Brenda Medina Carmona
Terry Fox Exhibition
/25
The Story Behind the Work
The project required reimagining a legacy exhibition into a future-facing, permanent installation within a city community center. We needed to retain the emotional and historical weight of Terry Fox’s story while introducing dynamic, interactive components that could connect with today’s digitally native youth. The core creative challenge was twofold: integrate physical and digital storytelling into one cohesive experience, and develop an AI-powered content system capable of producing personalized outputs—without compromising the visual and narrative integrity of the exhibit.
The Role
As the Creative Lead for content development, I oversaw the narrative structure, visual design, and interactive storytelling across all digital components of the exhibit. My focus was on designing experiences that blend emotional storytelling with emerging technologies—specifically, custom AI generation tools and interactive UX frameworks for all ages.
Designing the Experience
Interactive Timeline: We transformed a static graphic wall into a touchscreen timeline that lets visitors scroll through Terry’s life and legacy. Each milestone included layered visual content and micro-stories, designed to both educate and emotionally engage.
Avatar Creation Experience: I conceptualized and scripted a playful personality quiz aimed at children, which linked directly to a generative AI experience. I developed the front-end content and collaborated on the prompt engineering logic for a custom-trained LORA model we created that outputs personalized “Champion” avatars—each reflecting the user’s responses and Terry’s core values like courage and resilience.
AI Creative Direction: To ensure the generative system aligned with exhibition standards, I collaborated on training the model to produce consistent, visually safe, and thematically relevant outputs. This involved designing a flexible prompt library, creating visual templates, and testing the model’s ability to adapt to different quiz paths while staying on-brand.
Innovation in Action
The result is a permanent exhibit that bridges generations—where legacy meets innovation:
Seamless Physical-Digital Integration: Visitors move fluidly between static and interactive content, deepening their engagement through story-driven exploration.
Advanced Use of Generative AI: The custom avatar generator delivered thousands of unique outputs within brand-safe parameters, introducing young audiences to AI through meaningful play.
Longevity and Adaptability: The modular content system allows for ongoing updates, ensuring the exhibit can evolve with the community and remain a relevant tribute to Terry’s story for years to come.
This project redefined how emerging tech can be used to tell human stories—creating not just an exhibit, but an experience that grows with its audience.