SCADstory Atlanta: A New Benchmark for Immersive Cultural Storytelling
SCADstory Atlanta, created for the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), is the first 4D immersive brand story ever produced by a university—an experience that redefines how institutions can inspire, educate, and engage through story, art, and technology.
SCADstory Atlanta transforms a traditional campus visit into a theatrical journey where students, families, and visitors step inside the living story of creativity itself.
A Story of Vision and Transformation
At the center of SCADstory Atlanta is a simple but powerful promise from SCAD founder Paula Wallace: This Is Your Place. The experience invites guests to feel that promise by placing them within a fully immersive 4D narrative that celebrates creative courage and belonging.
An animated Paula serves as the guide through four acts: a gallery alive with student work, a corridor of light symbolizing discovery, a 360-degree “dream box” of imagery, scent, and sound, and a finale where every element converges in a sensory crescendo. What begins as a university tour becomes a work of art—a story that is both personal and universal.
Innovation in Every Layer
SCADstory Atlanta’s innovation lies in how BRC integrated storytelling and technology into one seamless emotional experience. Pixel-accurate projection mapping within intimate spaces transforms design surfaces into a storytelling canvas. Transformative animation propels the narrative forward, while a holographic illusion of Paula within a miniature set creates an unforgettable “scene within a scene,” blending digital performance with physical space.
Real-time generative lighting, powered by Notch, produces ribbons, particles, and bursts choreographed to narrative cues. These effects appear to emit from surfaces rather than spill onto them, turning light itself into a storytelling character.
Three custom fragrances engage memory and emotion, including a lavender-inspired note evoking SCAD’s Provence campus. The original musical score, composed for a custom modular synthesizer and live orchestra, was presented in 360-degree immersive audio, enveloping visitors in a soundscape that is both experimental and cinematic.
Collaboration as Creative Practice
More than 30 SCAD students, alumni, and faculty contributed to the design and execution, representing disciplines from animation to lighting to fragrance design. Their collaboration embodied SCAD’s “learn by creating” ethos, transforming the project into a living classroom and proving that innovation flourishes through creative mentorship.
Cultural and Educational Impact
The project achieved two intertwined goals: to inspire future students and enrich Atlanta’s cultural landscape. Post-visit surveys showed a measurable rise in students naming SCAD as their first choice, with many citing SCADstory as the deciding factor in their enrollment.
Open to the public with a suggested scholarship donation, SCADstory Atlanta has welcomed thousands of residents, families, and tourists, embedding SCAD into the city’s creative community. The experience not only strengthens SCAD’s position as a global leader in art and design education, but also invites the wider public to share in that creative spirit.
Why It Matters
SCADstory Atlanta represents a new kind of cultural storytelling—where education, entertainment, and design merge to create a single transformative experience. It proves that institutional communication can rise to the level of art, and that immersive design can foster both emotional connection and measurable results.
Since its launch, SCADstory Atlanta has been celebrated as a breakthrough in experiential storytelling, demonstrating how narrative, technology, and authenticity can work together to move audiences and redefine how institutions tell their stories.
Ultimately, SCADstory Atlanta is more than a story about a university; it’s a story about creative courage—the willingness to attempt something unprecedented and trust in the power of imagination. It delivers what every great cultural experience strives for: genuine transformation.
Partners
- BRC Imagination Arts
- Black Wolf Productions
- Clearwing Systems Integration
- NYXdesign
- TechMDinc
- Eyebolls ltd.
- Erik Desiderio Music
- Entech Innovative
- EarsUp Sound Design
- Emery & Associates
- Henchmen
- digiLED (HK) Ltd.
- id3 Group
- dandelion + burdock, LLC
- Michail by Michail Sykianakis
- Rosebrand
- Stimulant
- X-Laser
