McDonald's Worldwide 2026
McDonald's Worldwide 2026
NEXT5264 For McDonald's Worldwide 2026, we designed NEXT — a pavilion world anchored by a prototype restaurant of the future, where every surrounding chapter of Menu, Restaurant, Consumer, and People told the story of a brand in motion, turning a convention floor into a complete argument for where McDonald's is going.
Scope
- Experiential Design
- Spatial Design
- Design
- Interactive Installation
- Creative Technology
- UX / UI
- Custom Fabrication
- Creative Direction
- Creative Direction
- Visual Content Design
- Operation / Support
- Project Management
Every year, McDonald's brings its global franchisee community together. And every year, the challenge is the same: these are people who know the brand as well as anyone alive. They've built their lives inside it. The question isn't whether they believe in McDonald's. It's whether they leave inspired by where it's going.
For Worldwide 2026 in Las Vegas, we designed NEXT — a pavilion experience built around a single organizing idea: show, don't tell.
For Worldwide 2026 in Las Vegas, we designed NEXT — a pavilion experience built around a single organizing idea: show, don't tell.
At the center of the space stood a prototype restaurant. A vision of the McDonald's restaurant of the future, fully realized on the convention floor. Everything around it — four pavilion chapters spanning Menu, Restaurant, Consumer, and People — existed as extended storytelling radiating outward from that anchor. The portals framing the space weren't just wayfinding. They were a threshold: step through and the visual noise of the wider convention hall gave way to a coherent, navigable world.
Each pavilion carried its chapter. Restaurant told the technology story — ordering systems, restaurant intelligence, operational platforms. Consumer told the connections story — global campaigns, creator partnerships, digital platforms. Menu told the food story, with a Gold Standard commitment wall and a multiplayer trivia counter where franchisees competed on their own product knowledge. People carried the most human weight: a crew portrait chandelier that stopped people in the space, custom CT storytelling moments, and a real-time photo capture booth.
Beyond NEXT, the FIFA Zone and Spin for Pins brought energy and competition to the broader floor — fully custom-fabricated activations, each drawing their own crowd.
But NEXT worked because nothing in it worked alone. The prototype restaurant gave the space a center of gravity. The pavilions gave it depth. The color-coded identity system gave franchisees a map they didn't need to read. Together, they collapsed the distance between McDonald's strategic vision and the people responsible for making it real.
But NEXT worked because nothing in it worked alone. The prototype restaurant gave the space a center of gravity. The pavilions gave it depth. The color-coded identity system gave franchisees a map they didn't need to read. Together, they collapsed the distance between McDonald's strategic vision and the people responsible for making it real.
