We design with technology, empathy, and you.

About us

Whatever the project, our first focus is on people—visitors, users, adopters, customers, clients, creatives, and employees. You and us. That’s what makes our work meaningful.

We love what we do. And we do a lot of different things, from inventing new modes of interactivity on mobile devices or room-sized screens, to coding apps, designing enduring installations, or finding creative ways to make technology disappear from view altogether.

We love a challenge. We research and strategize and prototype. We use our technical know-how, creative could-be, and strategic can-do for cultural and corporate clients near and far, large and small.

Every uniquely tailored project comes from partnering our clients’ expertise with our own.

How can we partner with you?

Capabilities

Research / Strategy

  • User Research
  • Persona Development
  • Technology Specification
  • Product Strategy
  • Content Strategy
  • RFP Planning

Design

  • UX/UI Design
  • Motion Design
  • Visual Design
  • Interaction Design
  • Product Design

Software Development

  • Custom Physical Installations
  • Out-of-Home Experiences
  • Mobile Applications
  • Custom CMS & API solutions
  • Full Stack Web Development
  • Physical Computing
  • Rapid Prototyping

Deployment / Site Integration

  • Vendor Management
  • AV Specification
  • AV Coordination
  • Server Side Engineering
  • QA
  • Site Maintenance

Our Founder

Phillip Tiongson is the Founder and CEO of Potion. Drawing on his training and passions as an artist, software engineer, and storyteller, Phillip leads the studio in creating its groundbreaking interactive experiences. Potion’s signature installation projects, which merge physical and digital elements, reflect his belief that digital interactions can foster a transformative experience of the physical world. Phillip believes that the blending of computation, design, and storytelling creates a new medium of expression. Always curious, Phillip is cultivating new areas of Potion’s design practice, including mobile app development and strategic consulting.

In applying technology in simple, elegant, and surprising ways, Phillip’s work at Potion has shaped the field at large. His award- winning projects have preceded mainstream versions of touch surfaces, position-based apps, and smart environments, and have created new ways that users can interact with information in their environments.

Phillip holds a M.S. from the prestigious MIT Media Lab, where he trained under John Maeda and Glorianna Davenport, and a M.F.A. in Film Directing from Columbia University. While at IBM’s Advanced Internet Technology Group, he earned two U.S. patents for his work in interface design.

In 2005, he and fellow Media Lab graduate Jared Schiffman founded Potion, which has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Design and as a National Design Award Finalist.

Phillip’s projects have been honored by AAM, SEGD, Fast Company, MUSE, Communication Arts, SXSW, and the Art Director’s Club. His past clients include the Museum of Science and Industry, Richard Avedon Foundation, Smithsonian Networks, The Field Museum, Yale University Press, Lionsgate Entertainment, St. Regis Hotel, and Nike. He has given talks at industry events, such as Gravity Free and Design Exchange Boston, and he is a member of AIGA, AAM, and MIT’s Educational Council.


 

Awards

Core 77 Design Awards Interaction - Runner Up

MELAB

Media Technology Muse Awards Silver

ARTLENS Exhibition

Museums and the Web Awards 2018 GLAMi Nomination, ArtLens Gallery

ARTLENS Exhibition

Museums and the Web Awards 2018 GLAMi Nomination, Gaze Tracker Interactive

ARTLENS Exhibition

2017 People's Voice Winner, Webby Awards

Art Institute of Chicago Official Mobile App

Official Honoree, Webby Awards

PostSecret Universe

Silver Winner, New York Design Awards

PostSecret Universe

Winner, Communication Arts Interactive Annual Awards

Forest Friends

Gold Award, AAM Muse Awards

Future Energy Chicago

Winner, ASTC Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience

Future Energy Chicago

Gold, AAM Muse Awards

Shop Life

Merit Award, SEGD Awards

Shop Life

Professional Notable, Core77 Interaction Awards

Shop Life

Winner, Best App, Spark Awards

Interaction of Color

Winner, Best Interactive Product, Communication Arts Interactive Annual Awards

Interaction of Color

Winner, Event Design Awards

Future Energy Chicago

Winner, Communication Arts Interactive Annual Awards

Noviy Interactive Lounge

Winner, HOW Interactive Design Awards

Noviy Interactive Lounge

Working with us

We work with a lot of people in a lot of different ways, some of which are below to stimulate your thinking. But we want to work with you, so let’s talk. Maybe you have precise scope, specs, and budget for a program of detailed deliverables. Or maybe you only know you want to do something great with design and technology, but need someone to help you figure out where to start. Either way, we can help.

Project Engagements

The most common arrangement, clients hire us for a discrete project or suite of projects with fixed timing and deliverables.

Consulting

For clients who need help unlocking their ideas, we work with them on defining their needs, articulating their strategy, and putting together a plan for success.

Product Partnerships

We reduce fees to enter equity partnerships with organizations in developing or launching their products or companies.