Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Evaluation

The name ‘Cosmetology’ is suitable for the app as it references the beauty community and the beauty industry.

From the feedback, everyone (including myself) would like an actual app like this where we are able to have all reviews in one place as it will be a lot more convenient.
I think that the design overall does reflect a beauty app as it looks very on-trend which is perfect as the main audience for this app would be those who look up to bloggers/influencers from Instagram and Youtube.

The final outcome of the app appears modern, contemporary and trendy, I think it is an app can be aimed at anyone of any gender or age as the layout is simple and easily to navigate though as it is a standard and similar to existing social media apps.

The design of the app is bold and with the use of the colour scheme and the differentiating heading and body text. The rectangular box icons makes the design appear organised and allow the user to easily select the options.

The app is a platform for anyone to access and use to share their tips and advice to one another. The main purpose of the app however, is to read the ratings and reviews of a product before you buy which it does. It also has a feature that allows the consumer to either search for a product manually or to scan. This app was supposed to be easy and user-friendly which it is. The colour coding allows the user to easily identify a category without having to read the product name.

Brief 8: Gap X Me - Evaluation

I had chosen this brief as I wanted to broaden my illustration design style. My designs are usually created for the purpose to be seen digitally or on some sort
of packaging. I haven’t created anything thus far for clothing and this brief allowed me to design for something that I wouldn’t usually design for.

I found this brief fun and exciting to do as I felt that my design could be more relaxed and I didn’t have the pressure to have to design something perfectly. I’ve also not tried to design any clothing pieces either so this was something that I was sure that I could create and for it to look recognisable.
The final t-shirt design looked better than I thought.
I wanted to make sure that I achieved simplicity and for it to also look unique. I do think that the jeans do look realistic - or as realistic as it can from being an illustration. I believe that the colours, style and type all work together to make it seem wearable and reflect on Gap’s brand.

The only thing I wish I could’ve changed in the submission is the white background of the design. I would have wanted it to have a transparent background instead but I didn’t realise it until
I looked at the other submissions.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Feedback

Would you be interested in this app if you saw it advertised?

• This is definitely something I would download.
• Does this actually exist? Because yeah.
• Yeah 100%
• Yes, I’d love something like this.
• I think it’ll be very useful so yeah.
• Yes, it looks good.
• I would try it out yeah!
• Wow this is amazing! I want this app.
• Of course! I’m always looking for the latest product.
• Yeah, I would especially use the make up one.

What are your thoughts on the layout?

• I don’t hear the word often but it makes sense
• It’s fitting for a beauty app
• I like it as you can understand it is about beauty
• It’s an easy name to remember
• Not a word that you hear a lot so it’s good and unique
• It kind of sounds fancy for beauty but not tacky
• I think you’d be able to understand the app content easily just from the name
• It sounds quite unique
• I like it. It sounds science-y
• It sounds like a beauty school but I guess it kind of is

What are your thoughts on the name?

• I don’t hear the word often but it makes sense
• It’s fitting for a beauty app
• I like it as you can understand it is about beauty
• It’s an easy name to remember
• Not a word that you hear a lot so it’s good and unique
• It kind of sounds fancy for beauty but not tacky
• I think you’d be able to understand the app
• content easily just from the name
• It sounds quite unique
• I like it. It sounds science-yIt sounds like a beauty school but I guess it kind of is

What are your thoughts on the colour scheme?

• Again, subtle and easy to see
• It’s quite calming actually
• Classic, no-nonsense
• I like the combination, they work well together• I like how it’s not stereotypical beauty colours
• Classy
• Minimal and uplifting
• I’m glad it’s not pink because that would be what people would automatically think.
• I like it! It’s soft and light
• Nice subtle combination.

What are your thoughts typefaces?

• I like the bold one, it looks modern
• I think the thickness of the title and the body text are complementary
• I like the contrast of the thick and thin typeface
• I really like the bold text. It seems very trendy
• The bold and the thin type is easy to differentiate which is what you would want.
• They work great together
• I like the different weights. You can see the difference between the title and the main text
• The bolder text really stand out and easy to read and it looks good with the body text
• I think the whole app looks great
• A nice contrast of typeface

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Final app design

Brief 8: Gap X Me - Submission

Title
The design has been titled ‘What’s your style’ as not only is it supposed to celebrate Gap’s 50th anniversary but to also celebrate everyone’s different styles. 

