About Origin Studios

Origin Studios is an experienced and innovative exhibit design firm based in Ottawa, Canada. We are a creative team of thinkers and makers, from designers and researchers, to writers and illustrators. Our range of services includes graphic design, web design, furniture and space design, exhibition design, master planning, content development, research, writing, editing, project planning, project management, and content tracking. Our success is attributable to clear and timely communication, respect for the needs and viewpoints of all groups, and the ability to resolve issues in a respectful manner.

Our award-winning work combines our strength and experience in graphic and environmental design with a profound understanding of the mandates and social roles of parks and museums. We are experts in content development, design and delivery as it relates to interactivity, wayfinding, and pacing. We understand visitor needs and how varied they can be, and we know how important it is to ensure information dissemination is meaningful, accessible and engaging for all audiences. We craft interpretive experiences—from exhibitions to publications, marketing and online presence—by putting messages in context, creating opportunities and incentive for exploration, and facilitating connections.

We have a long history of creating effective graphics, environments, and exhibitions by collaborating with our clients, some of which include: The Bata Shoe Museum, The Canadian War Museum, Canadian Museum of Nature, Royal Ontario Museum, Royal Tyrrell Museum, The US National Park Service, Parks Canada and the McCord Museum. Our national and international clients represent all disciplines, budgets and scales, but share a common trait: they all seek innovative ways to share stories, educate and inspire. We are as proud of our long list of clients as they are of the work we’ve done together.

Our design ethic is forward-looking, caring, respectful, intelligent, and dedicated to positive change in the world. We design for humanity. We plan for the long-term; work to educate and help people; re-imagine environmental stewardship; respect cultural heritage; practice ecological leadership, and social citizenship. We believe in sustainable design, heritage preservation, the propagation of culture, and living in an enlightened manner. We believe in enabling transformative learning through meaningful cultural exploration, respectful presentation of varied viewpoints, and listening to multiple voices. We believe that creating physical spaces where visitors meet stories, voices, artifacts and places is more art than science. We believe that the visitor is not a vessel for the input of knowledge, but rather an agent entering a domain of carefully considered possibilities—literal and figurative pathways through which he or she travels, while carrying their own beliefs, knowledge, expectations and experiences.

While our long-term challenge is to create moments of engagement and wonderment through the choreography of images, sounds, stories, people, places, and things, our more immediate task is to translate conceptual ideas and messages into concrete forms of expression. We love what we do.

If you see a role for Origin Studios in the work that you do please contact us.

info

Established 1995
Incorporated in 2000

services

Exhibit Design
Environments
Graphic Design
Web + Interface
Content Development
Interpretive Planning

head office

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
contact us…

offices

Toronto, Montreal