Knot Springs Environmental Design

is telling the unique story of Knot springs Social Club, a spa and social club located inside YARD, a residential building in Portland, Oregon.

In the midst of completing the wayfinding for YARD (a residential building in Portland, Oregon), the client approached OSC with a need for a brand identity and environmental graphics for Knot springs, a new spa and social club located inside YARD.

Knot springs is centered around the spa ritual experience: caldarium (hot), tepidarium (warm), cold plunge, steam and sauna. This experience, the beauty of Oregon, and the adventure of finding a hidden hot spring became the focal points in our work. We pulled inspiration from trail signage, the symbol for water (triangle), charcoal, and Oregon’s history. The triangle shape translated into many different applications: brass wayfinding, hand painted icons, an icosahedron (the backdrop of our muscle diagram), and neon street signage.

It was important to us to connect back to Oregon by collaborating with local artists. Portland based photographer, Ryan Leitz, happened to have a fitting collection of photos from Alvord Desert, Crater Lake, and Painted Hills and these photographs became the graphic backdrops throughout the space.