Access & Belonging
Design the invitation, the roles, and the tools so more people can meaningfully enter the work.
Multidisciplinary creative-production studio
We design
participatory
worlds.
M‑LAB / San Diego
A classroom became a studio. The studio became a body of work.
M‑LAB connects narrative, identity, technology, and physical space. Students work as designers and producers: asking consequential questions, building tangible responses, and making their process public through critique and exhibition.
Inside the M‑LAB / 01:00
Step inside the M‑LAB.
Dane Wirtzfeld opens the doors to a working studio where students move between design, fabrication, media, critique, and exhibition.
Watch the one-minute tourM‑LAB / World 001
Walk into
the work.
Enter a human-scale version of the M‑LAB, move between first- and third-person views, and use objects in the space as portals into project stories.
Enter the 3D M‑LABAT 1:1Forest · Grassland · Island
Selected work
6 case studies / 2022—26
Characters of Consequence
Bringing heart to collectible design through story, character, and playable worlds.
Clayopolis
Growing a shared city through many handmade stories.
Legends of Our Timeline
Expanding history through characters and augmented artifacts.
Towers of Hanoi
Reimagining an ancient puzzle for new players.
E.M.P.
Making imagined experiences believable before they exist.
Blueprints of Tomorrow
Prototyping better everyday futures before they arrive.
The practice
We turn open questions into experiences people can enter, shape, test, and share.
08priority projects cataloged
07pilot films in the first studio release
03source systems being unified
01public body of work taking shape
Soul Survivors: Spirit of Heroes | Pilot Episode
13:46Four commitments / translated into action
Personal Relevance
Give each maker room to connect identity and curiosity to a shared, rigorous brief.
Authentic Work
Create for a real audience, with real constraints, and a finish that invites public response.
Collaborative Design
Make interdependence visible: distinct roles, shared standards, critique, and collective authorship.
Exhibition
The audience
completes the work.
Projects leave the desk through screenings, playable tables, product displays, prototypes, pitches, and room-scale exhibitions. Visitors do more than look: they test, question, and respond.
Industry partnersCredits + logo permissions in archive review
Behind the public work
One durable memory
for every project.
The living archive connects briefs, prototypes, photography, deliverables, exhibition, and reflection across Classroom, Drive, and Dropbox—while keeping private student records out of public view.
Archive