ESI Design
ESI Design is a New York-based immersive experience design consultancy and NBBJ studio that designs bespoke interactive physical-and-digital environments for government, financial, and cultural institutions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1977
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What ESI Design does
ESI Design is a New York-based innovation and experience design consultancy, founded in 1977, that operates as an immersive-experience studio within global architecture and design firm NBBJ. The firm designs interactive, multi-sensory environments that combine physical architecture with digital media to help institutions tell stories and engage audiences; documented projects include a redesign of the White House public tour, the 'National Light' interactive monument, and a 240-year BNY history installation. Service offerings span Experience Strategy & Visioning, Digital Experience Design, and end-to-end Immersive Experience Design, delivered as bespoke engagements for leading enterprises, government bodies, and cultural organizations.
The company monetizes these capabilities as professional services on a project basis; pricing is custom and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales — ESI partners directly with large institutions rather than operating a self-serve or productized channel. The 11–50 employee base, led by founder Edwin Schlossberg, operates as a focused creative unit within NBBJ, drawing on the parent's global resources for delivery at scale. Customer proof points cluster in government, financial services, and public/cultural sectors. ESI does not sell software, does not disclose revenue, and does not appear to operate a recurring or subscription revenue model.
ESI Design firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- ESI Design
- Legal name
- ESI Design
- Website
- https://esidesign.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1977
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- ESI Design is a New York-based immersive experience design consultancy and NBBJ studio that designs bespoke interactive physical-and-digital environments for government, financial, and cultural institutions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
ESI Design industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Experience Design Services
- NAICS
- Other Specialized Design Services (54149), Industrial Design Services (54142), Architectural Services (54131)
- SIC
- Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design (BPAHAKAL)
Keywords
Where ESI Design is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
ESI Design business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Experience Design Services: Custom design and implementation of immersive experiences for major institutional clients, likely project-based engagements with leading organizations.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels2 records
ESI Design product offering
Product offeringCore offering
ESI Design is a New York-based experience design consultancy that creates immersive, interactive experiences combining physical and digital elements for leading organizations and institutions. They provide experience strategy and visioning, digital experience design, and full-service immersive experience design for enterprise clients such as The White House, BNY, and National Light.
Product overview
ESI Design is a design studio that offers a unified suite of immersive experience design services rather than a software platform with discrete products. Their core offerings include Experience Strategy and Visioning (strategic consulting), Digital Experience Design (interactive digital experiences), and Immersive Experience Design (combined physical/digital experiences). These services work together to help clients build brands, connect audiences, and create memorable moments through carefully designed experiences.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Experience Strategy and Visioning A consulting service that helps organizations define the strategic direction and conceptual vision for their experience initiatives, including brand environments, cultural institutions, and public spaces.
- Digital Experience Design Design service that creates digital interactive experiences and software-based touchpoints for organizations seeking to engage audiences through technology-driven interfaces.
- Immersive Experience Design Full-service design offering that combines physical installations, interactive media, and storytelling to create immersive environments for major institutions such as The White House and BNY.
Companies that use ESI Design
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
ESI Design technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
ESI Design partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- NBBJcoreESI is a studio of global design and architecture firm NBBJ. This is a parent-subsidiary relationship where ESI operates as the immersive experience design division of NBBJ, leveraging the parent company's global design and architecture expertise.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights3 records
ESI Design competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Local Projects: Local Projects is a New York-based experience design studio specializing in immersive, interactive installations for museums and cultural institutions (e.g., 9/11 Memorial Museum, Cooper Hewitt). It directly competes with ESI in the same niche of physical-digital experience design for high-profile cultural and civic clients.
- Rockwell Group: Rockwell Group is a design and architecture firm with a dedicated LAB for immersive experiences, theatre, and themed environments. It overlaps with ESI in experiential design for cultural, hospitality, and entertainment clients, with similar combining of physical spaces and interactive storytelling.
- Tellart: Tellart is a design studio that builds interactive, immersive experiences blending physical and digital technologies for museums, brands, and institutions. It competes head-to-head with ESI in the small, specialized segment of physical-digital interactive experience design.
- The Hettema Group: The Hettema Group is an experience design studio specializing in themed attractions, immersive environments, and storytelling for entertainment and cultural clients. It overlaps with ESI on immersive experience projects that integrate narrative, technology, and physical space.
Broad incumbents
- Gensler: Gensler is a global architecture and design firm with a large Experience Design practice covering brand, digital, and environments. It is a broader incumbent offering immersive/experiential capabilities as part of a much wider portfolio of services competing for the same enterprise and cultural clients as ESI.
- IDEO: IDEO is a globally established design consultancy that delivers human-centered design across product, service, and experience design. It competes with ESI for enterprise experience-design engagements but operates at a much broader scale across many design disciplines.
- Pentagram: Pentagram is a large independent design consultancy working in graphic, environmental, and experience design. While its core is graphic/brand identity, its environmental design work and exhibition projects place it in overlap with ESI's experiential offering for major institutional clients.
- frog (Capgemini Engineering / frog design): frog is a global design and innovation firm with capabilities in experience design, digital products, and brand environments. It competes with ESI on enterprise experience-design work as part of a broader design, technology, and engineering portfolio under Capgemini.
Others
- NBBJ: NBBJ is the parent global design and architecture firm of which ESI is a studio. It is included as a peer because its broader architectural and design practice shapes ESI's strategic context, capability set, and client access, even though ESI operates as a specialized division within it rather than a competitor.
Emerging players
- Smart Design: Smart Design is an industrial and experience design consultancy that helps brands create products and experiences combining physical and digital elements. It has meaningful overlap with ESI on experience strategy and digital-physical integration for enterprise clients.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
ESI Design social profiles
Digital presenceESI Design financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
ESI Design leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
ESI Design funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
ESI Design 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 ESI Design
What does ESI Design do?
ESI Design is a New York-based experience design consultancy that creates immersive, interactive experiences combining physical and digital elements for leading organizations and institutions. They provide experience strategy and visioning, digital experience design, and full-service immersive experience design for enterprise clients such as The White House, BNY, and National Light.
Is ESI Design a public or private company?
ESI Design is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was ESI Design founded?
ESI Design was founded in 1977. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is ESI Design based?
ESI Design is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does ESI Design make money?
One revenue line is on record: experience Design Services.
Who are ESI Design's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Local Projects, Rockwell Group, Tellart and The Hettema Group. Broad incumbents are Gensler, IDEO, Pentagram and frog (Capgemini Engineering / frog design). NBBJ is listed as an others. Smart Design is listed as an emerging player.
Does ESI Design have an API?
No public API is recorded for ESI Design.
What industry is ESI Design in?
ESI Design's product category is Experience Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAKAL, Exhibition, Retail & Experiential Design. Its NAICS code is 54149 and its SIC code is 8700.