SHANE SMALL

Shane Small is an Executive Creative Director, Futurist, and experience designer working at the intersection of technology, storytelling, and play.

His work is driven by a clear belief:

Technology should be part of the idea, not layered on top of it.

Across his career, Shane has focused on building experiences where emerging technology is fundamental to how the idea works, creating connected systems that feel intuitive, meaningful, and human rather than novel or gimmicky.

From interactive television and global campaigns to AI-driven platforms and next-generation products, his work consistently explores how to turn audiences into participants, blurring the lines between digital and physical, game and story, viewer and player.

He is the co-creator of Exploding Kittens, one of the most successful games of all time, and has worked with companies including Netflix, Sony, Meta, Microsoft, Marvel, Disney, and Shell, leading projects that span games, platforms, branded experiences, and original IP.

Shane has operated at both executive and hands-on levels throughout his career, including serving as Chief Creative Officer at Smith & Tinker, where he built and led a multidisciplinary team from the ground up. Across roles, he has consistently taken ideas from early concept through to launch, working across vision, systems design, product, and execution.

His approach is intentionally hybrid: part creative leader, part builder. He is as comfortable defining direction at the highest level as he is working directly with teams to bring ideas into reality.

As Chief Creative Officer at Candy Digital, he pushed digital ownership beyond static collectibles into dynamic, evolving experiences. At Xbox Entertainment Studios, he helped pioneer interactive storytelling for the living room. His work on Shell’s Make the Future campaign became one of the most viral global campaigns of its time.

Shane’s approach is rooted in systems thinking, building worlds, not just products. Whether designing Play Stations next-generation theme park, Toyota’s AI-powered mobility experience, or an interactive narrative, the focus remains consistent:

Create experiences where technology has purpose, and every interaction matters.