Manifesto
The manifesto reads ‘By celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Gap brand and how it started out, the teeshirt features what I believe Gap to be which is denim jeans. The teeshirt design includes different styles and variations of existing and previous jeans as everyone is different and have their own style.’

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Design development

Landing page

Product navigation page

Skincare trends

Skincare article

Beauty products

Beauty review page

My profile

Homepage

Favourited items

Nail care post

Scanner

Settings

The layout of the app design is organised and in a standard viewing which is similar to any other social media app. This allows for easy functioning where everyone at any age can use without it being complicated.

The rectangular and linear design icons on the app is supposed to allow the user to easily distinguish each feature as the design separates. This helps with user accessibility and convenience. To further the user experience and optimum functioning of the app, colours have been used to co-ordinate each area of the app for example, the peach colour will always be in reference to beauty and make up whereas, the blue will always be in reference to nail care.

Using colour-coding will help the user navigate through an understand the app more when they can associate an area with a colour rather than having to read the area. This will also save time as the user is able to find what they’re looking for based on the colour of the area, which helps them filter articles/ posts easier.

‘Loew Heavy’ is the main heading text typeface as it is bold and is easy to read and view. ‘Sofia Pro Light’ is used as the body text as the stroke point is much lesser than Loew Heavy. The contrast of both typefaces balance each other out and is a representation that beauty can be as bold or as subtle as each individual prefers. It shows that beauty comes in different weights, preferences and opinions and both typefaces come together to create a balance that work well alongside each other.

Brief 8: Gap X Me - Development

 



I wanted the outcome of the design to be simple where it would show different variations and styles of jeans from both men and women’s sections of the brand.

The different colours and styles of the jeans are influenced by their existing and previous denim jeans that Gap stock. To make the design appear more realistic and relaxed, the illustrations of the jeans are presented in natural positions such as cross-legged or folded up as they would be in it’s natural setting whilst at home or in store.

As I didn’t want to over-complicate the design, I have chosen to use 4 different jeans style positions and repeat the designs but so that it shows differentiation, the colours and the styles have been changed so they do not look the same.

Once I finished adding colour to the jeans from the images, I experimented with different layouts and patterns to see which would be the most suitable.

I tried different placements such as making the design fill the whole square and try different rotations but Irealised if there was a repeating pattern on a t-shirt,the cut-off of the design may look odd.
I settled on the layout of one style of each design as it looks much cleaner and it allowed room for addition- al information which it celebrates year of when Gap was founded.

For the typeface, I researched into Gap’s existing posters and their logo typeface. While I couldn’t
find the original Gap typeface, the closest was Spire. Although it may be easier to guess the brand of thet-shirt from it having the Spire logo, the type itself made the whole design seem old and it doesn’t match alongside the illustration design. The combination of the two looks odd.

From their many poster and advertisements, Gap uses Helvetica Bold for their headings. Helvetica is a neutral typeface as a popular choice to use with alongside many typefaces and designs. Helvetica Bold worked much better alongside the illustration designthan Spire did as it makes the design appear modernand contemporary which I had in mind.

With most brands, Gap has a signature colour which is a navy blue. I tried the type in their blue and with black. The difference is subtle as the blue is quite dark itself but I was leaning towards the type in black.

I asked a few people on their opinions on which one looked better and though they knew it was for the Gap competition, they preferred the black as all the jeans have a black outline so the black typeface would look consistent to the design.

The final design I had chosen was the design with the black typeface as I do agree that it looks more consistent with the design. The layout of the design is placed centrally so that it looks clean and orderly.

Brief 8: Gap X Me - Idea

I had chosen to create illustrations as my form ofcreative process for the final idea as illustration andpattern design it is what I enjoy.

Idea 1: Jeans. When I think of the Gap brand, I immediately am drawn towards jeans and it makes sense as the Gap brand started with jeans.

Idea 2: Create an illustration of their first ever store in San Francisco to show the heritage of where it all began.

Idea 3: Create a pattern design that was popular in the 60s/70s or design the items that they sold in theirfirst ever store.

Idea 1 was the strongest as I believe that it represents Gap and people would understand the reference to despite there being no logo.

Brief 8: Gap X Me - Research

Gap was founded by Donald and Doris Fisher in 1969 when Doris had made jeans for Donald as hecouldn’t find a pair that would fit him.

