News

  • Sep 8, 2021
One of the other people featured in the documentary is the lead exhibition designer, Tom Hennes, the founder and principal of the exhibition firm Thinc Design, who twice left the project and is clearly pained in the film by how things are going but also not interested in personalizing his issues with the museum.
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  • Aug 11, 2021
The exhibition was put together in three and a half months, and its lighting, sound and design (from Thinc Design) were provided at cost or gratis. So it feels inevitably ad hoc. The Broadway and opera displays put their custom-shod feet forward; the film, television, theme park and dance portions hang back. The selection reflects less a dedication vision, and more what could be begged, borrowed or briskly replicated.
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  • Feb 23, 2020
Originally split between designing for the theater and being a photographer, Tom Hennes found a true calling in his firm Thinc Design, a highly respected agency that creates exhibitions and attractions across a diverse portfolio.
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  • Dec 5, 2019
Thinc Design and Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT) have announced the completion of the reimagined Empire State Building Observatory, marking the culmination of the final phase of a four-year $165 million-dollar transformation of the iconic tower.
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Web Attractions Management

Attractions People

  • Sep 1, 2019
The aim was to create memorable moments that visitors could hang onto, really treasure and really associate with the Empire State Building. --Tom Hennes, principal and founder, Thinc Design
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  • Apr 22, 2019
Exhibition Terra will guide visitors through a series of habitats to highlight the wonders of the natural world and the impact of plastic waste
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  • Aug 26, 2018
Thinc has recently completed the new 34th Street guest entrance into the Empire State Building (ESB). The 18,000 square-foot entry experience is the first installment of a spectacular reimagining of the Observatory that celebrates the historic icon and introduces a wide range of innovative and immersive experiences along the way to its singular views of New York.
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  • Aug 23, 2018
Four million tourists flock to the Empire State Building’s world-famous observatory each year to get a glimpse of Manhattan’s landscape.
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Video scottsdaleaz.gov

Desert EDGE Update

  • Sep 26, 2017
Amanda White, Head of Content, presented to the Scottsdale City Council as part of a special “Work Study” Council Session to discuss the Desert EDGE.
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Video Swaback Partners

Desert EDGE Anthem

  • Aug 21, 2017
On August 1st, 2017 the City of Scottsdale, DDCS, Swaback Partners, Thinc, and ASU conducted 5 valley-wide, public presentations to the community discussing the updated architecture, exhibits and program for the newly-named Desert EDGE (formerly Desert Discovery Center).
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  • Aug 2, 2017
The Scottsdale Independent covered the unveiling of the design of Desert Edge, a center that will help develop an understanding of the desert and an appreciation for the animals and plant life that exist within it. Thinc's Tom Hennes, suggested that this venue will help to create an “empathy for living in the desert” through a series of augmented realities.
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  • Aug 30, 2016
In describing the Perkins Wildlife Center, The Plain Dealer said,"Designer Tom Hennes made otters happy at natural history museum's Perkins Wildlife Center." The article went on to reflect the delight Tom and others might feel in walking through the new exhibits.
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Publications Metropolis Magazine

How to Read a Political Ad

  • Jul 28, 2016
In advance of the 2016 Presidential election, the exhibition, I Approve This Message was featured in Metropolis. Thinc's design of the exhibit created a dynamic environment for the video and imagery that was used to give visitors the tools to see through any ad - and become savvier, more critical political consumers.
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  • Feb 23, 2015

New York-based Thinc Design revealed their exhibition design for the USA Pavilion in the upcoming Milan Expo 2015 this May. Collaborating with Friends of the USA Pavilion, Thinc Design's exhibition highlights America's role in the future of the global food system, as a response to the Expo's overall theme, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life."

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  • Dec 1, 2014
The Huffington Post in Nepal featured the reopening of Climate+Change in Pokhara at the International Mountain Museum, for its strong educational and outreach programs. Pokhara, a scenic lake-city, is a major tourist destination and a starting point of several high-profile treks, attracting migrants and students from all over Nepal. As an important environmental education exhibition, this reopening provided “the tools to students and teachers to engage in issues more deeply.”
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Publications New York Times

A New Story Told at Ground Zero

  • May 14, 2014

When the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum opened in 2014, countless articles featured Thinc, the lead designer of the exhibitions.

The New York Times produced an interactive feature that included an interview with Tom Hennes in which he described the massive 30" x 40" Foundation Hall space.

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  • May 14, 2014
Wired Magazine wrote of Tom Hennes: "He doesn't believe museums should be venues for education but rather places of encounter. He offers an example: ‘Natural history museums are lousy at teaching natural history,' he says. ‘But they can provide a new sense of wonder that changes your next walk in the woods."
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For more information or press inquires, please contact Ruth Davis Associates by email

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