Students were asked to select a design competition to participate on in order to develop post-produced projects. The chosen competition was the Winter Stations Competition, and, because the 2023 theme had not yet been established, the 2022 one (Resilience) was used for the semester.

"Winter Stations is a single-stage international design competition held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Participants are tasked with designing temporary winter art installations which incorporate existing lifeguard towers spaced strategically across the city’s Kew and Woodbine beaches. The structures (not in use in the wintertime) are considered visual anchor points for the installations" (as per the website).

The Collective Hope installation was to address the, isolation and mental health issues many people struggle with, especially during Canadian winters, due to a lack of sunlight, color and activities that promote community engagement.

Through materiality and symbolism, The Collective Hope is to positively impact people’s mental health and encouraging them to engage in reflection, meditation, and community interaction.

Strategies applied in the development of the concept were:
1. Providing positive impacts on emotions and behaviors through materials that bring warmth and comfort (wood).
2. Creating an interactive installation to stimulate community engagement. That is proposed through wood slats that bring texture to the installation and invite the public to a tactile experience.
3. Employing symbolism to represent what has been overcome and what lies ahead. That is represented by the ramp that leads the public from bottom to up and to a view to the sea and the horizon – something unknown, but something to hope for. Moreover, the wood slats, through repetition, create a pattern and continuity. They are used to lull the viewer’s eye into complacency until the pattern stops at the top - works as a force that guides the public to their final destination.