Today we’d like to introduce you to Eden Lew

Hi Eden, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I was a kid who loved to draw. My school notebooks were peppered with doodles because my mind understood information through pictures rather than text and audio. When all the kids wanted to play sports in PE, I preferred to hang out in the art room with a blank page and my imagination. After school, I remember being excited to go to craft stores to find materials and tools that could open a new world of making. On weekends, my sister and I would wake up at 6AM to watch hours of Saturday morning cartoons, and then watch more behind-the-scenes specials on how movies and animations were made.

Thirty-something years later, I’ve grown into a professional designer; but I believe that creative kid still fuels the core of my career and work. My education consisted of design programs at the University of Austin at Texas and SVA’s MFA Products of Design in New York that both were a mix of all kinds of design: brand strategy, graphics, architecture, wood working, industrial products, digital design, history and more. These programs taught me how to create through many mediums, which was great for someone who wanted to try out all the different design fields. My first jobs were just as varied, taking me from roles in environmental graphic design at Gensler to brand strategy at Pentagram to illustrated packaging design at Bark and more.

From 2018-2022 I founded Double Take Labs, with creative technologist Josh Corn, to explore what physical interactive designs could look like in museums, exhibits and retail pop ups. For 5 years we made our own lab to imagine robot circuses, engineer mechanical field day games and brainstorm truly immersive experiences centered around play. Today, I’m a floating creative director and experiential designer working with a variety of events agencies. I’ve been lucky to design whimsical diners, immersive grocery stores and kaleidoscopes with David Stark Design. I’ve curated experiential dinners with INCA Productions. And I’ve collaborated with Push Play Creative to brainstorm playful pop-up activations for sports events.

From the outside, my career path may seem winding and unfocused, but I actually found the variety to be instrumental in crafting my point of view and creative process. If we set aside the medium, I believe that every design problem is essentially a question on how you experience a crafted output: For example, how will your eyes move around a poster to receive information? How will your hands hold a product? How does your body navigate a new space? From years of dabbling in different fields, I’m confident in seeing a full picture of a design project while also producing a detailed solution. And through everything I pitch, my inner art kid continues to inject a sense of play and whimsy because I believe that’s what intrigues people to take a second look.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

What excites me about the design world is how many different roles you can play, but this kind of divided attention isn’t for everyone. I often encounter the argument of being a “specialist vs. generalist” or feeling insecure about not having enough technical experience that only working in a specific industry for several years can help you master. Unlike traditional jobs, my role can get lost without a ladder to climb or a hierarchical label that clearly defines my level of expertise. In lulls between projects, I miss having office space or collaborating with coworkers. And freelance/contractual work took years to develop a semblance of stability: from creating a network, finding opportunities, and learning how to budget and account for fluctuating cash flows.

Although carving my own winding path was daunting, I don’t regret a single minute of it. I’ve had opportunities to work with like-minded creatives on the coolest projects; to learn from my design heroes; and to be surrounded by supportive family and friends along the way. Most importantly, I’ve built confidence in myself, my ideas and my skills that could have only been developed by my courage to pursue a unique journey.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?

I specialize in experiential design for events, exhibitions, pop-ups and brand activations. I love designing events because I see each project as a moment to make an audience engage with something out of the ordinary. For a single moment, you can steal a person’s attention to push them out of their comfort zone and open their minds to “what if…?”

The way I study “experiences” is by learning how people behave in different contexts. Just as much as I love attending theatrical spectacles, museums and amusement parks, I also simply observe people interacting at gatherings like trivia nights, networking events, or even coffee shops. Board games and video games teach me new rules and mechanics of playful experiences. Once you understand the patterns in how people interact, then you begin to see the conditions and constraints in which new types of interactions can be designed.



Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?

To me, risk is having the confidence to follow through an idea that isn’t considered the norm. But it’s ironic that whenever I’m confident in a seemingly weird idea, it doesn’t feel risky to me at all. 



I believe that you have to learn the rules first before you get to break them. People think that creative solutions start on a blank page, but that’s never the case. Designs are born out of a web of constraints: physics, material, costs, time, audience, location, activity etc. Once you understand the full picture of a project, then you begin to see what boundaries can be creatively pushed, changed and manipulated. 



Constantly being curious and learning how things are made help to mitigate the feeling of risk. I love learning from fabricators about material constraints and building processes because it allows me to understand how to achieve a new kind of output. Traveling and opening my mind to different cultural experiences inspires new kinds of events and interactions that build on what I’ve seen. Working with different teams to understand their creative procedures teaches me paths to produce a variety of events successfully. I’ve found that the broader my world and interests become, the more ideas come forth that only seem risky to those who haven’t yet opened their minds to something like it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.edenlew.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edenclew

Image Credits

EdenLew1.jpg – with INCA Productions
EdenLew2,jpg – with David Stark Design
EdenLew3.jpg – with Double Take Labs
EdenLew4.jpg – with Double Take Labs
EdenLew5.jpg – with CAMP Stores and Double Take Labs
EdenLew6.jpg – with David Stark Design
EdenLew7.jpg – with CAMP Stores and Double Take Labs
EdenLew8.jpg – with David Stark Design