Stand + Stare

What Stand + Stare does

Stand + Stare is a privately held UK interactive design studio founded in 2009 by siblings Barney Heywood and Lucy Telling, operating from Stroud Valley Artspace in Gloucestershire and as a resident company at Pervasive Media Studio (Watershed) in Bristol. The studio designs bespoke installations and apps that fuse physical artefacts with digital technologies, including projection mapping, augmented reality, image recognition, audio recording/playback, and NFC-enabled objects. Its core service lines are Interactive Exhibits and Installations, App Design, Academic Collaborations, and Workshops and Talks, with proprietary products including the Mayfly Sound platform (journals, stickers, and a companion iOS app that link audio recordings to printed image markers or NFC tags) and the Mayfly Photobooks app (relaunched in 2020 from the earlier Tangible Memories project). A spun-off entity, Mayfly Sound Ltd, was established in 2015 with University of Bristol's Professor Tim Cole to commercialise Mayfly consumer products separately from the design studio.

The studio earns revenue primarily through one-off project commissions for UK cultural organisations, museums, and heritage sites (notable clients include the National Railway Museum, We The Curious, Barbican Centre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Manchester Museum, British Council, MOSI, BBC Radio Bristol, and Audible), supplemented by hardware and app sales of Mayfly Sound products through direct e-commerce and the Apple App Store, and by fee-based workshops and talks. Project commissions are bespoke and priced per engagement; no public pricing, multi-year framework agreements, or revenue figures are disclosed. Two grant rounds are recorded: AHRC/REACT funding in 2013 to develop Mayfly, and Arts Council England funding in 2020 to relaunch Tangible Memories as Mayfly Photobooks; no external venture or private equity investment is disclosed, and ownership remains with the co-founders. The studio was an SXSW Interactive Awards finalist in 2013 for Theatre Jukebox, indicating prior international recognition within the interactive design field.

Name

Stand + Stare

Legal name

Stand + Stare

Website

https://standandstare.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Stand + Stare is a UK interactive design studio, founded in 2009, that designs bespoke installations and apps blending physical artefacts with projection mapping, AR, image recognition, and NFC for cultural organisations, museums, and heritage sites.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Interactive Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (541430)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Interactive exhibit design
• Augmented reality apps
• Exhibition installation services
• Interactive storytelling experiences
• Audio-visual installations

Headquarters

HQ city

Stroud

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Project Commissions: Bespoke interactive design projects for cultural organisations, museums, heritage sites, and commercial clients. Projects include interactive exhibitions, installations, apps, and digital experiences tailored to client specifications.
2. Mayfly Sound Products: Sale of Mayfly Sound journals, notebooks, and stickers through Mayfly Sound Ltd. Physical products combined with iOS apps that use image recognition to trigger audio recordings.
3. Workshops and Talks: Tailor-made workshops and talks for various groups including industry professionals, school children, and care home residents, using interactive experiences to connect communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Stand + Stare is an interactive design studio that combines digital and physical experiences to tell stories that connect people. They design and build bespoke interactive exhibits and installations (using projection mapping, oral histories, and bespoke fabrication), develop apps using image recognition and augmented reality, run workshops and talks, and commercialise the Mayfly Sound platform of physical journals, stickers and photobooks linked to audio recordings through their sister company Mayfly Sound Ltd.

Product overview

Stand + Stare is an interactive design studio that combines digital and physical experiences to tell stories connecting people. The company offers four main service areas: Interactive Exhibits and Installations (exhibition design, projection mapping, oral histories), App Design (custom apps with image recognition and AR), Academic Collaborations (research partnerships), and Workshops/Talks. Their proprietary technology products include the Mayfly Sound platform (Sound Journal, Sound Stickers, and companion app) for embedding audio in physical objects and books, and the Tangible Memories App for creating interactive life story books in care settings. These products work together: the apps scan image markers or read NFC tags in physical journals, books, and installations to trigger digital audio content. Recent projects include interactive installations at the National Railway Museum, We The Curious, and Rock Mill Centre, as well as touring experiences like the Barbican Archive Jukebox and Brigstow Cubes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Mayfly: Sound recording technology product line including journals, stickers, and photobooks that link digital audio recordings to physical pages using image recognition.
• Tangible Memories
• Theatre Jukebox

Products and services

• Interactive Exhibits and Installations Bespoke exhibition and installation design service that combines physical artefacts with digital technologies, oral histories, projection mapping, animations and bespoke fabrication. Designed for cultural organisations, museums, heritage sites, performing arts venues, and commercial clients who need visitor-facing interactive experiences.
• App Design Bespoke app design service for cultural venues, heritage sites, festivals and commercial clients. Apps use image recognition and augmented reality to connect viewers with physical objects and environments, including the Mayfly Sound platform for audio journaling and the Tangible Memories app for reminiscence.
• Academic Collaborations Research and co-development partnership service with academic institutions (notably University of Bristol, Brigstow Institute, and Pervasive Media Studio), enabling experimentation with new interactive concepts and technologies and producing tangible research outcomes.
• Workshops and Talks Tailor-made workshops and talks delivered to industry professionals, school children, older people in residential care, and community groups. Uses the studio's digital platforms and interactive experiences to connect people across generations, backgrounds, and expertise.
• Mayfly Sound Journal Physical journal with embedded audio recordings: pages contain pockets for tickets and souvenirs, with illustrations acting as image markers that trigger digital recordings when scanned with the companion iPhone app. Sold through Mayfly Sound Ltd as a standalone consumer product.
• Mayfly Sound Stickers Stickers with embedded NFC tags or image markers that link to audio recordings. Can be placed on objects, photographs or surfaces so that tapping or scanning triggers sound content via the Mayfly Sound app.
• Mayfly Photobooks Print-on-demand interactive photo books with embedded audio recordings, combining photos, text, and sound recordings. Pages can be scanned with the companion app to play audio directly from printed books. Available on Apple iOS with Android development ongoing.
• Tangible Memories App

