Tessellate Studio
Tessellate Studio is a New York City-based design studio founded in 2013, specializing in narrative architecture, immersive exhibit design, and experience strategy for cultural institutions, corporations, and non-profits. The studio combines spatial design with AR/VR, generative art, and custom CMS platforms.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Tessellate Studio does
Tessellate Studio is a New York City-based design studio founded in 2013 by Emily Conrad (President) and Joseph Karadin (Executive Creative Director), specializing in narrative architecture and experience strategy for cultural institutions, corporations, and non-profit organizations. The studio synchronizes physical space with digital storytelling to author immersive environments, with a portfolio spanning museums, corporate experiential workplaces, wellness resorts, mobile classrooms, and public installations. Clients include the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, National Women's History Museum, Columbia Property Trust, PURE Insurance, Summit Metro Parks, the Reed Foundation, and Terminal Warehouse, among others. The studio holds WBE/WBENC/WOSB certifications and federal contracting identifiers (UEI/CAGE), enabling government and institutional procurement access.
The studio's core offerings include exhibit planning and design, immersive museums and environments, digital and generative art, spatial media, AR/VR and mixed reality experiences, narrative architecture and strategic planning, spatial UX and interaction design, and integrated digital experience architecture with custom CMS platforms. Notable technical components include custom AR software tightly mapping physical spaces to digital twins (Tower of Faces AR Experience), proprietary collections management systems (deployed at PURE Insurance and Tompkins County History Center), and generative art installations syncing with real-time environmental data (Manhatta at Terminal Warehouse connects to NYC weather, wind, and tidal feeds). The studio partners with fabrication firms (Capitol Museum Services, Tamarack, Ultimate Airstreams), AV integrators (Diversified, Mode Systems, ASW), and software developers (Gorges Inc, Trivium) to deliver turnkey design-build outcomes.
Tessellate operates on a project-based professional services model with custom, quote-based pricing. Revenue is generated through multi-month to multi-year custom exhibit design and experience strategy engagements, with founders involved from first client conversation through installation oversight. The studio markets primarily through its portfolio website, video reel, and direct inquiries rather than consumer-facing channels. With 11–50 employees, Tessellate serves clients across the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast regions of the United States and operates as a privately held company with no disclosed funding rounds, institutional investors, or parent company.
Tessellate Studio firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tessellate Studio
- Legal name
- Tessellate
- Website
- https://tessellatestudio.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Tessellate Studio is a New York City-based design studio founded in 2013, specializing in narrative architecture, immersive exhibit design, and experience strategy for cultural institutions, corporations, and non-profits. The studio combines spatial design with AR/VR, generative art, and custom CMS platforms.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tessellate Studio industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Museum Exhibit Design
- NAICS
- Other Specialized Design Services (54149), Architectural Services (54131), Graphic Design Services (541430)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design (BPAFAEAI), Space Planning & Workplace Design (BPAHAKAI)
Keywords
Where Tessellate Studio is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Tessellate Studio business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Custom Exhibit Design Services: Project-based design and production of custom museum exhibits, experiential environments, and immersive installations for cultural institutions, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Projects include full lifecycle from strategic planning through installation oversight.
- Experience Strategy and Consulting: Strategic planning, narrative discovery, user journey mapping, and fundraising support through high-fidelity visualizations and concept packages for donor engagement.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Tessellate Studio product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tessellate Studio is a project-based design studio that creates custom exhibit designs, immersive museum environments, and AR/VR experiences for cultural institutions, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Services span the full lifecycle from narrative architecture and experience strategy through spatial UX, generative art, and design-build oversight. Each engagement is custom, producing site-specific immersive environments that integrate physical space with digital media.
Product overview
Tessellate Studio is an award-winning NYC studio specializing in Narrative Architecture and Experience Strategy. The company synchronizes physical space and digital storytelling to author immersive, high-impact environments for global cultural institutions. Their core offerings include Immersive Museums & Environments, Digital & Generative Art (including the Manhatta generative art experience), and Spatial Media installations. They provide comprehensive services spanning AR/VR/Mixed Reality experiences (notably the Tower of Faces AR Experience at USHMM), Narrative Architecture & Strategic Planning, Spatial UX & Interaction Design, and Integrated DX Architecture with custom software and CMS solutions. Tessellate also designs experiential vehicles including BioBus mobile STEM laboratory and Mobile Food Lab, alongside standalone museum exhibits like PURE Museum of Purpose, YO1 Wellness Museum, and various cultural institution projects. Their design-build oversight completes projects from concept through installation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Immersive Museums & Environments Designing and creating immersive museum environments and world-class destinations that fuse physical architecture with narrative storytelling, including exhibit design, environmental design, interior architecture, narrative design, and spatial simulations with VR/AR pre-visualizations.
- Digital & Generative Art Creating real-time, responsive generative art environments that integrate digital and physical layers, producing dynamic, data-driven visual content for public spaces and installations.
- Spatial Media Integrated media experiences for physical environments including digital displays, transparent video display cases, and dynamic media systems coordinated with physical artifacts and architectural elements.
- AR, VR & Mixed Reality Developing high-fidelity digital layers for physical environments including augmented reality experiences, virtual reality environments, and mixed reality applications that bridge physical and digital worlds.
- Narrative Architecture & Strategic Planning Strategic roadmapping for complex content and educational goals, experience strategy aligning goals and visitor impact through spatial storytelling, narrative discovery through research and content development, and user journey mapping for visitor flow optimization.
