We built a pioneering brand in the psychedelic wellness space, developing a new language for a nascent paradigm.
ClientDimensions
TypeHotel & Health Care
ServicesStrategy, Naming, Visual Identity, Collateral
LocationAlgonquin Highlands, Canada
Interior DesignDesignAgency
By the time Michael Pollan published How to Change Your Mind, in 2018, psychedelic wellness had already entered mainstream culture. The book popularized a phrase originally attributed to researcher Bob Jesse: “The betterment of well people.” The premise was that the therapeutic application of drugs including psilocybin and LSD could not only address pathologies, like trauma and addiction, but also help everyone.
Christopher Dawson and Andrew Galloway—who had grown frustrated with the limits of conventional treatments at the outpatient mental health centres they’d run—embraced the ethos. In 2020, they founded Dimensions, with a vision for a pastoral retreat that combined plant medicine, neuroscience, somatic therapy and hospitality. To bring their vision to life, the pair engaged StudioDA to develop a brand platform and visual identity system, along with DesignAgency, who master-planned the 40-acre site near Ontario’s Algonquin Park.
StudioDA identified two poles in the emerging psychedelic wellness paradigm: a clinical, healthcare-oriented approach on one hand, and woo-woo wellness on the other. Rooted in the pillars of integrity, connection and transformation, we developed a new visual and verbal language to bring the brand to life. At the heart of it all, we identified that Dimensions’ deepest promise was to help patients and clients realize their potential. We turned to Nietzsche, who wrote, "Your true self does not lie buried deep within you, but rather rises immeasurably high above you." This inspired the brand strategy: Ascend to yourself.
To support this we built a visual identity system inspired by Dimension’s capacity to inspire new ways of seeing, with an iconic D character functioning as a window for imagery and a frame for new ideas. Aetherial art direction underscored the notion of ascent.
The new brand platform supported Dimensions through its capital raise, site development and launch. Then, the company faced an existential crisis: The regulatory environment shifted, and many psychedelic treatments would remain functionally illegal. The company pivoted, establishing a research partnership with Queen's University, and building programs focused on military veterans, police, EMS and corrections personnel living with PTSD.
StudioDA’s brand platform guided the company through its transition. “Ascend” remains the company’s flagship retreat. By developing a strategy rooted in a universal human truth—and not a particular product or an offering—StudioDA enabled Dimensions to navigate a significant business transformation without changing their core identity.
Michael Pollan’s phrase became the headline for a movement: Psychedelic wellness promised “the betterment of well people.”
Nietzsche wrote, “Your true self does not lie buried deep within you, but rather rises immeasurably high above you.”
With a strategy rooted in universal human truths, Dimensions didn’t need to evolve their brand—even as their business model transformed.