Quantifiable outcome

• 93% of participants perceived an increase in their wellbeing while using a diary toolkit (Reimagining the Diary project)

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• We The CuriouscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2024The Curious Timeline - interactive timeline celebrating the past, present and future of Bristol's science centre. Invited people of Bristol to share memories, photos, videos and stories.
• National Railway MuseumflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 July 2023Interactive projection wall Engineering Reimagined for Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery. Wide, curved wall that responds to visitors' touch using painted lines, projected animations, and sounds. Partnership included collaboration with young people from The Island York charity.
• Bluecoat Contemporary Arts CentreminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2022Out of the Shadows interactive artwork exploring history of Bluecoat building and unheard voices of children it housed.
• RAMM (Royal Albert Memorial Museum)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022Out and About installation celebrating LGBTQ+ heritage with audio interviews and interactive installation, part of Queering the Museum project.
• Association of AnaesthetistsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2021The Operating Theatre - sound and light installation about anaesthesia history, on permanent display at Heritage Centre.
• FilamentminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2021The Exchange - tourable listening booth inspired by telephone exchange machines for children's recordings about Covid-19 lockdown.
• South West England FibreshedminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Farm to Yarn - knitted and woven yarn sample box with embedded NFC tags showcasing ethical wool producers.
• Paradox (Creative Producer)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2021Houses of Darkness - interactive website and exhibition about Nazi camp memorial perpetrator perspectives, co-funded by Creative Europe.
• Libraries UnlimitedminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Knowle West Tales interactive book-making project using Mayfly Photobooks app at Barnstaple Library and Filwood Community Centre.
• Barbican CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019Barbican Archive Jukebox - interactive way to explore Barbican Centre archive through oral histories and projected animations as part of Heritage Fund project.
• Brigstow Institute (University of Bristol)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Multiple collaborations including Reimagining the Diary project, Post-Truth Guide, and Brigstow Cubes. Academic partnership allowing research and experimentation with new technologies.
• Theatre DeliminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2018Corpus Quod immersive theatrical experience about asylum seeking process premiered at Theatre Deli.
• Cityread LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2018Rufina and the Lion interactive exhibition for Cityread 2018, with Audible and Picador, recreating locations from Jessie Burton's book.
• Fermynwoods Contemporary ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2018Portable Memory Chest - interactive artwork helping older people trigger memories, commissioned for Corby community.
• Dreadnought South WestcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2018Rebellious Sounds Archive - touring sound booth presenting women's contemporary stories of activism, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.
• Manchester MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2017Memories of Partition - interactive table playing stories relating to Partition of India, in collaboration with Modern Designers.
• Pervasive Media Studio (Watershed)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Resident company at Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol, where Mayfly emerged from residency. Studio provides collaborative environment for interactive media research.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ISO Design: UK-based experience design studio creating interactive installations, exhibitions, and digital-physical experiences for museums and cultural venues — a closely comparable UK peer in scale and category.
• Second Story: Portland-based interactive design studio, part of Sensorium, building narrative-driven exhibitions for museums and cultural venues. Directly competing in the same interactive-exhibit-for-cultural-organisations space.
• Local Projects: US-based experience design studio that creates interactive museum installations and cultural exhibits (e.g., work for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and Cooper Hewitt). Directly comparable in combining digital interfaces with physical museum storytelling.
• Cogapp: Brighton-based digital agency building websites, apps and interactive experiences for museums, galleries and heritage clients. Comparable UK peer serving the same cultural-sector customer base with digital products.
• Preloaded: London-based game and experience design studio working on serious games, AR/VR and interactive experiences for cultural institutions and learning — strong overlap in the UK cultural-tech experience design space.
• HUSH: New York-based experience design studio creating interactive installations, branded environments and digital-physical experiences for cultural and commercial clients. Comparable in the intersection of physical design and digital interactivity.
• Tellart: Netherlands/US experience design studio working with museums, cultural institutions and brands on interactive exhibitions and installations. Closely comparable in the use of bespoke interactive and tangible technologies to tell stories.

Broad incumbents

• Ralph Appelbaum Associates: Global exhibition design firm behind major museum and cultural-heritage projects. Operates at a larger scale and with traditional exhibition design, but overlaps on interactive exhibit scope for cultural venues.
• B-Reel: Global creative and experience agency with work spanning interactive installations, AR, and branded experiences — broader portfolio than Stand + Stare but competing in the same digital experience design category.
• Moment Factory: Montreal-based multimedia studio specialising in immersive installations, projection mapping, and interactive experiences for cultural and public spaces. Larger and more international, but operates in the same digital-physical experience-design category as Stand + Stare.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/stand__and__stare
• Xx.com/stand_stare
• Facebookfacebook.com/standandstarecollective
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stand---stare-collective

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Stand + Stare