Sleep Factory
My graduate thesis project, titled Sleep Factory, was a concept design for a semi-linear immersive exhibition on the mystery of sleep. The central goal was for visitors to understand the importance of sleep in their lives and the impact of collective sleep on society, as well as leave with the tools and inspiration for cultivating a better night’s sleep that very night.
Visitors are invited to explore a behind-the-scenes “tour” of the Sleep Factory which is riddled with mysteries, challenges, exploration and information about sleep, dreams, health and wellness. The result is a quirky, memorable, and playful experience that improves the sleep of visitors, therefore impacting their waking hours and benefitting their entire lives.
Location: Byward Market in Ottawa, Ontario in a building that previously held a two-level, beloved book store.
Audience: Designed for adults who are either students or working professionals who may not prioritize their sleep. Adults may also influence their children’s sleep behaviour or care for aging parents. The design included specific callouts for different demographics that have unique sleep needs.
Sleepy Mattress Graphics
For the main graphics when entering a gallery, I thought hanging mattresses with designs printed on top would be impactful and playful. Additionally, the bilingual graphics play with selective blurs and intriguing photography that represent the transition between being awake and asleep.
Self-Guided Tour Format
Visitors are invited to explore a behind-the-scenes “tour” of the Sleep Factory. Through this self-guided, immersive tour visitors will explore various areas of the factory’s mysterious functions and learn about sleep along the way. Galleries emphasize how everyone deserves a good night’s rest and how sleep has far-reaching implications on individual, local and global levels.
Whether a human is sleep deprived or incredibly well-rested, their health and wellness is impacted significantly. This gallerya above uses conveyor belts to shape the room into three key areas that focus on how the effects of sleep correlate with (1) physical, (2) emotional and (3) cognitive
well-being. Activities are designed for multiple people or friends and include a driving simulation as sleep quality progressively decreases, a media playback that illustrates emotional perception on various levels of sleep and several cognitive memory and puzzle challenges.
Playful Introspective Spaces
Comfortable, ample seating throughout the factory allows people to really immerse themselves in conversation and discussion when the motivation strikes and reduces fatigue. When friends attending an exhibition can sit and discuss in chairs together together their learning is enriched through conversation where they share, challenge, educate and joke together.
Marketing
Thoughtfully placed marketing materials would be used to capture audiences when tiredness affects them most. For example, posters at the airport or readable to cars on buses.
Merchandise
The opportunities for clever merchandise, from decaf coffee to sleep masks, is endless. Here are a couple of examples of sleepwear the factory could offer to guests.
Space Sketches
Early development of the exhibitions and spaces would involve sketching designs so that the client and investors would feel they can contribute to the overall direction, but also could get a sense of what the environment would look like. See below for a sketch of a sleep-related store for the merchandise above, and a cafe that serves lattes with a side of caffeinated sleep education.
Visitors will leave with a deep appreciation and respect for sleep as a mysterious function in their own lives. Sleep truly is the one thing that connects us all.
I presented Sleep Factory at our Capstone event consisted of over 100 industry professionals as judges who offered their thoughtful feedback and insights. I also know how sleep-deprived most designers are, so am still convinced armed with their feedback the Sleep Factory is needed.
