As an architecture major, I am well versed, maybe indoctrinated, with the design principle ‘form follows function’. A principle associated with the birth of modern architecture at the turn of the 20th Century and equally relevant to every aspect of creativity and design.

Whether you are concepting a city masterplan, designing a library, creating packaging, an in-store experience, a Web3 activation or a product drop that straddles different realities, the principle suggests that the customer experience is the nucleus that everything else surrounds. In other words, the functionality leads, what it looks like – follows.

However, at the turn of the 21st century, with the competition for audience attention being described as the ‘New Oil’ – the world’s most precious resource – does the principle still hold true or has another contender entered the ring? Can it be argued that both form and function are nothing without engagement?