Fort Lauderdale, FL – What does it take to create an addictive and fun videogame? How many beats per second does a DJ need to get bodies moving on the dance floor? What goes behind creating a roller coaster or a skate park that produces the most fun and biggest thrills? Discover the secrets behind what videogame developers, music producers, roller coaster designers, and other creative problem solvers do in the Museum of Discovery and Science’s new exhibition, Design Zone, opening January 19, 2019 through April 28, 2019.

Design Zone is a highly interactive, hands-on exhibition where visitors can explore a variety of creative concepts to learn the processes and tools needed to create a successful design. Design Zone is organized into three thematic zones, all highlighting the importance of science and mathematical thinking in areas critical to building creativity and innovation: art, music, and engineering.

Design Zone’s themed areas include:

ART

Visitors design their own 2-D and 3-D art and explore visual creativity in the Videogame Design Lab, Architecture Studio, and the Digital Design Domain. Area highlights include Drawing in Motion, where visitors use a digital pen to trace a line art masterpiece on a giant screen and create their own images, and Jump on it—similar to many classic arcade games—where visitors choose a character, adjust the jump power and gravity, and land on targets to collect points.

MUSIC

Visitors explore relationships between length and pitch in musical instruments, ratios and rhythms, and visual representations of sound in On Stage!, Dance Party and the DJ Recording Studio. Area highlights include Laser Light DJ where visitors discover how laser light show technicians create mesmerizing patterns, and Turntables, where they can practice their DJ skills by trying to seamlessly match beats per minute to the tempo of a new song.

ENGINEERING

Visitors experience the Theme Park and the Action Sports Arena where they will discover the math and physics behind anything that moves. Area highlights include Bike Race, where they can climb into bike stations, test gear combinations and compete in a virtual race and Design a Skate Park where visitors manipulate slope to create essential skate park features, test their design with a virtual skater and ride the course!

The creation of Design Zone was made possible by the generous support of the National Science Foundation. The exhibition was produced and is toured by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Funding for this organization is provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Affairs Council. Sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture and the Museum’s official transportation partner, Brightline.

Opening weekend, January 19-20, 2019, activities are included in the price of exhibit admission.

Spin Disc Art

We’re putting a new spin on art! Learn about centrifugal force and create your own masterpiece on our spin machines.

Water Xylophone

Sound is all about the vibrations! Discover how we can change sound pitch by changing the amount of vibration. Pick a song to play or go freestyle on our giant water xylophone.

Build a City

The sky is the limit... skyscrapers that is. Design and construct your own addition to our Museum city! We’ll need all engineers on deck to build the largest city we can!

Anki Cars

These racecars are self-aware and they want to race! Using our tablets as controllers, you will race your car against others and see who takes first place!