Friday, 25 November 2016

Finalising my Idea

For my interactive book on the 1960's, I'm making a book about The Supremes, their story, their music and their influence on that era. It will be full of information and facts, but also help for people to remember or be inspired by the girl group.

For this, I wanted to look at layouts of magazines and pages of that era, as I'll be designing it as if it was made in the 60's. I found a couple of creative pages that I liked, so I drew this up in my sketchbook.

I liked having a creative way to show or tell something to the audience, so I will continue to find retro but creative ways to present my book. Another thing is, in the 60's, most magazines had not a lot of order about them, so things seem a little messier (compared to how neat things can be these days). I want to replicate this.

I did a small practice run in Indesign on laying out text, and using paragraph styles. You can see this really simple layout I was playing with.

I want to do more of a complicated design next time in Indesign, and make it colourful and arty.

1960's Style Book

Our new brief is to create an interactive book with a theme of the 1960's, and about a subject - or more - in the 1960's. For instance, culture, politics, etc. We can design this in any style we want, psychedelic or comic, for example.

Up next, comes the research. I looked into typography and photography back in the 60's, to help me decide on the style of my interactive book.

Photography in those days was mostly black and white, and the use of film cameras (obviously). I've included some of my favourite shots in this blog.

A very famous photographer in the 1960's, that worked with many celebrities also, is David Bailey. He's known worldwide for his pictures, that mostly were of celebrities and even for the magazine Vogue. He was a cultural icon for art and photography, with his clear shots and simple approach.


Another photographer who had an impressive private collection, was Lewis Morley. His photos are a little more creative, and some have an atmosphere because they're not as clear as Bailey's. The photos are a bit more creative and aren't as simple - which I like. Having the images as black and white also adds to the effect of his images.

Psychedelic font
I also had to research typography in the 60's, and a good way to look at that was looking at posters and album covers of that time.

A font that's very popular is the psychedelic font, created by Wes Wilson. This font floats around artwork and has a very artistic and hippy feel to it. Wilson says, when he was creating the font, that he wanted to use up all of the space when he was creating a poster.

My Sketchbook
There are other fonts, some are very bubble-looking, curly or pretty 'simple'. Colour was a huge thing, also, and the 60's was full of it.


My idea was the brief was, at first, fashion. However, doing some simple research on fashion in the 60's, I was mostly inspired by a group of girls that were highly influential in that era. The Supremes. From their music to their fashion, they overcame racial barriers and released top hits in their careers. So, my book will be about The Supremes and how influential they were.

Friday, 18 November 2016

Getting to Know Indesign

I followed an Abode tutorial for InDesign, and it helped me to get the basics of producing something interactive. The tutorial is here if you want to check it out. 

First, I downloaded the files I needed to and then I followed the tutorial. It was pretty easy, and it was helpful to see how buttons and slideshows, for instance, works. It teaches you how to make things pop up, like audio or notifications; it teaches you to make photos switch and turn into a slideshow, and, finally, it shows you how to use buttons to switch these photos (make it interactive). 

This was really helpful, and I want to keep exploring InDesign. This is something I can do with this guide page, which helps you make hyperlinks and etc, etc. You can read this here.

Thursday, 17 November 2016

The Business

In order for my business to work effectively and be a success, I would use certain techniques. Job production is where you create one product, and when you've finished that one you can start another. The reason being is that I'd like to focus entirely on making my app and website, and then upgrading it where need be. As I'm only creating one thing then sending it out to a store for multiple to buy, job production is the most suited technique for my company.

There may be some constraints on production, however. One that comes to mind is timing. This is because to build a website and application from scratch isn't easy and is time-consuming. Production will take a while, and any updates in the future for any glitches or new features will also take time. However, with dedication and the right timing for advertising the app, I know timing could only be a small constraint.

There are some legal requirements when starting any business (in the UK). This includes from choosing the name to tax liabilities, and more. Some don't really impact my business - like trading laws and limitations - but things like choosing a name that isn't offensive or copied, and seeing what copyright and insurances I need to look into. 

There are some UK laws that affect app developers in particular, too. One is the Data Protection Act 1998. This law is all about the information you gain from people using you app, and how t use that data. You can only gain information from people that you need, and you ned to register with the ICO. You cannot store this information for longer than needed, you must provide it for the person to access if they wish and let them know what's happening to their data.

Another law is the Office Of Fair Trading. This prevents companies from acting aggressively to customers, and the company is not allowed to hide anything important in small-print or 'privacy policy'. For instance, if there are any in-app purchases then it must be clearly stated. 

You can download my application from the Apple Store, however, that is not where you subscribe or create your account, but you can login. On the website, you will create an account and subscribe to the monthly cost. This is because Apple can take 30% of profits made from application prices or in-app purchases. By signing up online, Apple don't take the huge percentage out, but you can still make money. The website is linked within the application, so sign up is easy and simple.

