Aaquib Wani is a self-taught experiential designer redefining how we experience live events. On Architects of Live Experience today, we take a closer look at his creative journey and vision. As the founder of Aaquib Wani Design (AWD), he transforms spaces into immersive experiences that blend traditional Indian aesthetics with contemporary design, leaving a lasting emotional impact. From designing the Indian cricket team's jerseys with Adidas to curating installations at global festivals like Lollapalooza and Sunburn, and creating bespoke experiences for brands such as Spotify and Apple, Wani continues to push the boundaries of experiential design and shape a new era of live experiences.

Your work often blends traditional Indian aesthetics with modern design sensibilities. How do you approach weaving cultural narratives into contemporary experiences without making them feel nostalgic or forced?

For me, culture is not a layer you add to design; it’s the foundation. I don’t approach Indian craft as nostalgia, but as a living, evolving language. When I work with traditional motifs or materials, I reinterpret them through scale, light, or texture, so they feel current, not ornamental. I think of it as translating a memory into a modern experience rather than recreating the past.

Experiential design sits at the heart of your practice. When conceptualising a space or stage, what does your creative process look like, from the first spark of an idea to the final live moment?

It usually begins with a story. Whether it’s a concert, a brand experience, or a museum installation, I ask, what do we want people to feel the moment they walk in? From there, it becomes a conversation between form, light, and rhythm. I like to sketch, make quick 3D mockups, then test how it interacts with sound and people. The design keeps evolving until the space feels like it’s breathing with the music or narrative.

You’ve crafted visual worlds for artists like Prateek Kuhad and Hanumankind, where each song seems to have its own visual rhythm. How do you approach designing bespoke stage narratives that translate an artist’s sound into space and light?

Every artist carries a world within their sound. My job is to build that world in real life. For Prateek Kuhad, it’s emotion and minimalism, his stages need to feel intimate even when the crowd is massive. For someone like Hanumankind, it’s chaos, grit, and cinematic energy. I listen to his music obsessively, look for visual rhythm in it, and then build a narrative that supports that tone. It’s always about amplifying their identity, not overshadowing it.

Projects like Lollapalooza India and Sunburn operate on vastly different scales and energies. How do you adapt your design philosophy to match each environment while still creating something emotionally larger than life?

Scale changes logistics, not emotion. Lollapalooza India, Sunburn, or smaller independent gigs, each has its own pulse. I adapt by first understanding the audience and context. A large festival might demand spectacle, while a smaller setup might need intimacy. But both can still carry drama, storytelling, and design intent. The challenge is to keep the experience human even at monumental scale.

You’ve worked with leading brands like Spotify, Budweiser, Johnnie Walker, and Apple. What guiding principle do you bring to the table when collaborating with brands of this stature?

With brands, I always start with alignment, why are we doing this, and what do we want people to remember? Whether it’s Beats or Spotify, I try to bring emotion to what could easily be just marketing. For example, with Beats, we took the idea of India’s golden heritage and turned it into packaging that felt like a cultural artifact. It’s never just about visuals; it’s about meaning, something that turns it into a collectible.

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What’s been one of the most challenging live projects you’ve worked on and how did you push through creative or logistical barriers to make it happen?

Lollapalooza India’s year 1 was one of the most challenging. Managing scale, safety, weather, and creative vision simultaneously is brutal. But it taught me that design is not just what you draw, it’s what survives on ground. When you stand in the crowd and see people reacting to something you dreamt up months ago, that’s the breakthrough.

Sustainability is becoming an essential conversation in live experiences. How do you integrate environmentally conscious practices into your large-scale productions without compromising creative ambition?

Sustainability isn’t a checklist, it’s a mindset. It’s about being resourceful and intentional in how we build. Most of our festival setups reuse materials like old carpets, MS beams, old flex as covers and packaging from warehouse to venue, and rental platforms. We rely on local vendors, modular designs that can move city to city, and minimize waste wherever possible. Once, we even created a completely plastic-free event. Costlier, yes, but proof that conscious design is achievable when you care enough to make it work. Depends how you and the partner you work with wants to tackle this.

Your projects often involve massive teams of designers, producers, and technicians. What’s your approach to leading collaboration and maintaining a unified creative vision across so many moving parts?

I believe in collaborative authorship. The team should feel ownership over the work. At AWD, everyone’s voice matters, from the designer sketching to the fabricator on site. My role is to align all those ideas into one cohesive vision. I lead by clarity, not control. Everyone needs to know why we’re doing something, not just what we’re doing.

How do you see Aaquib Wani Design (AWD) evolving in the live experience landscape over the next few years? Are there new territories or forms of collaboration you’re most excited to explore?

AWD is moving towards building experiences that go beyond live events, into museums, public installations, and long-term cultural projects. We’re also investing in storytelling through animation and digital spaces. The idea is to keep bridging craft and technology, emotion and structure, India and the world.

India’s live scene is growing fast, from independent music to brand-led experiences. What do you think is shaping the next phase of this ecosystem, and how can design play a defining role in that evolution?

We’re in an exciting moment. The audience is smarter, hungrier, and wants authenticity. The next phase will be defined by cultural storytelling and experiential depth, not just flashy lights. India has its own aesthetic and emotional language, and when we design from that place, we stop imitating and start leading.

When you look back at your body of work, what do you hope people take away from the experiences you’ve designed, the feeling or philosophy that defines Aaquib Wani Design?

I hope people remember AWD as a studio that made them feel something. Not just as designers, but as storytellers who used different canvases as a medium. My legacy, I think, will be about how design in India became emotional, ambitious, and unapologetically ours.

What’s one live experience anywhere in the world you wish you had designed, and why?

I wish I had designed the Sphere in Las Vegas. It’s the perfect example of technology serving emotion. When I experienced it, it reminded me that design can literally wrap around you, that’s the kind of power I want our future projects to hold.

About Architects of Live Experience

A GIGX original series celebrating the creative visionaries and business minds shaping the future of live experiences through design, storytelling, and innovation. Each edition dives into the people and practices redefining how audiences connect, from stage designers and creative directors to festival founders and brand curators. Through these conversations, Architects of Live Experience explores the evolving landscape of creativity, culture, and collaboration that powers the world of live experiences.