Interactive Work for Sam
Mind Map
SWOT Analysis
Existing Apps Analysis
TUMBLR
How you navigate
The app has 5 different features lining the bottom: a "Home" page, a search tool, a create tool, a notifications tab, and a profile page. In order to make your own posts you click on the create tool and follow the ready made format of a Tumblr post. To browse other's posts you can use the home page to see general posts, or the search tool to find specified posts, accounts and hashtags.
Colour Scheme
The apps icon is black with a turquoise, pink and purple T on it. However, this used be a blue icon with a white T.
The app features textposts which are white with black and grey text, and the app has a blue background.
Font Choice
A version of Favorit which was customized for the app. The font of the T on the apps icon uses is based on Bookman Style Old.
Use of Imagery
The app's search function uses a range of different colours to display hashtags and trending topics which increases the appeal of browsing on the app.
How you navigate
There is a home screen which is filled by posts which you can scroll vertically through and then a row of stories which can be scrolled through horizontally.
Colour Scheme
The app's icon is an orange and pink colour with a white outline of a polaroid picture. The background of the app is white or black depending on whether the user has their phone on dark or light mood and the app's icons are black. Around stories, Instagram's feature colours of pink and orange re-appear.
Font Choice
Neue Helvetica.
Use of Imagery
The app has a specific colour brand of an orange-y pink which is used on features such as the main icon and the stories. The app uses symbols such as a house to use the home screen, a magnifying tool to use search, and a person to represent the profile page.
How you navigate
The app has four functions at the bottom: the profile page, the search tool, the notifications page and the home button which acts as a feed with recommended posts.
Colour Scheme
The icon for the app is white with a red circle which has a white P in it stylized in a quirky curly font.
Font Choice
Helvetica.
Use of Imagery
The form of posting for the apps is photos, so the entire feed is comprised of images which collate together to make an aesthetic and visually pleasing feed.
I found these apps through my own personal use of them, and as they are extremely popular and talked about apps within society. I did need to research which fonts the apps use.
Flat Plan
Click on the app which will have a logo displayed on the icon.
Log onto the app using a username and password.
Scroll through textposts or videos on the homepage.
Search for specific topics or browse popular or suggested searches on the search page.
Browse your own posts and make rankings on the home page.
Track people's reactions to your posts (e.g. views, likes and saves)
Font Sheet
House Style
(A set of rules which states how all documents and written communications from a business / website should be formatted to allow consistency.)
Logo: The logo of the app will appear as the app's icon on the home screen so that people know where to go to get onto the app. The logo will feature vibrant or noticeable colours so that the app stands out against other apps on the home screen. The apps logo will also feature colours representative of Taylor Swift (e.g. potentially pastel pink, blue and yellow to represent the album Lover) as well as some symbolism of her as well.
Colour Scheme: I previously stated that the app's colour scheme would be changeable and that people could choose between a range of colour themes based on each of the 9 studio albums Taylor Swift has released. I feel that this idea may be too ambitious and over complicate the app as well as stopping the app from having a staple colour scheme that will feel familiar to the user, so instead decided to choose a colour scheme to apply to both my logo and app design which was a pink, blue and yellow trio of colours to represent the album Lover. The "Like" button will be red as this is a common colour for this button, so it will be familiar with users. The "Following" button will be purple to represent the album Speak Now and to make it a different colour to the colour theme so that it stands out.
Font Style/Size: I have decided to use Century Schoolbook, Century Gothic and Berlin Sans FB.
Text Alignment: The titles and headings on the app will be aligned to the left so they are the first thing read on a page. The general text will also be left aligned, as many users would find this format easiest to read than centre aligned text which can appear jumbled and messy and look unprofessional.
Posts: The posts will all be related to Taylor Swift, as this is the purpose of the app.
Colour Scheme
Secondary and Discussion Research
From my research into popular colour schemes for apps I found that pastel colours were indeed a commonly used and attractive colour palette alongside Minimal Muted Color Palettes, Bright Vibrant Colors, Dark Mode, Colorful Icons and Accents, Minimalist Monochrome, Dreamy Gradients and Colorful Flat Illustrations.
( source: https://www.envato.com/blog/color-scheme-trends-in-mobile-app-design/ )
Another key point I discovered was that when it comes
to colour, consistency is key to making sure the app is
recognizable to the user, which is why I decided to stick
to just one colour scheme (the pastel Lover theme),
instead of sticking to my original plan of having 9
different colour schemes (based off each of the 9 studio
albums).
Something else that is highly important with apps is the
idea of "cognitive load" and lowering it so the user doesn't have to think too much when using the app and can navigate the app more easily, leading to increased use of the app.
I found that imagery is another key part of app design, as it appeals to the audience because it is an easier way to process information. Examples of use of imagery include Instagram and Interest having their main content as images or small icons on apps (e.g. "take new picture" options often have a little camera icon next to them).
Self and Peer Criticism of my Plan
My original plan in terms of colour scheme was to take the pastel blue, pink and yellow I had used in my logo design (see below) for the pages of the app. However, having applied these colours to the application I felt they were too garish and tacky and would most probably be off putting to users. (I then asked a peer for what their thoughts on the colour scheme was, and they agreed that it was a bit too bright. I then changed the colours to even lighter versions of the pastels and showed them to my peer once again, and they much preferred the new colours).