In the beginning, Gap was named ‘The Gap’ by Doris Fisher which was a reference to the generation gap.

Their first store was located in San Francisco onOcean Avenue in 1969. At this time, they only stocked Levi’s clothing and LP records so that they could attract the younger audience. In 1973, they released a radio jingle that had advertised clothing for every ‘shape, sex or [and] size’. In the 1997, they went digital and started selling their clothing online.

Their attitude is ‘American Optimism’ and their styleis casual, clean and confident. Gap embracesyouthfulness and the freedom to express individual style.

They now have 1,700 stores worldwide, in 70different countries.

Generally, all their t-shirts - both men and women’s are plain or have the GAP logo so I couldn’t take away anything from their current designs.

The box placement on the tee-shirt is a representation of their iconic blue box of their logo design.

Brief 8: Gap X Me - Brief

The Gap X Me is a brief that is aimed at aspiring creatives. The Gap company’s 50th university is soon approaching since opening in 1969 by Donald and Doris Fisher. With their supplied t-shirt template, they would like us to create a design that we associate with Gap or what Gap means to us and also incorporate their history, style and attitude in the design.

We are able to use different creative outlets that wewish and be as creative as we can. Alongside the design, we have to write a manifesto on the rationale behind the design and why we have chosen to create the designed.

The only exception to the brief is that we are unable to use the word GAP in a consecutive order or feature the logo on the t-shirt.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - App content

The app will feature beauty and make up, haircare, nail care and skincare as all these areas are the main beauty elements.

Not only will users be able to view ratings and reviews of products, they will also be able to view trends and articles so that they are in-the-know about upcoming products and products/brands to be aware of.

By doing this, hopefully it would further help the user in making decisions on a product and be aware of outsider tips.

As I wanted it to be a community for beauty lovers, a homepage feed would allow users to interact with one another, post articles/experiences and recommend products to each other. The app would allow the user to either be known by their real name or anonymously to help to protect their identity as people may not feel comfortable putting themselves out there.

The app would have a barcode scanner so when the user is on-the-go and doesn’t want to type in the

product name in the search bar, it would allow them to scan the item instead and the product information will appear on the search results. The user is then able to view the product which would lead directly to the ratings and reviews of the product.

The app has a ‘favoured’ icon where the user can save articles/products/posts so that they can view another time or if they are wanting to purchase a product, they can save it in their favourites for reference.
The user profile allows the user to view their account, posts, shared articles etc... The profile also allows the user to input their physical appearance so that others can view and compare characterises, and help make a better judgement of a product based on the reviewer. Similar to the user having the option to have their name public or private, the user will not have to fill in any physical description if they do not want.

‘Search for a product’ bar is displayed on all pages as the main purpose of the app is to find reviews.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - App name consideration

As the app is about beauty, it would make to use name it after something beauty-related.

The name that would be the most suitable for this app is 'Cosmetology'.

The app name ‘Cosmetology’ derives from the function of the app and is a reference to cosmetics and the beauty industry.

To be a cosmetologist is to be someone who helps with personal care such as hairdressers, make up artists, nail technicians and dermatologists etc... The name ‘Cosmetology’ helps to celebrate the skill and art of beauty where people are their own teachers and students and share and value each others opinions.

The app name keeps with the simplicity and direct nature of the app which it will be simple, easy to understand and relates to everyone in the beauty industry.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Colour consideration

For the colour scheme, I looked into neutral-feminine colours which led me to choose soft neutral colours.

I didn’t want a bright or obnoxious colour scheme that were contrasting in colours as it wouldn’t be suitable good for user experience.

The base/main colour that was chosen is a soft, light purple as this colour represents beauty but in a subtle, mature way as opposed to a stereotypical pink colour. Purple is the rarest and difficult colours in nature which is why it is used by wealthy people such as royalty. I want the app to be a platform where people would exclusive and past of a community which is what they colour purple represents.
Based from the soft purple shade, I found its complimentary colours. The use of complimentary colours are so that the design of the app will be easy to view and pleasant. The complementary colours also represents how in beauty, everything should fit together to make something work and to look pleasing which is what the colours show.

The colours on the app are not placed in any particular order, the variation of colours work well together regardless of the arrangement.

