A self-directed project from the TDL Explains series; we created a mindful wild swimming toolkit that aims to inform wild swimmers, protect the natural environment and help local communities by discouraging overcrowding.
During the longer summer days we’d noticed many people were looking for ways to get active, whilst wanting to be mindful of the environment and spend more time outdoors. Wild swimming covered both of these user needs, but initial research revealed that information for novice swimmers was spread far and wide across multiple sources, and was often text-heavy and time consuming to read.
There were some great written resources on the topic already available (for example, books by award-winning author Daniel Start, blogs on government websites and information provided by the emergency services). After speaking directly to some wild swimming experts, we found there were very few visual guides or ‘light’ information packs available. We also came across an issue; many hot spots had become overcrowded and there were safety concerns – both for the swimmers themselves and the natural environment.
We realised our objective was not to promote wild swimming, but instead educate the public about how to swim mindfully.
A key element of the toolkit is a set of pictograms. This suite represents hazards or actions in a simple and clear way, whilst still being inviting to the end user. The icons were designed with councils, government organisations and local businesses in mind, as they are offered as a free download and can even be combined to create a poster, unique to each wild swim hotspot.
This project is part of a self-directed design series, ‘TDL Explains’, where we explore timely and trending topics in areas where people need to understand information. Our aim is to improve the lives of people around us through better design.
To deep dive into our design process for this project, please see our
TDL Explains: Mindful Wild Swimming Blog