Rowan Doyle is a Set Designer and Creative Director with a special interest in audience interaction and immersive environments. She has worked with Museum of Ice Cream, Meow Wolf, Immersive Van Gogh, Frog Design, GES, Thinkwell Group, THG, Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Rude Mechanicals, The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Great Small Works, New York Theatre Workshop, Bread and Puppet Theater as well as on numerous events, pop-ups and experiences. Rowan's academic background in theater, English Literature and writing reinforce her passion for story and using emotion as the prime catalyst for design. Her favorite jobs involve paper crafting, collaboration and anything miniature.
Projects
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Museum of Ice Cream NYCI worked as the lead designer on this 25,000 Sq. Ft. permanent installation. This project involved a complete renovation of a 3 story landmark building in the Soho district of Manhattan that included exhibitions, retail, cafe, a full service kitchen and a three story slide! My role included leading a team of in-house designers from concept through install as well as managing outside contractors and all architectural coordination. When in doubt - make it pink! |
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Meow Wolf Denver | Convergence Station I worked as a designer on this 90,000 Sq. Ft permanent exhibition. Working closely with many of the team's very talented Creative Directors, I was in charge of the RFP process for the theming portion of the project. This involved creating bid packages, shop visits, interviews and developing award criteria. While at Meow Wolf, I also worked extensively on the “swamp” area of the exhibit, helping to develop and research fabrication techniques and materials for this organic and interactive space. |
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Immersive Van Gogh PhoenixI was the Creative Director for multiple Immersive Van Gogh locations throughout the US. For these projects I lead the design process from concept through installation while working closely with contractors including the lighting designers, sound designers, graphic designers and fabricators to ensure quality, cohesiveness and intent. |
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Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry PotterI was the lead designer on this christmas activation created by GES. This was an incredibly dynamic project that was part retail, part live-performance and part interactive exhibit. My role was multi-faceted and included planning, designing window displays, drafting, rendering and on-site art direction. I absolutely loved working with the Harry Potter brand and was able to tap into my past life as a scenic painter to make the distressed and layered nature of Hogsmeade come to life. |
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Game of Thrones:
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Avatar: Discover PandoraI worked as a designer on this 16,000 Sq. Ft. touring exhibition created by GES. For this project I did everything from concept illustrations through fabrication as well as managing the graphic production and digital assets and even dabbled in some costume design for the Na'vi characters. The entire exhibit turned out really beautiful and is an amazing combination of interactivity, world building and educational content. |
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Meow Wolf: KaleidoscapeI helped design this dark ride at Elitch Gardens in Denver. For this project, I worked as a conduit between creative direction and fabrication, helping to translate sketches and ideas into buildable fabrication drawings. It was a thrill to work with the innovative team at Meow Wolf and the end result is a psychedelic, trippy experience, unlike any other dark ride on the planet! |
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Nixon Presidential Library and MuseumI worked as a show set designer with an amazing team at Thinkwell Group on the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum re-design. I loved working on a more traditional exhibition, designing cases and displays that highlight historical artifacts. Have you ever designed a display case for a moon rock from the apollo 15 lunar landing? I have! |
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Warner Brother's World Abu DhabiI worked as a show set designer with Thinkwell Group on this 1.65 million sq. ft theme park in Abu Dhabi. On both the attractions and the facades teams, I helped design and coordinate details across departments and worked with a large multi-disciplinary team to create the final drawing package. It was incredibly fun to take the iconic Warner Brothers Cartoons and turn them into buildable sets. It was recently voted one of the top 5 theme parks in the world! |
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And Then They Came For MeI was the set and projection designer for this play at Indiana Repertory Theatre. Written by James Still and directed by Courtney Sale, this play centers around interview recordings of two holocaust survivors and real-life friends of Anne Frank. I felt strongly about presenting the weight and importance of the subject matter in the scenery. I also created video that was a combination of live interviews and motion graphics that ran throughout the performance. The end result was a moving and powerful piece of theatre that feels especially pertinent today. |
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The Fictional Life of Historical OdditiesI created this site-specific performance with The Duplicates that told the story of the Dionne quintuplets. At just four months old, the quints were placed in the custody of the Canadian government and became the country’s most significant tourist attraction. Told through a mash-up of mediums including puppetry, projection, and sound, it was performed at the 2011 Austin New Works Festival. Growing up in Canada, the quints were a well known story - and I was excited to bring their history to an American audience. |
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Poison SquadI created this performance with The Duplicates about Dr. Harvey Wiley, a chemist with the Department of Agriculture who was convinced that the preservatives and dyes added to foods were dangerous. The story was told through a vaudevillian style performance that included performing objects, dance and magic. This team was an absolute dream to work with, and I was especially thrilled that I was able to work in a kabuki drop and a picnic table pyramid! |
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeI was the set designer for this play by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Will Davis. I was lucky to work with an amazing team to create this dynamic stage set with moving pieces that shifted and morphed as the story progressed. Inspired by the etchings of Gustave Dore, it was a fun challenge to re-conceptualize the iconic streets of victorian london. |
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SeptemberplayI created Septemberplay with The Duplicates, focusing mainly on set, costumes and projections but also dabbled in writing and directing. In the 24 hours leading up to the performance, we solicited help from the community to make a 40' x 40' mosaic out of 1x1 inch pieces of paper. See the making of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fmaex9fvpU |
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Expo 2054I was one of five co-creators for this project that was workshopped with student's from Bates College in Lewiston Maine. Expo 2054 documents an imagined future history: the building of mankind’s last World’s Fair before the end of the world. The show intersects miniature object performance with confessional, salient storytelling. Using an assemblage of small-scale models, Expo 2054 tells the story of procuring and refining artifacts for the last exhibition of humanness. |