Next/Now is an award-winning experiential agency focused on multimedia design and digital exhibition design. Our industry-leading process will help you create unforgettable moments of connection for you and your consumers. Our all-in-one team of over 40 employees includes large art and development teams, often utilizing new tech solutions within our work such as AR, VR, XR, and generative art.
Leadership Team
Alan Hughes is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of NEXT/NOW. His focus is creating digital content and interaction that thematically, creatively, and architecturally feel ‘as one’ with a physical experience and environment. Group interaction, intuitive interfaces, social media hooks, and unexpected digital reactive surfaces have become the hallmark of Alan’s work in the field.
An industry innovator, Alan successfully headed creative development at his previous agencies for 11+ years for clients including Toyota, the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid, The Dubai Mall, American Eagle Outfitters, AXE, LG Electronics, Experian, ADP, TurtleWax, McDonald’s, Leica, and Hitachi. Projects of note include software architecture and interactive design of the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, multiple experiential films for the world’s largest video screen–The Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas, numerous interactive video Times Square collaborations with LG, large-scale trade show touchscreen content and design for Hitachi, content pre-viz for the American Eagle Outfitters interactive building in Times Square, and in-store augmented reality kiosks for Target and Axe.
Randy has been with NEXT/NOW since its inception, after a successful career with the Atlanta Braves Organization and Pepsico where he skillfully managed multiple high-profile sales accounts. Randy works with clients, partners and NEXT/NOW staff to ensure that each project realizes the client’s vision and aligns with the brand’s goals and desired outcomes. His hands-on approach supports a clear and collaborative process from concept to completion.
Projects of note for NEXT/NOW include the Discover Card Black Friday/Orange Friday takeover of Pioneer Court on the Magnificent Mile, Accenture Digital Lounge, John Deere North America and Europe dealer Projection-Mapping experience, Crown Royal Traveling Tour, Chicago Sports Museum, Bloomingdale’s Retail Installation (Luxottica, Persol), Audi Product Launch Interactive and Cars.com national sales meeting interactive experience
Utilizing a bold creative attitude and diverse knowledge of artistic disciplines, Cody Tilson has been breaking molds in design his entire career. Prior to NEXT/NOW, Cody lead as a creative director at several other notable agencies including Blast Radius, Digital Kitchen, and Leviathan.
He has worked on a number of projects of truly epic proportion, making one of his strongest skillsets his ability to innovate without losing sight of the logistics of making it happen.
PROJECTS OF NOTE: AWS, Activision | Blizzard, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, The Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, T-Mobile, HBO, National Geographic
NUMBER OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 18
He has worked on a number of projects of truly epic proportion, making one of his strongest skillsets his ability to innovate without losing sight of the logistics of making it happen.
PROJECTS OF NOTE: AWS, Activision | Blizzard, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, The Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, T-Mobile, HBO, National Geographic
NUMBER OF YEARS OF EXPERIENCE: 18
Serving as Next/Now’s second employee, Andrew has been an integral part of building the company from the ground up. He began working at Next/Now after graduating from Northern Illinois University with a degree in Computer Science.
Co-leading the development team, Andrew is both parts software and hardware focused. With an exponential skill set, he specializes in TouchDesigner, Unity 3D and C# softwares while also being our go-to-guy for LED wall installations.
Notable clients include: Allstate, Ford, Chevron, John Deere, Intel, Visa, NBA, Statefarm, Crown Royal, Atlanta Braves, Accenture, Moen and Walmart.
Stuart Day graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Game Design. He has worked professionally as an engineer for 12 years and has a distinct focus on emerging VR/Holographic technologies.
Stuart is a breakthrough thinker in the realm of generative art and AI visual systems.
Leading the development team at Next/Now, Stuart is instrumental in their Next-Gen thinking and expertise. His work is focused in, but not limited to Unity 3D, Unreal, VVVV, Cinder, Processing and C#.
Notable clients include: Anheuser-Busch, Hanes, Kraft, Wendy's, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, Intel, Trek, Samsung, Under Armour, Walgreens, Nestle, Audi and Accenture.
Charlie B Williams III cut his teeth as a 3D Artist at gaming giant, Electronic Arts, developing animations for the Triple-A titles Fight Night Round 3 and Marvel Throwdown before moving on to High Voltage Systems to work on flagship titles including Dora the Explorer and Iron Man 2.
A champion of mentorship, Charlie has taught at the collegiate level and coordinated teaching workshops at local libraries, high schools, colleges, and creative studios, encouraging and guiding the next generation of digital artists to successful careers in the industry.
At NEXT/NOW, Charlie serves as Lead 3d Artist, as well as Design Team Manager for the Art Department. With a passion for Cinema animation and real-time motion capture, Charlie brings expertise that evolves alongside the industry standards to create the latest in immersive design and animation.
Our Clients
Who We Are
