Trailblaze
Trailblaze
A platform to empower hiking enthusiasts exploring Sri Lanka — helping them discover their perfect trail, and share the insights and moments they collect along the way.
A sleek, open interface that feels at home in nature.
I built Trailblaze to practice end-to-end product thinking on a subject I love. The aim: a sleek, impactful interface that lets hikers customise their perfect journey, hassle-free.
The interface leans modern and open — a contemporary typeface and an earthy colour scheme that evoke harmony with nature and make discovery feel like part of the adventure. Sri Lanka is a hiker's island, but trail knowledge is scattered across blogs, forums and word of mouth. Trailblaze gathers discovery and community in one calm place.
Three questions to design around
Matching a hike to ability, time and mood.
An earthy, unhurried interface, not another busy app.
Letting hikers pass on insights and moments to the next.
Sri Lanka is a hiker's island — Trailblaze is the map to it.
From a gentle sunrise climb to a pre-dawn pilgrimage.
The island packs an enormous range of hikes into a small space — which is exactly why discovery is hard. Trailblaze is designed to make that range legible at a glance, sorted by effort.
Little Adam's Peak
A gentle ridge walk with a panoramic payoff — the perfect first trail.
Pidurangala Rock
A quick scramble to a sunrise view across the plains.
Ella Rock
Follow the railway line, then climb through tea and forest.
World's End
A misty plateau loop ending at a sheer cliff edge.
Knuckles Range
Remote ridges and biodiversity for confident hikers.
Adam's Peak
The iconic overnight pilgrimage to a sunrise summit.
Distances and times are indicative — exactly the kind of detail Trailblaze standardises per trail.
Four principles, one feeling.
Open
Generous space and a modern grid — room to breathe, like the outdoors.
Earthy
A natural palette and contemporary type that sit comfortably in nature.
Effortless
Customising a journey is fast and obvious — discovery, not friction.
Shared
Hikers pass on insights and cherished moments to the next traveller.
A logo, a voice, and a system that could live on a summit sign.
Before screens, I built the brand: a wordmark and logomark, a contemporary type system, and an earthy palette pulled from trail, canopy and clay. The result is calm and confident — equally at home on a phone or a trailhead marker.
Every great hike starts with knowing where to go.
Where I'd take it next
Talk to real hikers
As a passion project this started from intuition. The natural next step is interviews with Sri Lankan hikers to pressure-test how they choose trails and what they wish they'd known.
Design the full flow
Extend the brand into the complete journey — search and filter, trail detail, route maps, saved trips and the community-sharing screens — then prototype it.
Build in trust & safety
Trail difficulty, weather, and recency of reports matter outdoors. I'd design those signals in deliberately so the app is dependable, not just beautiful.
Scroll journey: complete. 🎉
The originals are backstage. Interview required for VIP access. 🎟️
The plot thickens →