Although the colour scheme may appear slightly more feminine, they are mainly neutrals.
I did consider the colour scheme a few times as I wanted the design to be gender fluid. However,
I had to be conscious that the beauty industry is more feminine than masculine and the app is aimed at the beauty industry.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Typeface consideration

Heading text
For the app design, I want it to appear bold, modern, chic and confident. Therefore, the app should feature a bold serif typeface to use for the heading text in the app.



Loew Heavy is a geometric typeface, the mechanical shapes have been designed so that the letters will appear legible in small and larger sizes. The typeface is influenced by the early industrial designers and is a modern typeface.

The Raleway typeface features both text figures and linking numbers which makes it unique. The Raleway type is designed with a single weight which makes it equally weighted throughout each letter and appear clean and sharp.

Proxima Nova is a popular typeface as is known to be a hybrid between Futura and Akzidenz, it is a combination between geometrics and modern proportions.

I have chosen to use the Loew typeface for the app design as believe the boldness, geometric-mechanical shaped letters makes it appear confident, loud and proud which is exactly what I want the app to portray to its users and relay how they should feel.

Body text
For the descriptions, articles and posts, there would need to be a body text typeface that will work well alongside the Low Heavy typeface. I will be using another sans serif as the modernity of typeface will reflect the target audience of the app.



Futura is a classic and popular sans serif typeface that is based entirely on geometric forms. Almost all the letters have even strokes throughout.

Lato is a typeface that was created in 2010 by Polish designer, Łukasz Dziedzic. 'Lato' translates to summer. The round details of the letter is supposed to give a feeling of warmth, like the summer.

Sofia Pro Light is a redesign of the Sofia typeface which was created in 2008. The typeface is supposed to appear modern and harmonious as body text and headline text.

For the body text, Sofia Pro Light seems the most suitable as the letters looks the most similar to Loew Heavy so it would help create a better balance between the two. The Sofia Pro Light typeface seems the most modern-looking and has more personality as opposed to the other two.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Wireframes

The app design should be in a simple layout that is similar to other social media apps as people are already aware and understand how they work.

I looked into app design that I liked and which I thought would be the most suitable for a beauty app and by also looking a beauty websites, I noticed a theme of having boxes/buttons. They are used to differentiate and organise different categories and to make the design stand out.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Sitemap ideas

When considering the usability and navigation of the app design, I created 2 sitemap ideas for potential app outcomes. 

Both sitemaps are similar however, site map 1 has less pages to click on. For a better user experience,
I believe that if the information is direct and allows the user to click on a element straight away, it would be easier for user to navigate through the app efficiently. Sitemap 2 has more options in the product category and it may be frustrating having to choose an option and then having to go back and choose another option. I would be easier and quicker to have certain products all in one place.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Initial ideas

The influence of bloggers and influencers can have biased opinions as they may simple be getting paid to lie and feature the product to be paid. Especially if the consumer is naive, they would buy the product as someone they look up to has endorsed the product.

Shopping online can be difficult and a hassle just as the same as going in-store. A certain store may not stock a certain brand that the consumer is looking for therefore would have to go onto another website or shop to find the other product or some websites do not have a review option so it may be difficult for consumers to know if they’re wasting their money or not.

Introducing an app may be more useful and helpful to consumers to compare, find and recommend products to other users. Their account profile would allow them to describe their physical appearance and particular concerns (if any) so that when they review a product, it would be an effective feature for the consumer to compare similarities or differences to make the best judgement to find out if

the product will be suitable for them.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Survey

Have you ever regretted buying a beauty product?

• Always! I’ve wasted so much money throwing out make up because they’re not suitable.
• Yeah and it’s sad.
• I literally threw something out yesterday having
• only bought it last week because it was bad!
• Yeah.
• Yeah, some products just don’t hit the spot.
• All the time! It’s crazy how in America they can return used make up but all we can do is throw it out
• Yeah - it’s ridiculous.
• Sadly, yes. It happens a lot.

Do you feel like you’ve wasted money on something that was hyped up on social media?

• Yeah, I feel like they lie.
• Yes, they all seem to do sponsored posts now and can’t tell if they’re being genuine or not and I actually buy the product, so annoying.
• Everyone does ads now so I don’t buy ‘hyped’ products anymore unless I really look into it or else I’d waste my money.
• Yeah and most of the products are expensive!
• Yeah! Those illuminating drops!
• I can never tell anymore if products are actually hyped because they’re good or if it’s because they are influencers who are hyping them up to get paid.
• Yeah. It’s especially annoying when the product is from a different country.

