NamiiCho
Creative direction for a trendsetting influencer brand
After expanding beyond content creation and into digital marketing, a brand identity was created to reflect her bright personality and
Location: Markham, Canada
Developed as part of the Urban Life course at OCAD University led by Professor Lori Riva, this field guide focuses on studying Toronto’s lost rivers and using counter-mapping to deepen our understanding of urban ecology.
Over the course of four months, we chose a specific site along a waterway and employed various methods and tools to observe and record the interconnections between human activity and nature. The field guide documents our observations and offers a critical analysis about what they reveal about the space.
Research Questions
1. How can we make the Don Valley more accessible, safe, and enjoyable for current and future users?
2. How do we prioritize natural space and protect wildlife while serving busy transit corridors? How can the Don Valley make our city more sustainable and resilient?
- Cars on Bayview Avenue, with the constant white noise of traffic and occasional car horn
- Roadway infrastructure (Signs, guardrails, lamps, fences)
- Ground covered with yellowed leaves, with clear strips where people pass by
- Trees shaking in the wind, and the whooshing sounds of leaves blowing
- People cycling and jogging by on the trail
- Subway trains passing over the viaduct, creating a loud crashing sound
- Flocks of birds flying over the sky
- The GO train that passes by hourly in the afternoon, the sound of steel wheels and the diesel locomotive
- Interviews, asking questions about how people use the space
- Counting to understand how many people pass by
- Tracking/tracing to follow where people are going
- Mapping to find hotspots/points of interest where people stop to rest or take pictures
- Average number of people riding the subway or GO trains
- Common places where people are accessing the trail/valley
- Common species of animals and vegetation
- Parks and trails are important for people’s mental and
physical health. The Don Valley is also an important transportation corridor.