Before we were given our brief, we were tasked with quick timed studies of six objects and locations. I actually really enjoyed the challenge of this task, of trying to capture the features of the object to make it recognisable in such a short space of time. I found that this technique would be an effective way of creating logos or icons for digital products such as apps and websites as the limited amount of time meant I only include the essential parts and features which is what makes an effective icon.
For our Interaction design brief, we were tasked with designing a digital product that would encourage people to take time away from their screens and interact more their surroundings. To begin with I began brainstorming the different types of digital products I could use including apps, websites, digital books and connected products. From the outset, my target audience was going to be children as they can be considered the most important age group do get their required amount of exercise. After this, I narrowed down the type of product I wanted to design to a digital book as it could combine both exercise and reading, two very important factors in a child’s development.
Before I got into the details of the branding and layout of my product, I explored different elements including who it would attract, what was the aim and how it would be used, to make sure I had a strong foundation of what my product was going to be.
As part of our task, we were told to carry out research which correlates to our product’s aim/purpose. The figures surrounding childhood obesity shocked me and made me realise that more products need to be introduced to help curve the problem. As well as this, I researched into the benefits of exercise as well as reading so that I could include it in my design page.
My next challenge was coming up with an effective and catchy name and slogan for the product. I struggled with this when using words such as walk, learn, and read as they would either focus on the exercise and outdoor side of the product or on the reading side and leave out the outdoor aspect. Then I narrowed it down to creating the name using acronyms which means it would be short and snappy. After finalising the name as ‘Literacy Outdoor Learning’ I moved onto creating a logo, and the idea of putting an image in the ‘O’ came to mind straight away. I wanted to use this as a way of showing the outdoor side of the product. Any other monograms I came up with didn’t have the same effect I felt as the first, so I picked it as my final logo. Following this I created a quick flow diagram of the stages of setting up the app and starting the book.
I based the tasks that the child would have to complete to gain the next part of the story off of Fundamental Skills. These are regularly used in schools so I felt that it would then expand the target audience to schools as well. At the end of my brainstorming I noted down some of the specific details that the product would have to include to make sure I had covered all areas.
Once I had finalised all the details of my digital product, I created this page as a way of visualising what it may look like and the main details to understand what it is. I am pleased with the final outcome of my digital product design as I feel it would be a product that you could find on the app store today.
Digital Work:
Following completing my final design for my digital product, I decided to explore what the logo and the book’s app layout would look like on photoshop. This was my first time creating something like this on photoshop and I am quite pleased with the outcome.
