Omou Walk Space
SCHOOL PROJECT / 2019
Environmental Design, Branding
The Omou Walk Space is a unique path experience where you may find yourself thinking outside of your head. The trail is speckled with environmental installations which exaggerate the sensory experience. By focusing on our senses and forgetting our worries, the Omou Walk Space helps its visitors slow down and act introspectively.
​
Typeface — Apercu Regular, Selwyn Condensed (Designed by Me)
THE SPACE
​
The Omou Walk Space is located in Mono, Ontario, about an hour from Toronto. The space is 28.5 Acres with a 2km trial. Below is a topographic map with the trail marked.
WAYFINDING
​
To ensure a smooth walking experience, the wayfinding is informative yet subtle, while the trail shape is intuitive and easy to follow. The park operates as one large loop with three “offshoot trails” which are also loops. The typeface used is Selwyn Condensed, a typeface designed by myself specifically for wayfinding and environmental graphics.
MOCKUPS —
Directional Sign
Welcome Sign
Drive-by Sign
PROMPTS
​
The park is also speckled with prompts which help visitors get in a reflective headspace. The prompts are done in a similar style to the wayfinding, while the purpose drifts closer to that of the environmental installations.
Prompt
Other Prompts
​
Directive
​
1. Look up
2. Listen to your breathing
​
Questions
​
1. What does this place remind you of?
2. Where were you this time last year?
3. What does this smell remind you of?
4. What were you thinking about?
ENVIRONMENTAL INSTALLATIONS
The environmental installations are meant to help visitors slow down. Time can be measured by moments –by change. The installations were developed to alter our perception of our senses, therefore creating moments of change. By isolating these experiences, we are creating memories which transcend our perceptions of time.
HEARING THINGS DIFFERENTLY
​
We can slow down time by breaking routine. The tunnel changes how the world around us sounds. This tunnel acts as a way for us to experience a mindful auditory sensation.
FRAMING
​
We can use framing as a tool for slowing down. By isolating a section of one’s vision, we can enhance their experience of elements within the frame. The purpose of this installation is to prompt the viewer to see something differently, thus enhancing their experience of the otherwise mundane.
TACTILE CURIOSITY
​
We get up in the morning and pull fabric over our heads and across our limbs, and the feeling of these textures become extensions of ourselves. By placing an exaggerated texture in the park, we can create an experience with our sense of feeling. .
BRANDING
​
When designing this space, there were two main groups of potential users. Those already interested in mindful walking, and those just looking for something to do (the experience chasers). Because of this, the branding for the space needed to be exciting, while also maintaining the understated qualities of the wayfinding system.
