Imagination Explorers
Ottawa Children's Festival
Design System, Logo, Mockups
Conceptual Project
Imagination Explorers is an outdoor children’s festival in Ottawa offering fun, adventurous, and educational activities and games. This event brings children’s fantastical ideas about their present and future to life, transforming them into practical and engaging experiences that inspire creativity and curiosity.
Where Fun Meets Learning
Imagination Explorers is a festival that inspires children to dream big while gaining practical knowledge and skills. By creating a vibrant design system with colourful graphics and relatable characters, the project ensures a fun and engaging experience. Events, activities, and booths tied to each character help children connect with their stories, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the adventure while learning in a safe, imaginative space.
Bringing Imagination to Life
The process began with researching similar events in Ottawa, focusing on creating a unique and educational experience. Character and mascot designs were developed with inclusivity in mind, featuring diverse genders and races for relatability, while Milo, the animal mascot, serves as the event's friendly anchor. Early sketches explored character designs and colours for easy identification, alongside interchangeable poses for versatility. Onsite icons were created for navigation, and a crayon-drawn aesthetic was chosen for backgrounds, enhancing the child-friendly branding.
Reflection on the Design Journey
I'm extremely proud of how the Imagination Explorers project came together. The character designs, fun gradients, and font choices were among my favourite aspects, and I believe they will resonate with children. While I might adjust the knight character and his colour, overall, I’m pleased with the design. This was my first time building an illustration-based design system, and I’m glad I kept the other elements simple. The project taught me how ideas evolve through the creative process, with many concepts developing along the way.
