Cardiff Met Blog 2018 – Current
Week of 29th April – Independent Study
When creating the first video I realised that there was no real progress so I then made a second day video to show more usage of the app. This allowed me to show off the notifications that I had created as well as some more personalisation abilities.
Finally to be ready for my short presentation I made a short powerpoint showing how I got to my final piece with the ending being my 2 videos.
Monday 29th April – Studio Support + Independent StudyÂ
From looking at my designs it was suggested that you cannot truly see the app being used at its full potential. This meant that I had to make the app more useable; however, I struggled to make the app function like it would if it was in a commercial use. So to over come this I would need a story line and each button pressed in the right sequence to give the appearance of a fully functioning app.
On top of this it was suggested that there is only a male point of view with the app, which is what I initially wanted. It was said that it is excluding a whole potential market so I should add in an option of having women as an option as well. However, this would mean I would have to create a whole another body and video of using female and then add in the option to the personalisation part, which would be time consuming and I was still not convinced by the idea. So moving forward I created a simple page at the start that asks the user if they would want a female form or male.
Talking with the tutor we went back to the basics of my idea as to where you show off your “(screen) body” to all your friends. My designs so far were missing a critical factor being the sharing part. For this I added the section where the user can share on many different sites their own progress, thus completing my initial idea.
To complete the app for the first use I wanted to app a mini timer of the time counting down to the next tap of the day. This was incredibly easy once I learnt how XD worked. For this each art board has a timer that moves across to the next second.
Easter work– Independent study
From all the work I’ve done so far was very basic and I know that I need to do a lot more with the personalisation and usability but I am unsure of how to make it functioning like a real app as there are so many outcomes with the personalisation page and the progress of each day. So over Easter I have congregated all the work and improvements into my app ready to get feedback from the tutors and my peers to show me where to go.
Another part I decided to add was a notification system for when someone forgets or just needs a reminder that they can tap the app once more. From using my own phone system I was able to design a somewhat realistic notification.
For this it needed a logo so from looking at the previous research many had the cartoon final aesthetic that the users would ideal want. I used this a a reference point and created a very basic logo, with the final progress of the body within the app.
Weeks around the 1st of April – Independent study
From the workshop in the pervious week I was able to create a very basic looking app. I designed the elements within Adobe Illustrator, then placed them into XD which had all the links on.
My designs were an on going process which used Illustrator along side Xd so that I could see how the design would work within the context of an app. This lit up the problem that the body cannot be seen well enough and isn’t a good enough representation of the person as well as the previously mentioned overcrowding of personalisation art board.
Through talking through with a tutor it was mentioned that an artist called Jenny Saville had a unique take on the body. Her take on the body was to pick out imperfections and what the public has made taboo and encapture those to reconstruct the human flesh, informing others on her perception of the body. Her view being that the body is practical with its resilience but is also its fragility seen from some of the rips and tares within her art work.
From Saville’s work I was inspired to use an almost photographic cartoon, painted style.
However, as I need one person’s progress from a larger size to the “perfect body” I needed to use resources from the internet. I looked at many websites to find the right style of person I could use as well as the ability to use their photos within my work.
https://www.shapeplus.com/results/never-thought-id-guy-writes/
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/diets/805718/weight-loss-transformation-myprotein
From these websites I was able to create a base/start look and a final look. I used the image trace tool for the cartoon style and photoshopped the body parts together. This allowed me to make the personalisation elements such as the nipple size, trouser colour and so on. This also helped for when I had to make the person smaller as the app progressed.
Week of the 1st of April – Studio Support + Independent Study
Creating the next two designs were easy as I used the first page as a template, copying the font, colours and aesthetics.
Moving on from this was a struggle but from the quick yet detailed workshop I was able to draw and map out my ideas for each page. This is called the wire frame. My first draw up had some issues including coherence. The initial digital design was not seen through out the app. This meant that I had to rethink the aesthetics of the rest of the app or the first page. To over come this I decided to draw some more designs that included the style of the first pages. Through redrawing the design several times it managed me to think through smaller details that I wouldn’t have thought of the first time from drawing such as the personalise page, where I changed the style of the slider/ button style. 
