Newporter26: Design Strategy Sprint
5-day design strategy sprint at Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Hotel
Pitch Deck Writer, Business Strategist, Magician
5-person team
Professional Practice Residency, Spring 2026
Project description:
Developed an experience strategy for Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Hotel to increase engagement with hotel amenities and activate underutilized spaces by improving discoverability, booking, and on-site navigation.
Strategy summary:
Competitive analysis
Defined “Newporter26” Concept: positioning the hotel as a programmed experience ecosystem
Unified Concierge + Booking System: physical touchpoints + QR + digital platform
Signage + Social Strategy: to improve amenity discoverability and participation
Tenant Program Model: enabling recurring classes, events, and third-party activations
Wine Cellar Prototype (Live Experience Test):
Executed a rapid prototype of an intimate, close-up magic show in the hotel’s Wine Cellar (historically used by John Wayne), using live performance to test audience interaction, spatial dynamics, and emotional impact. Insights from this real-world test directly informed the team’s final experience strategy.
Skills:
Business Strategy
Prototype
Pitch Deck Writing
Defined
An interactive exhibit that turns personal connections to literature into shared experiences
Lead experience Designer
2-member team
USC Performing Arts Committee Event, Spring 2025
Project description:
Designed and built 2 core interactive installations aimed at fostering reflection and connection among visitors to interactive production celebrating the power and significance of literature
Capsules of Thought
Visitors write a response to a meaningful prompt related to literature and place it in a gumball machine container. Then they receive someone else’s response as a gift that fosters connection and expanded perspective
Your “Definition
A reflective exercise in which visitors select a word that defines them. They then place a film disk into a projector that illuminates their chosen word and physically step into its light, shining the word on themselves to highlight the power of a single word
Skills:
Design
Fabrication
Interactive
Community Building
Cohort
A social game that challenges strangers to
uncover a shared connection
Experience Designer, 3D Modeler
4-person team
Designing Live Experiences class project, Spring 2024
Project description:
Developed a comprehensive plan for a live experience designed to combat post-college loneliness by fostering meaningful
connections. Tasks included market research, experience design, sensory engagement, creating a refined drawing set, defining interactive elements, building a digital 3D prototype, budget planning, and branding. See slide show and 3D video tour.
Cohort Immersive Experience
Inspired by the card game We’re Not Really Strangers, Cohort
serves as an interactive extension of its concept, transforming
passive conversation into a fully immersive, real-world
experience. Visitors have one thing in common with someone
else but only 30 minutes to discover it! The experience scales to groups of four, eight, or more, creating a dynamic and engaging social challenge.
Physical Space Design
Multi-level clubhouse with designated rooms for each stage of
the Cohort experience as well as follow-on social meet ups
based on shared interests
Skills:
Business
Sketchup 3D
Strategy
Community Building
Sea Drift
Designed props including a prop radio that breaks apart on stage.
Props Designer
USC Brand New Theatre Spring 2025
Project description:
Sea Drift is an original play written by a USC student. In the play, the daughter breaks an old radio on stage by smashing it on the ground. This prop is a replica of the XYZ radio that can break on command and be put back together afterwards.
Built with:
Vacuuform machine to make a plastic shell replica
Custom springs
Skills:
Design
Fabrication
Theatre
Engineering
Brothers in Blood
Projectile vomit rig for film production
Special Effects Designer
Trojan Filmmakers Club, Spring 2024
Project description:
Designed and built a variety of special effects for student short film
Projectile vomit rig (primary effect)
A low-tech device that used a tube, mashed berries, and a
person manually blowing on the other end of the tube to
simulate projectile vomit.
Additional effects
Fabricated materials to look like realistic intestines, human flesh, and blood
Skills:
Film
Fabrication
Little Shop Of Horrors
Designed and Fabricated Audrey II, a plant monster, in the musical Little Shop of Horrors
Props Designer
USC Musical Theatre Repetoire Fall 2025
Project description:
Designed and fabricated a series of large-scale puppets for live performance, built to function as both visual set pieces and fully interactive, performer-operated mechanisms. Integrated structural and mechanical systems to support movement, durability, and on-stage use.
Puppet Types:
Handheld pod: externally operated, compact
Medium pod: arm-held for controlled interaction
Large pod: half-body scale with partial puppeteer integration
Full-body pod: human-operated, full enclosure enabling immersive interaction (e.g., “eaten” moments)
Fabrication + Engineering:
Mechanical systems: internal frameworks supporting safe, functional movement
Fabrication: woodworking, metal, foam, paint, and finishing
Performance constraints: optimized for weight, mobility, and on-stage usability
Skills:
Design
Fabrication
Theatre
Engineering
Death Goes on a Date
Prop flower that instantly wilts when touched
Special Effects Designer
USC Brand New Theatre One Acts Festival, Fall 2024
Project description:
Designed and built a unique special effect flower that wilts when the character Mors, the Roman personification of death, touches it.
Skills:
Theatre
Fabrication
Falsettos
Designed props including puppet bases, oversized utensils, and a breakaway silk
Props Co-Designer
USC Musical Theatre Repertoire, Fall 2024
Project description:
Assisted with the overall creative vision for the props as well as
construction. Built the base of the puppets, large toy like utensils, and a split away red silk for use in the full-length musical production.
Skills:
Design
Theatre
Fabrication