How do you go about buying a beauty product?

• I usually go by word of mouth - family, friends,
  colleagues
• I do extensive research!
• If they do testers, I usually ask for testers.
• If I want an expensive product, I will wait until
  there’s enough reviews to see if I should buy it.
• Reviews
• Reviews or recommendations
• I just hope for the best most of the time.

Do you ever read product ratings?

• Yeah! I don’t have money to waste
• Every time - without a doubt.
• Yes but it’s difficult to find most of the time.
• Yes but sometimes some products don’t have any ratings or reviews so it can be difficult.
• Yeah if I can be bothered - it’s a hassle most of the time
• Yeah I do it a lot
• Only if I can be bothered

How would you feel about a platform where all reviews are in one place?

• That’ll be so great and helpful!
• I’ll be on it straight away!
• An app would be amazing. Like on the go thing.
• YES! That would be perfect!
• I’ll have so much spare time and money if I could find a platform like that!
• You mean all reviews in on once app or something? That would be amazing!
• I’ll never complain again about struggling to find products! Like you can’t even run out of reviews!

From reading the feedback, it does seem like people are also frustrated about products being hyped about but not performing as they hoped. Wasting money in general is an issue but when people spend money on high end beauty, they cannot get a refund because of hygiene purposes.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Existing app research

'Totalbeauty.com’ and ‘Female Daily’ are the only apps that were available that is similar to the brief.

The ‘Totalbeauty.com’ app looks old and hasn’t been updated in a while. It does not appear to be a beauty app as it is very standard and it seems cheap.

The user experience on the app and the design of the app was badly made as it looks dull and the default app screen size appeared too large.

The ‘Female Daily’ app however, seems more beauty-related and user-friendly. The iconography on the app is straightforward. It allows the user to easily locate the information they may need by clicking on the icons which is great so that it balances out the amount of information that is operating on the app. The app seems like a genuine, active beauty community as the users are able to share images of themselves or products they like or are testing out.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Website research

Shopping online can be difficult and a hassle just as the same as going in-store. A certain store may not stock a certain brand that the consumer is looking for therefore would have to go onto another website or shop to find the other product or some websites do not have a review option so it may be difficult for consumers to know if they're wasting their money or not.

Introducing an app may be more useful and helpful to consumers to compare, find and recommend products to other users. Their account profile would allow them to describe their physical appearance and particular concerns (if any) so that when they review a product, it would be an effective feature for the consumer to compare similarities or differences to make the best judgement to find out if the product will be suitable for them.

Product reviews
On most health and beauty websites, there is an average score rating, near the product name which is based from the product reviews from real people. Sometimes on these websites, it may be difficult to find reviews as some may not have any or enough reviews to make a decision about the product.

Brief 6: Research Led Brief - Beauty Review App - Brief

Background
People in society are becoming increasingly aware of beauty and standards. People appear to be taking charge of their body and skin whether that is by the clothes they wear, eating habits, exercising, meditating, taking care of their skin, wearing make-up as part of their daily routine.

The use of social media has risen significantly where people are checking upon it multiple times throughout the day. With that, 'everyday people' are exposed to advertisements or from people they follow - showing and sharing products that they 'love' whether that be genuine or sponsored.

Problem
The use of social media and the internet has influenced people's buying decisions such as bloggers/influencers and celebrities. Sometimes it is difficult to see whether the original poster (a potential role model) does genuinely like and uses the product or if it is because they have been asked to make a sponsored post.

With the rise of YouTube stars and fashion bloggers, the influencers are receiving products for free to try or are being paid to share them with their audience. If there are people that look up and are inspired by social media influencers/bloggers and celebrities, they would most likely care and listen to their opinions. Therefore, if a blogger/influencer or celebrity said that they loved a particular product, people would immediately go and buy it and not really thinking about whether it would work for them which may lead to them wasting their money.

Solution
Create a beauty community app that allows real people to socialise and interact with other beauty lovers where they can share their opinions on certain products and recommend products to others such as dupes and tips.

An app would allow the user to be able to access information whilst on-the-go/shopping where they don't have enough time to access several webpages to find different reviews. The app would filter all reviews from shops such as Boots and Superdrug as well as allowing people to manually review the items onto the app.

A barcode scanner option of the product for ease of use as it may save them time whilst they are shopping rather than having to type in the product name.