I wanted to keep the wonky style with sharp lines but wasn’t sure on how to physically make the interactive part slide. So I thought that buttons could be easier to create and work with the software we’ve got.
I knew that I didn’t want a simple design that would just be very basic lines so to upgrade this I changed the dash lined design from the drawing to the slightly different chevrons. These first didn’t show the range of the personalise parts so I added extra ones on top that had the traits within the design so that they function. However, through showing this to peers and tutors they though I needed to keep it simple. From the feedback I just removed the back detail, which added negative space balancing out the details.
Week of 25th March – Independent studyÂ
Through using the ruff sketches I managed to create a simple design that used only two colours. I started with black and white to perfect the silhouette and the overall design. I began to use lowercase letters but I felt that the design needed to be more crisp and some how more bold. From this I decided to make the main parts capital letters for extra impact/ ‘power’.
I experimented with the look of the raged edges compared to the crisp edges, through showing my peers it was stated that the ragged edges made the design lose the urban and contemporary feel so ended with the crisp sharp edges that can almost represent the sharp angles of ideal body.
I most like the wonky and off centre designs as it is almost a metaphor for the app being out of the mainstream/ wonky, almost insulting the classic perceptions of what we should ideally look like.
I struggled to find the right colour scheme but through trying many different colours and a little research I decided upon orange. This colour can be seen as energetic and warm as well as representing the sun which shows power. This paired with the black gives a sense of aggression and rebelling whilst still being sophisticated.
Week of the 25th April – Independent Study/ Review Initial Visuals
For the idea I first thought about having 3 different types of 6 packs, such as beer, abs and so on. however, when telling other about this they said that it would not work as the design needs to be simple and almost as if the app is a one liner.
I then thought about that the users should be able to personalise much like the app I downloaded, but this would change colour, tones and to make the person more human and seem like the user or the user can make up a dream look for them. I initially want a slider for this as the user can get more of a range of personalisation, but I’ll have to figure out how Xd will allow this.
I knew I wanted darker tones so I began to sketch up some ideas with colour pallets. I sketched up ideas of the first page so that I can just get the design idea to copy across the rest of the design. Through this process I realised that the design doesn’t need more than two or three colours so as I sketched more I lost more and more colours as well as details. I lost like the look of the second page of designs, which just have straight lines with strong angles. This design should fit in well with the target audience of younger men, due to it being modern, easy to navigate and had an urban feel.
Week of the 25th March – Independent studyÂ
Moving on from choosing the app idea, I needed to look into what style choices are out there. I opened up the app store and simply searched for 6 pack in 30 days. A lot came up and the style was always very similar, with the red tones broken up with the back and white cartoon styles.Â
Next to get a better idea of how an app like this would function and what style choices would be made, I downloaded an app called six pack in 30 days.
The logo includes a very stereotypically masculine colour scheme. the colours represent blood and power, making the user think that they are those things. I want to use this within my own app but more tricking the user so that they want to show off their app instead of the users own abs.
The app itself was extremely basic. It loaded quickly with a man’s body, which I assume is what the end goal should supposedly be. I’m not sure if I like this as it is extra time wasted on loading and I feel that my target audience would not want to spend an extra few seconds on waiting as I feel they would most likely get bored if it was a constant thing.
This loading page went on to what training plan I wanted and onto each days training plan. Within the days it included what was needed to do which increased as each day progressed. On top of this it had a side panel that almost makes it personal with reports, plan options and reminders. For my own app I could personalise it with different sizes or colours so that each user has a different experience.
One this this app isn’t is cohesive. The logo is cartoon, with red and dark tones; whereas, within the app it uses photography with a blue and lighter tones. I feel that I can create something more cohesive, which includes either just photography or cartoons.
I’m thinking of just having a darker colour scheme of only a few simple bold colours, maybe black, white and a more masculine urban colour, like red, electric blue or a harsh orange. This should be an improvement from the exciting app as the photos use the darker more sinister tones that doesn’t at all work with the cool blue almost peaceful tones.
