Second Story conceptualizes, designs, and develops interactive media experiences that enchant, inform, and entertain—pioneering new ways to inspire wonder and connect audiences to stories, ideas, and information.

503-827-7155 | info@secondstory.com

Welcome

Communication Arts features Ford Alumni Center

Communication Arts features Ford Alumni Center

Communication Arts highlights the interactives at the University of Oregon Ford Alumni Center in their “Exhibit” section.

World of Coca-Cola Project Guaranty Opening

The Vault of the Secret Formula

An immersive media experience challenges visitors’ ideas about what is fiction and what is truth about Coca-Cola’s secret formula. View project

Ford Alumni Center Honored by IxDA Award

Ford Alumni Center Honored by IxDA Award

For the first annual IxDA Interaction Awards, the University of Ford Alumni Center takes home an award in the “Engaging” category.

Emily Pilloton Visits the Studio

Emily Pilloton Visits the Studio

Second Story sponsors Studio H: Design. Build. Transform. at the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

UO Alumni Center

University of Oregon

Explore the towering “cascades” inside the UO Ford Alumni Center that reveal the culture, legacy, and vitality of this great university. View project

Anglo Saxon Hoard: Gold from England’s Dark Ages

Anglo Saxon Hoard

This interpretive iPad app for the National Geographic Museum highlights a new-found treasure trove. View project

Depth Sensors for Crowd Interaction

Depth Sensors for Crowd Interaction

Matt Arnold’s video post reveals the technology behind the Live Positively Portrait Wall at the World of Coca-Cola.

Twitter

9 Feb. Taking it to the Streets: Rapid Prototyping and Usability with a Group Interactive http://t.co/AwcZgria

8 Feb. Next week, lead interaction designer Chris DeWan will be participating as a judge in the @Aaf_spokane addy awards: http://t.co/6kmtGKGb

8 Feb. RT @westert: Kinect meetup at Second Story next Wednesday 2/15: http://t.co/r8ilAnGv #kinect #volumetric pass it on

8 Feb. Forget smoke and mirrors, how about polka dots and mirrors? The inspiring installations of Yayoi Kusama http://t.co/xKxiUcH3

7 Feb. Saul Bass pitch film for AT&T executives: http://t.co/eoW93amH For Bass completists and anyone who has ever had to visually explain an idea.

7 Feb. RT @CommArts: Most are repositories of the past; @2storypdx ensured that the @UOAlumni alumni center equally cultivates the future. http ...

6 Feb. It is entirely possible this poster could cause a spike in designers wanting to be seafarers: http://t.co/52ya6pR6

6 Feb. We're on the ground at the IEI Emerging Issues forum in Raleigh sharing work and ideas. http://t.co/xZnCd9n6 #NCgenZ

6 Feb. “The Best of the Best” http://t.co/MPvIvjzV Ford Alumni Center is a winner in the “engaging” category for the IXDA awards!

3 Feb. Nice article by @techinthearts about our ArtClix project with @highmuseumofart http://t.co/xPYiF0aD Discusses mobile, museums, social media.

3 Feb. Curious, inspiring. A collection of 19th century lantern slides from the National Media Museum UK http://t.co/xbQ3zj9X

2 Feb. Books and Interactivity Redux (Samovar Edition) http://t.co/v3ZVLxtD

Blog

Our blog is where we share exciting project milestones and announcements, our thoughts and ideas surrounding interactive media, glimpses into studio life, and more.

Featured Post

Evolution of a Timeline
Evolution of a Timeline

In the course of developing The National Library of Medicine Native Voices project, an interactive timeline became more of a time-circle. View post

Recent Posts

Taking it to the Streets: Rapid Prototyping and Usability with a Group Interactive

9 Feb. You hear these phrases so often in design and development circles they have become clichés—"get real fast" and…

Books and Interactivity Redux (Samovar Edition)

2 Feb. Last year, when I wrote about the future of the interactive book, I had read books on smartphones. But now I have an iPad,…

The Volumetric Society is meeting at Second Story

31 Jan. Second Story Interactive Studios is hosting the first Volumetric Society meet-up in Portland. These are interesting times…

View all posts

Featured Work

Featured Work

This survey of projects illustrates Second Story’s enduring passion for pushing the boundaries of storytelling possibility. Explore this diverse landscape of Web sites, installations, environments, exhibits, attractions, and mobile applications that reveal the studio’s pioneering pathway across the evolution of interactive media.

Expertise

Our deep experience gives us the insight and skill to conceive of great media experiences and deliver them, working closely with clients at the boundaries of interactive design and technology.

Interactive Storytelling

We create media experiences that harness deep sources of content and tell compelling stories. We start with content and concepts and build stories that guide people through a journey of their own choosing.

Media Strategy and Planning

We transform abstract goals and objectives into clear pathways to engaging technology, interface, and storytelling solutions. We help turn raw ideas into a realizable vision with the power to move people.

Interdisciplinary Design

Our diverse design team provides comprehensive creative for every dimension of the experiences we make, from high-level user experience design to interaction design to visual and environmental design.

Multi-platform Digital Publishing

From mobile apps to Web sites to immersive environments, we create interactive media in a variety of formats and for most every platform.

Comprehensive Software Development

The technology team’s depth and range in software development inspires our creative and delivers innovative and solid results. The quality of our software is defined by our process, which combines best practices and flexibility.

Hardware Engineering and Prototyping

Our team of engineers and makers design, define, develop, and deploy hardware systems that house and support the software and interfaces that serve our stories.

“The evolution of media means the story no longer flows in one direction, from the one to the many. Through a framework of possibility that visitors use to weave their own story, the narrative is only visible in hindsight—when their path is revealed—the path that was their history, their story—that is the second story.”

Brad Johnson, Creative Director

Second Storytellers

Our studio is intensely collaborative and collegial across all disciplines. We strive for an atmosphere in which the work is paramount, but where individual effort can also shine.

We all share a love for storytelling and a desire to make great things. What animates Second Story is the devotion to building experiences that inspire wonder, drive action, create delight.

Where We Work

Since 2006, we’ve occupied our current studio on Fremont Avenue in the Mississippi District of North Portland. Located above a bakery and a yoga studio in a converted warehouse building, we were able to design the space from the inside out, with an open plan, exposed beams, and large windows with views of downtown Portland and the West Hills.

Careers

Second Story offers individuals with a passion for interactive media rewarding careers opportunities to inform, inspire, educate, and move people by innovating new kinds of stories and experiences.

Current Openings

Other Opportunities

We also have short-term positions for a wide range of talents, including great motion graphics artists, creative coders with experience in frameworks like OpenFrameworks, Cinder, or VVVV, and experienced HTML5/CSS3/Javascript developers.

There are opportunities for internships, artist in residencies, or project-based contract positions.

Please send an introduction, your resume, and a link to your work to careers@secondstory.com.

Contact Us

Our studio is located in the historic Mississippi neighborhood in Portland, Oregon. You’ll find us here during regular business hours.

503.827.7155

714 N Fremont St, No 200
Portland, OR 97227

info@secondstory.com

Inquires & Opportunities

Second Story is always looking for new opportunities to collaborate with partners on projects under development, or contribute our expertise to planning interpretive strategies and defining new ways to implement interactive media. Please contact us to discuss new opportunities for collaboration or to learn more about our capabilities.