In the world of design, whether it be for themed entertainment and theme parks, immersive experiences, museums, or any other space where we live, work and play, there are really two distinct camps of individuals and ways of thought.
On one side, you’ve got the engineers. These are the doers – the ones that make the technology play nicely, design safe, powerful and usable solutions, and work diligently to deliver the nuts and bolts of an impactful end result.
Then, you’ve got the creatives. These are the visionaries always dreaming up the next big thing or incredible use of innovative technology. They want to deliver first and one-of-a-kind and “wow,” and it all starts with a lofty vision for exactly what an experience should entail.
The traditional way of thinking has these two types of people butting heads on a project, engaging in a constant tug of war over what’s flowing from the creative’s innovative mind and what the engineer can make possible in reality.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
With modern technological solutions and a commitment to planning and executing a project the right way with collaboration and attention to detail, you can make the impossible possible.
Let’s explore how.
The biggest key to getting the vision of a creative and the reality of an engineer in sync is actually a rather simple one – communication.
The more open and honest the two parties are with one another, the better the mutual understanding of a project’s vision and goals can be.
At a 2019 presentation at the Themed Entertainment Association’s SATE, Electrosonic Senior Consultant Paul Kent and Century Culture & Tourism’s Paul Osterhout dove into this central aspect of a beneficial partnership, delivering a talk titled “How to Talk Nerdy with Jazz Hands.”
Osterhout and Kent first identified the fundamental difference in the way creatives and engineers think. Osterhout, and other creatives, are divergent thinkers who use a question to generate a multitude of ideas. Engineers like Kent, on the other hand, are convergent thinkers who take a multitude of facts and deliver a clean, honest answer.
So, how can those two styles of thinking meld into a collaborative and communicative process? Here are some of Kent and Osterhout’s tips:
“Over the years, in working with creatives, I think there are a lot of pieces that we can take from them to help people be better engineers and produce a better project,” Kent said.
Specifically, Kent said engineers should learn to speak in emotions and narrative, helping facilitate the storytelling nature of creative minds. Even though the audiovisual industry is a “creative” one, many engineers haven’t been effectively trained or asked to speak this way, which can lead to designs and plans being delivered in an incongruous, matter-of-fact manner.
Finally, Kent said, engineers also have a creative spirit. The key is not to force it or optimize a process that you feel will spark your creativity, but to instead play into the spark when it occurs naturally and make sure you optimize the way you capture it on the fly.
In addition to all of the aforementioned communication-based strategies, there are procedural strategies that can also help bring engineers and creatives together to make the impossible possible.
First, it’s key to select the right AV partner. Choosing the correct Technology Master Planner™ takes into account a variety of factors, but the biggest key is selection a partner that’s proven and willing to be a part of your project from end to end.
It’s critical, then, to engage in Technology Design Consulting early and often. With Electrosonic’s Technology Master Planning™ methodology, a fusion of architecture, storytelling and technology can be achieved through effective collaboration early in the process.
Electrosonic has been excelling in this realm for over five decades. Our emphasis is on finding innovative ways to actualize the vision of creatives, and it’s led us to create some of the most powerful and impactful experiences in the world – a track record we’re committed to extending even during this unprecedented period.
By bringing on a technology design consulting company like Electrosonic early on in an project, we can ensure your vision becomes reality and help diffuse conflicts before they negatively affect the final, impactful result.
To learn more about how Electrosonic can help bring your vision to life, contact us today.
Yiannis Cabolis, Director of Technology Innovation at Electrosonic, shares the inside track on how technology drives innovation. He brings 30 years’ experience monitoring emerging technologies, developing best practices and driving Research and Development to solve challenges and help clients understand how to benefit from the latest engineered technology solutions.