Logo Design
To begin with I decided to choose a colour theme for my logo by playing around with paintbrush colours on illustrator. Since I wanted to go with the Lover theme, I picked out a pastel pink and a pastel blue to be my main colours. Since there is also a tone of yellow in the album's cover image, I later implemented a yellow colour for the test of my logo.
I decided to mash up the style of three of Taylor's album covers: Lover (in terms of the colour scheme), 1989 (in terms of the layout of the logo and text style ON the logo) and Evermore (in terms of the cover image/drawing).
Once I had found my colours, I began by making a square with a border that resembled the Polaroid format of the 1989 album cover. I then choose one colour for the outside which I made by increasing the stroke size (the pastel blue) and one for the inside section (the pastel pink).
Although I had already practiced tracing the text at the beginning in pink, I decided to implement the yellow from the album cover here. I traced the letters T.S. to give the logo the authentic Swift feel, and then - in the place of the 1989 - I put "S H", standing for Swift Hub, the name of my app.
I then found and copied the Evermore cover image in order to trace it for my logo and traced it using the pastel blue colour form the border.
I then removed the Evermore image, and looked at my tracing, then replaced the cover image to edit and tweak the design slightly. Once I was happy with the tracing I removed the image once again to make the first draft of my logo.
A)
Once I had completed the logo's design I was unsure about the colour of the tracing and decided to play around and switch the different aspects of the logo between the three colours.
B)
C)
D)
At this stage I had 4 different designs to choose from, and, ironically, my first draft (A) was actually one of my least favourite designs (along with C). I decided that I preferred the yellow tracing AND text together (as seen in B and D).
To make my final decision on the colours I used I looked back at the Lover album cover to see whether the colour of blue or pink was more dominant in it. I found that pink was the main colour used in the album cover so decided to stick with this as my background colour.
App Design
I decided to copy my logo design and multiply it to make a vibrant and attention grabbing login page. I kept the login options quite simple so as to not overwhelm app users.
When making the pages of the actual app I decided to switch up the colour palette a little by making it a pastel version of the one I used on my logo as I felt the original pink, blue and yellow were too wary and tacky and may put users off the app.
Evaluation
How effective were your different research methods? Did you find one more useful than the other? Do you feel you conducted a sufficient amount of both PRIMARY and SECONDARY research?
I think that my primary research methods of looking at popularly used social media apps and looking at the colour schemes, fonts and layouts used was effective and helpful to the development of my own design as it allowed me to see the common features that these apps tend to share (because they are familiar to users across different platforms), and I thus used this same basic layout (in terms of having a home page, a search page, an add post page, a notifications page and a profile page which are accessible through a bar at the bottom), to not over-complicate the user's process of using the app. My secondary research, which included talking to my classmates about their own findings and also explored some websites discussing things like colour and design consistency, cognitive load and imagery, I found to be helpful to me to make the decision on one solid colour scheme of pastel colours.
How effective was your planning and pre-production stage? Did it help you in the final product? Were there any changes you made during the production process? Why did you make these changes?
My planning process was fairly thorough and included important things like planning the layout of the app using a flat plan, planning out my colour scheme etc. However, in terms of the fonts I used, when I began my production I was unsure about them, as, although I felt some of the fonts from my original font sheet were acceptable for the app, I hadn't particularly decided which ones I was going to use when I begun my production. I then played around with the different fonts on my login page where I could assess them in correspondence with the app design visually.
I think however, that I should have used this opportunity to choose two solid fonts and font sizes (one for headlines and one one for general text), but instead I changed the text size and type between pages for different heading types etc. Although I only fluctuated between 3 different font types, I feel this went against the "rules" of app design, and would perhaps over-complicate the app and not make it familiar to the user. I also believe that the fonts I choose weren't as fitting as they could have been, and perhaps should've tried to choose a font that resembled Taylor Swift's brand a little more, such as the Folklore/Evermore font (IM Fell DW Pica), which only occurred to me as an afterthought.
How successful is the final product? Is it easy to navigate? Does it function effectively as an application?
The final product was relatively successful, as it is an app with easy function, as the navigation is very similar to many other similar social media applications such as Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram. I think it functions effectively, as it has lots of different aspects to interest and entertain users such as scroll-able content : photos, textposts and videos, along with song and album rankings, which would all work to make the app the kind of app people could spend hours at a time on and not get bored of. This app is the perfect place for Taylor Swift fans to come and theorize about song meanings and perspectives and discuss opinions and share their love for the singer and her music. However, a problem I faced with the production was that the original colours I used on the logo and log-in page (although still pastel) were a little too bright and garish for the app, giving it an over-whelming and tacky feel, so I wanted to change this for the pages of the app, which I did, to an even more pastel pink, blue and yellow, leaving a difference in colour scheme between the general pages and the log-in/logo. However, I think this works well, as it helps the app to stand out on the home page, whilst also having a soft, familiar tone once in the app.
Do you think you have sufficiently fulfilled the brief? Do you think you have selected an appropriate target audience and created your product to effectively appeal to them? How have you done this?
Yes I feel I have fulfilled the brief, as I have created an 8 page social media application along with a logo based on a niche concept of a particular musician, which the app remains specific to. I think the target audience of my app is really anyone who is a fan of her music, and these are the sort of people who are already using applications like TikTok ("SwiftTok") to share their theories, rankings and appreciation. In particular, the main demographic of Taylor Swift fans and thus my app would probably most likely be teenage to mid 20s females, but again, its target audience is essentially based on the interests of app users rather than their age group or gender etc.