DesignWalks - Walk 4
Design Walks: Designing for Joy — A Christmas Market Experience
Saturday, December 20 | Toronto
What is Design Walks?
Join us for Design Walks — a community experience that combines professional dialogue with physical movement.
Born from a simple conversation between Arjit Singh and Chris Miller, Design Walks creates meaningful connections within Toronto's design community by taking conversations out of virtual chat rooms, IRL, and onto the streets.
This isn't about portfolio reviews or job talk. It's about walking, noticing, and reconnecting with the creative spark that made us fall in love with design in the first place.
Event Details
📅 Date: Saturday, December 20
🎨 Theme: Designing for Joy — A Christmas Market Experience
📍 Location: 55 Mill St Distillery District Christmas Market
⏰ Arrival: 2:30 PM (to enter before 4:00 PM paid admission)
👥 Capacity: Limited to 20 participants
💬 Format: Walking observation + reflection discussion
💵 Cost: Free to attend (market entry after 4PM may require paid admission)
This Walk's Theme: Designing for Joy
Joy doesn't happen by accident in design — it's intentionally crafted.
In this edition, we're exploring how environments create joy, especially during the holiday season when joy is cultivated through every detail.
The Christmas Market is a space where people come for joy — to get it, to give it, to be amongst others doing the same thing.
But here's the question: How do we bring that feeling into our everyday work?
This walk is a thought experiment. We'll experience the market together, notice what creates those joyful moments, and reflect on how we might translate that emotion into the products and services we design.
We'll explore:
How does this environment make you feel, and why?
What observations surface that you'd want to see in other experiences?
How can we replicate festive joy in tech, products, and everyday design?
What micro-moments of joy can we bring into work life?
This isn't about consumption or shopping (that's January's theme).
It's about experiencing a space designed for joy — and learning from it.
The Experience
We'll meet at the Distillery District Christmas Market at 2:30 PM, giving us time to enter before the paid admission period begins at 4:00 PM.
As we explore the market together, we'll notice how the space, sounds, lights, and interactions create an atmosphere of joy.
We'll pause for reflection and conversation, asking ourselves: What did you enjoy? What didn't resonate? How does this make you think differently about your design practice?
The approach is flexible — you can explore with the group or choose your own adventure. No pressure to change the world, just presence and observation.
Who This Is For
Design Walks welcomes:
Designers who want to understand how emotion is created through experience
Creatives exploring how festive spaces can inform year-round design
Anyone curious about translating joy from physical spaces into digital products
People who want to bring more intentional moments of delight into their work
Designers tired of "living for the weekend" and seeking everyday joy
What sets Design Walks apart:
We focus on the human side of creativity — not process or productivity, but perception.
This is a space for genuine conversations about how we stay inspired, stay curious, and design with intention.
Meet us here (55 Mill St)
What to Bring
Comfortable walking shoes 👟
Warm winter clothing 🧥
An open mind and curious spirit ✨
Optional: notebook for capturing thoughts
No presentations. No agenda.
Just experiencing, noticing, and reflecting together.
The Philosophy
The best design work starts long before the design work.
It starts in what we see, what we feel, and what we choose to notice.
This walk is for those who want to:
Understand how joy is intentionally designed into experiences
Bring festive emotion into everyday products and services
Create micro-moments of delight in their design practice
Build community through shared observation and reflection
Because sometimes, the most powerful design insight comes from simply being present —
And noticing what makes us feel alive.