeply researched, beautifully crafted experiences inside the world's most important museums and cultural institutions. Their work doesn't just inform visitors. It immerses them. As a full-time designer and eventually lead designer, I was part of the team that made that happen across a remarkable range of projects.

My Role

Lead Designer

I joined Cortina as a designer and grew into a lead role — taking ownership of complex, multi-screen interactive systems from concept through production. My work spanned UX architecture, visual design, motion, and production oversight. Every project required deep collaboration with historians, curators, educators, and engineers — and demanded that the design serve the story first.

Lead Designer UX Architecture Interactive Systems Exhibit Design Production Direction Institutional Storytelling

Institutions + Projects

College Football Hall of Fame

Multiple interactive experiences across the venue — player kiosks, position-based interactives, historical archives, rotunda displays

Atlanta, GA · Multi-System

Smithsonian Institution

American History Museum — Progress Exhibit interactive design and pitch work for multiple Smithsonian properties

Washington, DC · Pitch + Production

San Francisco 49ers Museum

STEM Education Lab — multi-touch interactive tables featured in TIME Magazine. Forces of Football physics system, player motion analysis, collaborative learning experiences

Santa Clara, CA · TIME Magazine Feature

OKC Bombing Memorial

Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum — interactive experience design for one of the most sensitive memorial institutions in the country

Oklahoma City, OK · Memorial

North Carolina Aquarium

Graveyard of the Atlantic — immersive underwater interactive featuring endangered species, habitat data, and conservation storytelling

North Carolina · Natural History

Tennis Hall of Fame

Multi-touch interactive table exploring tennis culture, personalities, social impact, and the evolution of the sport

Newport, RI · Interactive Table

Selected Work · Across Institutions

CFB Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame · Kiosk

Tennis Hall of Fame

NC Aquarium

49ers Museum STEM Lab · Featured in TIME Magazine

The Challenges

Designing for Sacred Spaces Every institution carried enormous weight — the OKC Memorial, the Smithsonian, the Hall of Fame. The design had to be invisible in the best sense: never drawing attention to itself, only deepening the visitor's connection to the content.

Multi-Stakeholder Production Working with historians, curators, educators, engineers, and clients simultaneously required clear communication and airtight design documentation. Growing into a lead role meant owning that coordination.

Education Through Design The 49ers physics interactives had to teach real science — forces of flight, motion, direction — to visitors of all ages and backgrounds. Making complex concepts immediately intuitive through visual design alone is a distinct and difficult skill.

Scale and Permanence Unlike digital products, exhibit work is physical and permanent. The design decisions made in production would be experienced by millions of visitors over years. That standard shaped everything.

The Outcome

Grew from designer to lead designer — taking ownership of complex, multi-screen interactive systems across some of the most important cultural institutions in the country. The 49ers STEM Lab earned a TIME Magazine feature. Permanent installations at the CFB Hall of Fame, Smithsonian, and OKC National Memorial continue to be experienced by millions of visitors.

TIME

Magazine Feature

World-Class Institutions

Lead

Designer Role Earned

Perm

Installations Still Live

What It Built

"Cortina Productions shaped how I think about design at its highest level. Working across the Smithsonian, the College Football Hall of Fame, the 49ers Museum, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial taught me that great design serves the story — not the designer. I left as a lead, with a deep understanding of world-class production, institutional collaboration, and the rare discipline of making complexity feel effortless."