- Spatial UX & Interaction Design Designing intuitive digital-physical interfaces for 3D spaces, creating seamless integration between physical environments and digital touchpoints for visitor engagement.
- Integrated DX Architecture
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 70,000 visitors used the Tower of Faces AR experience in first year, viewing 107,687 AR-activated photos
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Tessellate Studio
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Tessellate Studio technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability8 records
Feature4 records
Tessellate Studio partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered supporting.
- Vuforia (PTC)supportingVuforia provided generous support for the Tower of Faces AR Experience at US Holocaust Memorial Museum, contributing technology resources for the augmented reality implementation.
- Capitol Museum ServicessupportingFabrication partner for National Women's History Museum inaugural exhibit, handling physical exhibit construction.
- Blue TelescopesupportingInteractive exhibit production partner for select interactive elements at National Women's History Museum.
- Ultimate AirstreamssupportingFabrication partner for BioBus mobile laboratory, providing the Airstream trailer base for the mobile STEM lab.
- ExplussupportingFabrication partner for Mobile Food Lab vehicle conversion and build.
- Mode SystemssupportingAV integration partner for YO1 Wellness Museum interactive exhibits.
- TriviumsupportingSoftware development partner for YO1 Wellness Museum interactive experiences.
- FacultysupportingMedia design and production partner for YO1 Wellness Museum.
- Gorges IncsupportingSoftware development partner for The History Center in Tompkins County collections management system.
- DiversifiedsupportingAV integration partner for The History Center in Tompkins County exhibit.
- TamaracksupportingFabrication partner for The History Center in Tompkins County modular exhibit system.
- Dimensional WorldwidesupportingFabrication partner for Columbia Property Trust experiential workplace project.
- ASWsupportingAV integration partner for August Wilson House audiovisual design.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Tessellate Studio competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- C&G Partners: New York-based design studio specializing in exhibits, wayfinding, branding, and digital experiences for cultural institutions. Comparable client mix and design/build service profile for museums and public-facing projects.
- Second Story (now part of Savannah College of Art and Design): Atlanta-based experiential design studio historically known for museum interactives and digital-physical environments. Comparable in combining exhibit narrative with custom software and interactive media for cultural clients.
- Roto Design: Experience design firm focused on immersive physical installations for museums, theme parks, and corporate environments. Comparable technology stack combining custom software with physical fabrication for large-format immersive experiences.
- Ideum: Exhibit design and software firm specializing in interactive touchscreen-based museum exhibits. Comparable in integrating custom hardware/software with exhibit design for cultural institutions.
- ESI Design: Long-standing New York-based experiential design firm specializing in immersive museum, brand, and corporate environments. Co-founder Joseph Karadin previously worked there on the Edward M. Kennedy Institute and the World Trade Center Memorial design competition, making it a direct peer and historical reference point.
- Local Projects: Award-winning NYC design studio that creates interactive museum and public-space experiences, including work at the National September 11 Memorial Museum. Closely comparable in scale, technology integration, and museum client mix to Tessellate.
- Tellart: Experience design studio that builds interactive installations, digital-physical environments, and custom software for museums, brands, and cultural institutions. Directly comparable service stack spanning experience strategy, spatial UX, and custom prototyping.
- Blue Telescope: New York-based interactive exhibit and experience design studio. Tessellate lists Blue Telescope as an implementation partner on the National Women's History Museum project, confirming directly overlapping clientele and capability scope.
Broad incumbents
- Ralph Appelbaum Associates: Largest exhibit-design firm in the United States, with a deep cultural-institution portfolio (National Museum of African American History and Culture, etc.). Represents a larger incumbent against whom Tessellate competes for premium museum commissions.
- Pentagram: Largest independent design consultancy, with partners who deliver exhibit, brand, and spatial design for cultural and corporate clients. A broader incumbent that occasionally competes in the same exhibit and experience design space.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Tessellate Studio social profiles
Digital presenceTessellate Studio compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Tessellate Studio financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tessellate Studio leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Tessellate Studio funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tessellate Studio M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Tessellate Studio
What does Tessellate Studio do?
Tessellate Studio is a project-based design studio that creates custom exhibit designs, immersive museum environments, and AR/VR experiences for cultural institutions, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Services span the full lifecycle from narrative architecture and experience strategy through spatial UX, generative art, and design-build oversight. Each engagement is custom, producing site-specific immersive environments that integrate physical space with digital media.
Is Tessellate Studio a public or private company?
Tessellate Studio is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Tessellate Studio founded?
Tessellate Studio was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Tessellate Studio based?
Tessellate Studio is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Tessellate Studio make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Custom Exhibit Design Services are the primary driver. The others are experience Strategy and Consulting.
Who are Tessellate Studio's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are C&G Partners, Second Story (now part of Savannah College of Art and Design), Roto Design, Ideum, ESI Design, Local Projects, Tellart and Blue Telescope. Broad incumbents are Ralph Appelbaum Associates and Pentagram.
Does Tessellate Studio have an API?
No public API is recorded for Tessellate Studio.
What industry is Tessellate Studio in?
Tessellate Studio's product category is Museum Exhibit Design. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAL, Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design, with a secondary code of BPAFAEAI, Brand Experience (BX) & Service Design. Its NAICS code is 54149 and its SIC code is 7330.