Week of Monday 18th – Initial Ideation TutorialsÂ
In the Tuesday group tutorials it was clear that I liked 3 ideas – being locking apps/ messages, design app and 6 pack in 30 days. To really get one main idea I knew I had to think more thoroughly about the concept, ect.
The design app
To differ from what is out there I want to create something bad and that isn’t at all good. I can use comic sans, impact, curlz fonts. I can make spelling mistakes, the quality can be extremely bad. Then I looked into what sort of designed templates can be used. These can include posters, logos, business cards, flyers, invitations or even social media styles. All of this will have to be done correctly even if it is meant to be wrong, this will be extremely hard to find the balance of what is bad as everyone interprets design and art differently. Over all I feel some of the other ideas can be better suited to my style.
Locking app
This app would be to stop others from getting in/ out. The target market would either have to be parents to stop their child getting onto banking ect, or teens not wanting the parents or friends getting into their private messages, photos or social media. To create this I think I’ll have to do more on the promotion and marketing of this, due to the app being simple. Maybe come up with a few different scenarios that include both target audiences. However, looking back through the research and talking to the tutors this concept has already been created and I feel that I want to design something that is unique.
6 Pack in 30 Days
My first though is to create an app that has one touch a day and once you ‘do the workout’ or tap the screen once you can not use the app till the next day. The target audience would be simple as it would be fore young men between the ages of 16 to 29. Stereotypically they are showing off to their ‘lad’ friends and want to look their own best self to impress their potential partners. This app would feed on their need to impress and be the best and more attractive they can.
Overall, I feel that I’m most interested in the 6 pack app. This gives comedy in an almost ‘fuck society’ way, where the app itself is almost mocking the users for not going to the GYM or actually getting their own six pack. I feel that this simple idea can let me branch out into a variety of elements, like the way I can market this, the design elements, the personalisation of the app.
Week of 18th March – Initial Ideas + Tutorial
When in the Monday’s lecture I was highly inspired with different routes I could go down, whether that will include cultural, social, political, technological or environmental element is up to me. Immediately had some ideas and noted many simple concepts down. Some of these include;
I decided I needed to research into these ideas and see whether they are in the market already. To do this I simply got my smart phone and opened google play store and began to search for the different existing apps. Through this I started making larger decisions and cutting them down. This included whether they exist, if they are possible or whether I would find it interesting to create and research into.
I immediately removed the thought of tracking someone online as this would have to be dealt with sensitivity and I feel I couldn’t take it as far as I want to go. With removing all previous cookies, this is essentially going back to software basics and the day you got your own smart device, which in theory might seem great but I feel the general public does not want it. Moving forward, the pointless mind numbing games are out there and has a wide range of types existing it will be very difficult to find a niche market or something that hasn’t already been done a million times. This all is the same with the dad joke idea.
Along with this the locking app will need to be marketed differently as some already exist. These include locking certain pictures or blocking you messaging people at certain times. The market I was thinking about which is different to whats out there is teens and young adults that pass their own phones around to their friends and be really jokey. These phone owners might not want their friends to message certain people, so the app can have a finger print scanner or use a builtin one.
The last two ideas I did a little more research on as I thought they were better than some others. The first I looked into was the designer app. There is so much out there saying each one is the best and you should get their app. The set up of each app is fairly similar with 4 or 5 presets that you can adapt and personalise to what you want; these include flyers, posters, business cards ect. Once you have created the design you can download it to your phone to share. The money is made from a few different ways; some of the apps you have to pay to download the app, others you have to pay to download the design and some are free with adds.
The final idea I researched into was the 6 pack in 30 days. So may of these exist and have a very specific target market for each app. These include men from 18 to 24 years wanting a perfect body, a woman wanted to lose a few pounds around the stomach area and so on. The way I want to go is have it as a joke where the users don’t have to actually lose the weight it is just on their own screens. This has not been done but I can see the potential users out there through scrolling through the comments. On the “splits in 30 days” app there are a few funny comments saying things similar to what happens if i cant do the splits in 30 days, do I restart the whole app? and other comments mocking the app in a sarcastic tone.
Fiona Fraser's Graphics 