Alex Mayhew

As a multi-award-winning interaction designer, artist, creative director and team leader with over 20 years of experience, I have established myself as an internationally-renowned creator and pioneer of genre-defining digital experiences. My work has attracted notable collaborators including Peter Gabriel, Wes Ball (Maze Runner), MIT, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Brian Froud (Dark Crystal & Labyrinth).

I combine poetic and aesthetic approaches to user engagement by blending tactile interaction with character exploration, play and story. I share my design philosophies at international conferences, festivals, companies, universities and research institutions. My work has been taught and written about by the press, thought leaders and academics worldwide.

Augmented Reality presents a new interaction paradigm with unique design challenges/opportunities. Identifying how the overlaying digital reality meaningfully integrates with our own reality is key. I also prioritize highly tactile and responsive interaction that reinforces believability, deepen the player’s sense of agency and their emotional investment in the character/story.

My first significant project in AR was the critically acclaimed and award-winning exhibition ReBlink at the Art Gallery of Ontario. It attracted over 300 pieces of international media, a private tour of the show to Apple CEO Tim Cook and increased engagement with museum visitors by a startling 84%. Acclaimed Technology and Culture author Leah Hunter said of ReBlink in her 2018 book Changing Realities for Business that it was “one of the more powerful use cases around the way AR can successfully be envisioned and implemented— with real results.”

ReBlink validated my belief that good experience design means creating both meaningful and visceral mixed augmented reality experiences that activate, engage, entertain and enlighten. 

It is with these values that I co-founded Impossible Things in 2017. We have been approached by leading companies to innovate and execute AR projects. This includes the development of a next-generation game, via a unique partnership with a major US Entertainment Studio, that creates emotional investment through meaningful interaction with the main character and directly responsible for the unfolding game story. 

With an extensive history of leading teams, I always promote the power of teamwork in delivering successful projects. This is combined with a belief that everyone has something special to offer and a passion to nurture talent so that every team member is able to reach their fullest potential.