Phase 04 - Week 13
Project Recap - Week 13
Revisiting after the Summer break:
- Visit London Design Festival, specifically 2LG Studios’ immersive light experience in Shoreditch
- London Design Festival - Also, while I’m visiting, I’ve booked into a couple of Lectures at the V&A on designers working with sustainable materials
- Finish my initial draft and hand it in for feedback. (Try and book a session with ASK)
Phase 04/Wk 13: Deliver
What Summer break? And new term recap…
Well, that went quickly! The break also gave me a chance to reflect on everything I have achieved so far although my extensive list of things to do has hardly been touched, I have completed a Domesika course on UX design, which hopefully will give me better insight into app creation, development, and testing on my target audience.
To start off this 12-week term, I decided to make a plan of action, as I know from past experience it’s easy to deviate from the task at hand and how quickly time goes, and this is imperative to stay on track.
Aims + Objectives - stay on track
Re-read the brief
Make sure I incorporate ‘sustainability and community’ within my app
Motivate change in my target audience
Reward users with a lighting gradient beacon
With the final Phase 4 approaching, my app isn’t complete and I still have a big question mark over the lighting aspect of the project, so there was not a moment to rest!
Prototyping the App
Create an app encouraging the community to use a recently restored local drinking water fountain instead of single-use plastics.
With the weeks ramping up fast, it was time to build this app. For this. I created a prototype on paper. As a visual reminder, with added gamification, the app incentivises users with real-time visual feedback from the fountain lighting, which changes the gradient lighting based on the community's collective performance. The aim is to build daily habits, community collaboration, and an effort to make drinking water consumption a part of everyday life instead of relying on single-use plastics. Making the action easy, rewarding, and socially engaging encourages positive behaviour change towards a greener future within the community and ultimately reduces the town’s carbon footprint.
I sketched out all the key actions I wanted to include from the earlier market research conducted on the current market and competitor’s apps (see week 12). Getting everything roughly sketched out on paper was vital to allow me to consider all the elements, functionality and flow without getting too distracted by the logos, colours and other aesthetics. It also meant I could show it to my target audience and gauge their reaction for feedback before moving onto a more refined layout.
There are so many great experimental ideas to take onboard here. It's time to start building a more detailed design and test the user flow functionality with a bit of feedback.
LDF - London Design Festival
SPECTRUM by 2LG Studio - researching immersive experiences
Trying to find inspiration for the lighting side of my project, I decided to visit the London Design Festival, specifically a project called Spectrum, a pop-up exhibition at Hart Hotel, Shoreditch. On the inaugural day of LDF, the artists Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead were there in person to present to introduce their work, gave a quick walk around their neighbourhood - Shoreditch Design Triangle, discussed their thought processes and hosted an hour workshop in which we talked about design, looked at colour theories and how it evokes memories.
2LG Studio Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead
Jordan and Russell were incredibly generous with their time. As part of a small group, we were invited to walk around the Shoreditch art scene in the neighbourhood surrounding their design studio, showing the environment around them that had inspired them.
Then, it was back to the immersive installation at Hart, where they discussed the emotional connections to colours and textures from the brief. I absolutely loved this experience, which was incredibly personal, uplifting and visually appealing.
Video projections, poetry and exploring personal connections
Both Jordan and Russell have a background and have begun their careers in theatre, and this shows in the presentation of this project. Set in the hotel's basement, Hart Shoreditch, Spectrum is an immersive exploration of colour through a series of digital videos of gradients set to enchanting music and spoken poetry. They collaborated with digital artist Lucy Hardcastle, and the music was composed by musician Quentin LaChapele. It’s a mesmerising experience using digital colour and spoken verse to combine their narratives and mindful practices from their connections. And this is very much what I wanted to include in my FMP.
‘Crafting a design narrative through colour’ Workshop:
Following the tour, Jordan and Russell hosted a small group workshop. They reflected on our own experiences, creating our snapshots of an ‘exploration of colour’ by discussing 3 colours and their relevance to us. This study of colour made me evaluate the colours I will use in my lighting gradients, what they signify, and how I will use this to light up my fountain. For instance, yellow means happy, Green means go, red means stop/warning etc. I can’t just assume my viewers will understand what the colour gradients mean, and I need to conduct a study.
Testing my colour theories
Applying the same ‘thought process’ principles from the 2LG workshop, I decided to test my colour theory study. This will be incredibly important in the gradient lighting up the Jubilee Drinking Water Fountain ‘beacon’ part of my project and needs to make an impact but also the colour needs to be visually obvious to indicate community involvement as this could influence their behaviour.
Testing Colour Theories
Marion Deuchars
I found this article, backdated from a 2017 edition of, Its Nice That, [1] discussing acclaimed illustrator Marion Deuchars, known for her vibrant colour illustrations and distinctive style. It highlights her latest publication, which emphasises the role of colour in art and design. Deuchars aims to inspire creativity and exploration, encouraging them to engage with their surroundings.
Marion discusses, “I don’t think the subject of colour is only interesting to creatives, I think we are all interested in colour and we are all creative! Colour is so much part of our lives that we take it for granted.”
This article shows how important colours to symbolise an action and not just a personal preference. I think the colour gradient lighting is such an important indicator for the Jubilee Water Fountain and be a great motivator for the local community to interact with.
Reference List
Websites
[1] www.itsnicethat.com. (n.d.). Illustrator Marion Deuchars decodes the rainbow in new reference book, Colour. [online] Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/marion-deuchars-colour-illustration-publication-310817 [Accessed 25 Sep. 2024].