Meet Jill Shah | Spatial Storyteller & Creative Technologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jill Shah and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jill, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
Growing up, I found myself deeply influenced by the spaces and environments surrounding me, whether they were constructed spaces or elements of nature. A rainy day would envelop me in a mellow, introspective mood, while sunshine would ignite a sense of passion and inspiration within me. I distinctly remember moments when I felt compelled to transform the spaces I inhabited to better reflect my inner state and nurture my well-being. On one occasion, I convinced my parents to repaint a dark green wall in our home to a luminous white. The dark hue seemed to evoke negative emotions, while the white brought a much-needed sense of possibility and positivity to my daily life.

As I grew, I came to appreciate the profound impact of spaces on our emotions, memories, and experiences. This understanding ignited my passion for architecture, leading me on a journey to explore the art and science of crafting environments that resonate with human experiences. Delving deeper into the world of architecture, I discovered a realm of creative possibilities in experiential design. Now, I merge spatial design with technology to create interactive environments that engage people and promote storytelling.

Spaces inspire my approach to design. Observing the mechanics and organic inefficiencies within spaces defines many of my creative solutions and concepts for the projects I work on. However, spaces are incomplete without the presence and interactions of people. Human interactions have a profound but indirect effect on spaces, shaping their atmosphere and character.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I like to call myself a spatial storyteller! With over 5 years of work experience spanning a multi-disciplinary design universe, I am a proud design generalist and love flexing my versatile skillsets, one skill at a time on vastly different projects. I started out as an architect – got a degree and freelanced for about couple years before deciding to spice things up in the Creative Tech and Experiential industry. Currently, I am having the time of my career as an Experiential Production Designer at Future Colossal where I blend architecture, spatial design, code, and physical computing mojo, turning spaces into adventures!

It was not the most straightforward road, getting to where I am; deviating from mainstream career paths never is. When I decided to switch things up, I figured education was the way to go. I started exploring a myriad of different design and architecture allied courses like design management or research and even project management. But nothing felt quite right until I stumbled upon a program at Parsons School of Design. Getting into their MFA in Design and Technology program was a game-changer. But diving into the tech side of things? That was a whole different ball game. I had zero coding or physical computing background, and suddenly I was thrown into the world of machine learning! Talk about a challenge! But you know what got me through? Curiosity – plain and simple. The need to keep learning new things and diving into the unknown kept me going every step of the way.

Being curious led me to say yes to my first gig at Future Colossal. I started out as their QA tech – basically testing all the creative tech experiences being produced at that time. Two years and two promotions later, I am in role which was tailored to fit my skillsets. Being a generalist often sets me apart from others. Somedays I am fabricating arcade cabinets and doodling incomprehensible conceptual sketches, other times I am 3D modeling or rigging a game character and, on some projects, I put on my web developer hat. From concepting and brainstorming to installing our creative projects, I am involved in every stage of the project making my work experience as dynamic as it could be.

Looking back on everything, I’ve picked up some pretty important lessons along the way. One biggie is that resilience, adaptability, and working with others can take you far. I’ve found that success usually happens when your passion meets your determination. Real innovation happens when you open yourself up to all sorts of different ideas and experiences. It’s all about seeing things from different angles and bringing those perspectives together.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting the area, I’d make sure they experienced the best of both worlds: the vibrant energy of New York City and the serene beauty of the surrounding countryside. We’d start off with a classic slice of New York pizza before catching a Broadway show or diving into the immersive world of “Sleep No More.” The next day, we’d explore cultural gems like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and people watch in Central Park. I would definitely take them to Tiger Sugar in Chinatown for my favorite bubble tea. For a break from the hustle bustle of the city, we’d embark on day trips to Princeton, NJ, to wander through its charming streets and visit the stunning sculpture garden, and to Vernon, NJ, for a scenic hike up the Stairway to Heaven trail.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
At the risk of sounding like a cliche’, I want to dedicate this shoutout to my family, who’ve supported me through all my off-beat, at times crazy and sometimes risky career professional choices. As an immigrant in this country, opting out of mainstream, high-income professions to pursue my creative passions often presented challenges for my family to comprehend. Yet, their support never wavered, making it seem effortless in the face of uncertainty and risk.

Changing careers hasn’t always been seen positively in my life. Some folks thought I was being rash or giving up when things got tough. But I’m really grateful for my creative community and the pros in the experiential industry who’ve shown me otherwise. They’ve been there for me since college, at work, and even as mentors along the way. Whenever I doubted myself for not being an ‘expert’ in one thing, I have had people who believed in me, supported me and helped me evolve very confidently into a design generalist.

Website: https://jillshahh.com/bio

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jill_shhhh/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillnshah/