Hello, this is Quan Chen’s portfolio. I’m currently somewhere between an exhibit, a skate park, and a conversation that should’ve ended an hour ago. I make global experiences for work and document awkward experiences for fun. Please leave a message after the tone.

FERRARI lives somewhere between precision and obsession. I helped shape IBM’s global Ferrari guidance across campaigns, screens and physical spaces, building visual systems that balanced performance, mythology and restraint.

FERRARI fans treat red like religion. The work explored the quieter tension around Formula 1 too: anticipation, ritual, velocity, silence before impact.

IBM THINK 2026 sat somewhere between a football field, a control room, and the strange calm before thousands of people arrive. I worked across early spatial studies, forum layouts, colour explorations and narrative systems, shaping how the experience moved and felt before handover to GPJ. Across AI SPORTS CLUB, I designed storyboard systems and large-scale content moments using assets from Ferrari, Wimbledon, UFC, the Grammys, the Masters and the US Open, exploring how each story could live across pillars, screens, galleries and digital surfaces. For THINK 2026, I also developed narrative systems for large horizontal video walls, using motion, pacing and atmosphere to guide audiences into the conference rather than simply advertising at them. Having worked on THINK previously, the updated venue became an opportunity to refine the emotional rhythm of the space, where subtle shifts in light, scale and movement could completely change the energy of the room.

GRAMMY CROSSROADS is music discovery reimagined as something physical, social and exploratory.
Part archive, part interface, part social choreography.

Working alongside IBM and FIELD.IO during early ideation, we explored how visitors could navigate nearly 200 genres through artists, visuals, stories and cultural connections powered by watsonx.

Following its debut at IBM THINK, the system later expanded across One Madison Avenue and THINK on Tour globally.

CLIENT STORY ACTIVATIONS borrowed more from record stores than trade shows. Visitors pulled collectable NFC story cards from illuminated shelves and placed them onto interactive tables to unlock digital narratives connected to IBM client stories.

I worked on early concept direction, atmosphere, interaction flow and visual treatments across the installation, exploring how technical stories could feel softer, more tactile and easier to approach.

ONE MADISON AVENUE explored how a tech headquarters could feel softer, quieter and more human. Within ONE MADISON AVENUE, I also explored concepts for reactive walls, global IBM story systems, kinetic installations and punchcard-inspired visuals designed for audiences constantly moving through the building.

ONE MADISON AVENUE explored how a tech headquarters could feel softer, quieter and more human.

The swirling ink from Ink at Printing Press, Long Island, 2021 became an unexpected reference point throughout the project: technology behaving almost emotionally.

I helped shape where curated artwork, photography and digital installations could live throughout the building, balancing atmosphere with IBM’s wider brand expression.

Following launch, the headquarters received the 2025 Interior Design NYCxDESIGN Award for Tech Office and was later recognised in Interior Design Magazine’s Best of Year Awards.

I developed moodboards, artist references and environmental concepts exploring how communal areas could feel somewhere between gallery, workplace and ambient system.

WIMBLEDON 2025 explored what happens when tennis fans stop watching AI and start playing with it. Using IBM watsonx and live Wimbledon player data, AI Trivia generated personalised questions based on visitors’ favourite players through a fast-paced interactive experience installed beside Centre Court. Designed to feel fast, social and slightly competitive rather than overly technical.

I worked across concept development, interaction flows, storyboards and UX alongside the IBM iX team, balancing IBM and Wimbledon brand systems inside a live event environment. The activation was played by 3,472 fans during the tournament, generating more than 6,000 interactions before later expanding to Wimbledon on the Hill and the US Open at Madison Square Park.

Working closely with the creative director and wider team, I helped concept and visualise the central cube installation, exploring how motion, branding and ambient storytelling could transform the conference floor. Walking the venue in Boston became a huge part of the early thinking process. Understanding audience movement, sightlines and pacing helped shape how the installation could quietly dominate the room without overwhelming it.

THINK 2024 began with a question around scale, atmosphere and what one bold move could feel like inside the venue.

The cube later became a central storytelling surface throughout the conference, including broadcasts of Arvind Krishna’s keynote, before influencing further rollouts across TechXchange and early thinking for THINK 2026.

Part ambient sculpture, part broadcast system.

TECHXCHANGE expanded the visual system first developed for THINK into a larger live content and motion experience.

I worked on animation systems, announcement moments and branded motion content, helping scale the installation across new environments while keeping the experience atmospheric rather than purely functional.

SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVATION reimagined a large-scale sustainability table into a smaller transportable experience for THINK on Tour. Built around IBM Envizi and Maximo, the installation translated complex sustainability systems into a physical tabletop experience focused on infrastructure, emissions and decision-making.

HYBRID CLOUD ACTIVATION explored how technical systems could feel more visual, spatial and human. I developed moodboards, UI/UX explorations and directional concepts for existing architecture diagrams, using dimensional visuals, motion and interaction to make dense information easier to navigate. I also worked on the reactive LED wall experience shown across IBM THINK and global events.

My proposed direction used topography, etched surfaces, layered acrylic and existing modular systems to preserve the same atmosphere and interaction within a far more scalable build.

Quan Chen