Brief-Its Nice That is an art and design web based publishing platform, which attracts a diverse audience from creative directors to students. The brief is to reconnect with the student audience through the promotion of the brand across any medium. I have decided to develop the ideas of an already successful brand with the ethos of interactivity. Creating an interactive app in which students can connect with industry professionals as well as other students. and not just with a focus on art and design , but with more of a focus on connectivity, and thus targeting a new and existing student audience. It is this that by word of mouth should promote and spread the word of its nice that.
The weekender is an existing area of the Its Nice That web sight, which is a weekly round of the best most eye-catching articles and works. I have merely added more interaction with users of the app, allowing students to create there own profiles and upload aspects of design or indeed anything that has inspired them through out the week. The layout is simple as the colour scheme, not detracting from the uploaded images.
This is an example of the loading page.. that would appear when the app is loaded.. the typeface used is representative of that used on the it nice that website.. this is something that needs to thought of when designing this app,staying true to the strong identity the brand already posses.
Through out the design process this app, like the website it is taking reference from will need hold a structure that is constant, it is this basic layout like the one about that will hold the basis for the four separate home type pages that will be prevalent in the design of this app. The structure is simple, and is image driven..which will help in highlighting an app which is often about the design(imagery). there will also be a constant on the page.. that will follow the user in the interaction through the app.. that of the bar branded tool bar across the stuff, which hold directional options.
This is an example of the initial homepage when entering the app for the first time.. its is simply a version of what is already in existent. you begin to see how the basic colour scheme will work in highlighting the imagery which is the central point of the interface. grey and white will form the basis of the colour scheme for this reason. the use of opacity will be used widely through out the design of the app also.. it this will define the deselected and de selected. as well as highlighting of header and body text.. this is shown below.
showing the detailing of the use of opacity to define rollovers..body/header text etc.
This is the homepage for the weekender, i have used again a simple image driven layout that will enable useres to pick articles or pieces of work that have been previously uploaded. I have decided to use colour on the homepage here.. as this is can be used as a way of defining for the user. the thumbnail images are followed by the info on what the article includes. what the articles will included is dependent on what has previously been uploaded. the strap line of the brand will also be constantly on display on ever page.
Above is the examples of the articles uploaded on to the page.. what i have decided, unlike that of the website to focus the typographic layout on a sense of interactivity.. and this is represented in the layout. moving away from the standard identity of the website and the standard identity of the majority of apps. the one/two column layout however will be consistent through out. the size of these columns may vary. The headers of the page will run along side the main body of text, this again will create an interesting visual and play on the idea of interaction. Imagery will run along the side.. the imagery will be related to the relevant articles.. this is asides from the defining image of the article which heads across the top.
this is and example of how the the images will interact with the user while an image is touched.. the image will then begin to form a a slide like tool which i hope is obvious here. with information about the specific image etc.. which is relevant to the article.. the movement for this will be side to side.. which adds to the interaction give from the app.. which has previously been purely up and down like the standard web/app design.
Above is the initial homepage.. which is used as the basic templates for the section homepages from this point.
Here you can see how the weekender pages will look at a whole.. using the homepage for the weekender as the central point a user can browse between articles. You can also see how the colour scheme helps to promote the images.. due to the colour highlighting the presence of the images.
AWARDS
This section of the app is based around Its Nice That creating weekly awards for students. This is not a new idea, however it is a proven one. Adding competitiveness to the brand will encourage people to use the app and thus create more interest in the brand. Prizes/awards will encourage students to upload their work. I wanted to give this area of the app a more personal touch, giving previous winners identities on the interface, as well as other students being able to use it as a networking tool
examples of the homepage again, showing thumbnails of the images as well as the constant tool bar..that runs across the top.. unlike the previous section of the app.. this is defined by people who have uploaded. as well as there specialisms.. this helps people navigate around the website.. as well as defining a particular specialism people may want to locate.
It is this section that gives people previous winners there identity..on the sight.. which will give an aire of familiarity to the other students on the sight.. giving identity will encourage people to upload onto the website.. as it gives professionals.. not only identity of the winners.. but help with students ability to make professional contacts. the winning work will also run across the bottom of the page. upon winning a weekly competion..students will be given the opportunity to work on selected briefs with relevant selected industry professionals. this all works as incentives.. to upload as well as a platform to connect. its is this interactivity that will set as the usp for its nice that as a brand..
from a design perspective.. all the images will follow the same black and white format.. which adds to the visual consistency of the app.. and a familiarity to all of the users.. of the page. the heavy type.. helps to draw attention.. and works well against the black and white background.. without detracting from the identity of the existing brand.
Here you can see the interactions that follows when you interact with the image on the page.. like in previous sections.. you can scroll the selected winning work and information.. on the design/designers. the contact details of all winners will also be available for professional and other students alike.
This is what the complete awards section will look like.. i like the way in which the identity pages stand out an really push forward the idea of familiarity.. to others.
FOUND-This plays on the interactivity of the design. I was aware I was narrowing down the target audience to much, focusing on just Art and Design students therefore I have decided to develop further a current idea on the website that of ‘found’ things being displayed on the website. I have decided to create an uploading platform, which will allow, not only students to upload art and design but anything creating an area of inspiration as well as a discussion forum. Users have the ability to pose questions as well as just look through for reference.
Again the homepage for this section of the app holds now a familiar layout, options available as soon as you enter this section of the design. the name of the uploader is replaced with the date if the upload. this layout works in this section as people will simply take inspiration from the images and it is this that is the focus of the mood board section of this app.
Here you can see a more standardised layout in comparison to the articles of the weekender.. this simply has taken inspiration from a blog uploading style, in which people can add captions or discussions to found things/images/ where people can then directly comment, which is where the sense of interactivity comes from. although this layout is more stereotypical of an app.. the cleanness of the white/grey background helps the images to pop.. making them the focal point..
Again the same interactive format enables a user to scroll through the images of the specific uploaded . it is at this point you can see the discussion points of other users to the sight.. and view and recommend back.
close up of the comment/image page.. the contact details are available of each uploader.. this creates and pushes the idea of its nice that creating a student community on line that will enable the promotion of the brand.
Here is an example of the uploading page, that is available where ever an upload option is available on the app. it follows a a relatively standerd format. where the uploader asks simple questions.. i.e. discussion point.. location etc. using the opacity in the type again helps not to detract from the image.
Here you can see the complete found section of the app.. with the generic upload layout that will run through out the app. from a design perspective, i think this has been the most successful.y designed section of app. its the cleanest section, with the white background etc. its is the most inkeeping with the design of the the website. this section needed to be the clearest as there is the highest amount of interactivity from users of the app.
APP I PHONE
It is important for me to push the range of the app as far as possible there for i must consider the layout across the i phones as well due to the different size constraints..also in the intrest of promoting its nice that to as many different people as possible.
Here you can see and example of the homepage to the app.. instead of following a simple two column layout.. its a single column, which allows space for text to be added at a point size which is easily legible the toll bar at the top is centralised to allow space for the options to follow the user as they navigate though the app.
Again exaples of the single column layout, which i think works well due to the space constraits. this app allows people to upload where ever they go, as people always have there phones on them, creating the interactivity of the brand, which is important in the promotion.
The complete apps... do not detract from the brand image, i think work well in staying consistent across the 3 web based mediums, from the website to the i pad to the phone, the target of making its nice increasingly interactive has been obtained without loosing the the strong brand identity its already posses.
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