AKAT DESIGN
AKAT Design was founded in 2017 by Toby McManus as a studio merging cutting-edge technology with bold creative vision. Specialising in video for installations and live performance, the studio works at the intersection of storytelling, performance, and technology.
Toby graduated with First-Class Honours in Video Design for Live Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. As a creative technologist, he uses TouchDesigner daily as a laboratory for ideas - developing interactive installations, generative visuals, and workflows that bridge concept and execution. For AKAT, software is not just a delivery mechanism but a generative part of the design process.
This dual background allows him to approach projects with both creative and technical vision, shaping not only their execution but also the artistic direction of audience experiences. He has taken on leading roles across some of the UK’s most ambitious productions: as Project Lead and Lead Disguise Programmer for the Eurovision Opening Ceremony in Liverpool, he oversaw projection workflows for a globally broadcast events. At the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, he designed content for Light Odyssey with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, blending orchestral performance with large-scale projection mapping. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of London, Rich Mix, Tower Bridge. During the Covid-19 lockdown, AKAT worked with KOAN-ARTS to create the dance film Spell Songs - a collaboration that merged choreography, music, and digital visuals into a poetic response to nature and isolation.
Across all these projects runs a consistent thread: using technology as a creative medium to design experiences that are as emotionally resonant as they are technically ambitious. Toby also acts as a workflow consultant, advising artists and producers on how best to realise their visions.
Looking ahead, he continues to shape AKAT Design as a studio at the crossroads of creative direction and technological innovation - a space where projection, interactivity, and visual design converge to imagine the future of live experiences.