How I'm going to let people know about this is, firstly, the website. This is where you sign up and choose to subscribe. The website will show animations of the features and when the application will or does look like. It shows you where you can download it, and it shows reviews from others (I'll come back to this).

Another platform I can take is social media. Social media is the best way to reach people my age, so I'll create Facebook ads, an Instagram page, and etc. This will reach out to people and they can browse the feed from that platform or move straight to the website. 

Finally, I will try and get reviews. I'll release a prototype version for a certain group of people for reviews. I can also get in contact with Buzzfeed and other popular online sites to review it or try it out. I want to get as many people as I can excited about the release of the application.


Thursday, 10 November 2016

Who is my app for?

I don't mean to be vague, but everyone.

The issue I have with targeting a certain audience for my product, is that it reaches out to people with mental health issues - which is one in four globally. I have a huge global audience this can be relevant to, and an approximate of that audience is 450 million people.

However, I won't be able to reach that many people as there are complications, like language barriers and such. Though this narrows down my possible audience, I still can't narrow that down to how old my audience is and what they earn.

I first started with some research. I wanted to focus on young adults, at first, as they would be the ones using apps more regularly. I found that the increase of young adults and children being admitted to the hospital, over the last decade, was 68%. Another statistic was that over half of adults suffering with mental issues were diagnosed in childhood, and at least 80000 children and young adults are suffering from severe depression. Source: http://www.youngminds.org.uk/training_services/policy/mental_health_statistics

These statistics helped me to realise anxiety and depression, and other mental issues, was serious in young adults and children. Considering that 18-24 years old was the age group that spends the most time on apps on mobile devices, I decided to aim my product at 16 - 25 year olds. However, this does not mean I won't have features for older or younger people, as mental health issues is something that affects everyone, and I don't want to exclude anyone at all. Source: http://www.businessofapps.com/app-usage-statistics-2015/

So, I decided to do a survey. This was to gather information about people's interest in my product, whether they would use it (and pay for it), and whether they suffered at all from mental issues. I am still getting responses, but it seems most of people responding are 15 - 19, and only 15% don't suffer from any mental health issues. Again, 39% don't want to see a doctor or therapist though they suffer symptoms. This helped my to add an app disguise to the features of my app - (one of which 61% would feel is useful). So far, the more important features are a mood tracker, and a progress report - and I've also received suggestions.

Take my survey here: https://goo.gl/forms/dcUWSDi1weSeuttd2 


Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Personal Brand Logos

Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. This is Wikipedia's definition of personal branding, and this is what I was tasked to do recently. 

I decided to look at other examples on Pinterest to get an idea of what was already out there. Most designs related to context. For instance, a floral design for florists; a camera icon for photographers; a creative art for artists, etc. Most designs were simple and not overly complicated with colours or the design itself.

Next, to organise my ideas, I decided to set out a physical mind map. This was to get creative and every time I have an idea I can add it, and brainstorm from old ideas. I first organised the designs I had copied from Pinterest into groups.
Next, I wanted my logo to represent me, so I wrote down words to describe me, hoping for some inspiration on how to reflect that. Finally, I discovered some colour themes I could include in my logo. This mind map helped me get all of my ideas and thoughts out on physical paper.

Then, I took a page of my sketchbook and went away to design multiple ideas. Some I wasn't happy with as they didn't suit me and my
personal brand. I like the logos where I included the word 'designer'. Of course, I'm not in a designing career as of yet, but it sounded nicer than 'student'. I then took my favourite design and took it into digital form to play with it. 

In the end I went with something simple. I like the end product because it's not complicated and it has a nice texture. I think there could've been ways to include more of my personality in the logo, and I may even keep working on an icon to add to it, but, for now, I'm pleased with its progress so far. 


My Product

I have to create a product, and, for that product, a proposal. I had to brainstorm ideas, and I thought it would be a good idea to produce something I'm passionate about. Those things are children, writing and helping people. At first, I thought of a sketchbook that would help inspire artists. A wise man once told me 'never start with a clean sheet of paper'. However, when you have sketchbooks full of blank pages, it's hard to not imagine how to make it 'unclean'. This is what inspired me to think of a sketchbook full of pages with scribbles, dirt or even paragraphs. This will hopefully help inspire artists to create.

Another idea was a children's book to help with reading and/or writing. As a big sister, I can see what helps my little sister with reading and writing, and thought I could create a book as a helpful tool.

Finally, I thought of something different. An app. As someone who is obsessed with good apps on my phone, I thought of one to help people with any kind of anxiety. This would help track your moods, what triggers any negativity, have a panic mode for when you need it, and gain anonymous support from real people also using the app. I thought this may be really helpful to people who suffer with anxiety, panic attacks or any type of mental illness. I thought was my my best idea because a lot of people suffer in silence with mental illnesses, and not having support from others or themselves.

I designed an arty proposal in my sketchbook with all of my ideas and thoughts for this app  I can't wait to improve on it, and start some much needed research.