The World of Barbie

After beginning in Toronto, The World of Barbie experience has come to Los Angeles. Located near Santa Monica Beach, this immersive and interactive exhibit allows visitors of all ages to experience life from Barbie’s point of view, recreating the beloved doll’s dream home down to the last detail.

To bring The World of Barbie exhibit to life, Lightswitch had to approach the project from a pragmatic and detail-oriented perspective. Since we had to design the experience to travel to multiple countries, our team encountered building and electrical codes that differed from those we usually work within the US. Additionally, the World of Barbie show is often located in unconventional venues as it travels internationally. Designing a rig that could be installed in old department and sporting goods stores certainly required a creative approach. In fact, the rig itself went through multiple iterations before we landed on a design that would reliably serve the project.

As we often do, we also found ourselves balancing a variety of duties throughout the project, from the design-oriented to the interpersonal. Firstly, Mattel’s heavy involvement meant we had to reconcile the client’s budget with the expectations of such a huge brand. Secondly, the Barbie brand is remarkable in that it spans generations – both children and their parents should be able to enjoy the experience. This meant we also played a balancing act between appealing to the nostalgia of older generations and acknowledging the current trends that spark excitement in today’s children.

Working with such a fast-paced client, the Lightswitch team had to rely on our well-established system of design methodology. We tapped into our experience with fast turnaround projects to create a unique, ever-changing rig and lighting design that will move with The World of Barbie experience as it brings wonder and joy to audiences all over the globe.