*FOR SOME, IT'S*
BEAUTIFUL ART.

PROJECT FOCUS

RESEARCH // USER EXPERIENCE // VISUAL DESIGN // PROTOTYPING

wheel
TIMEFRAME
‍
Research // 3 weeks
Visual Design // 2 weeks
ROLE
‍
Research
System Design
Interaction Design
Visual Design
Motion Design
TOOLS
‍
Figma
After Effects
Premiere Pro
Photoshop
MENTOR
‍
Matthew Beebe

Overview

✹ Skip to THE JUCY PART✹
An image-based social media platform that helps people discover and learn about street art. Through the app, people can search and get details about a specific artwork on a wall or learn about the artist.

It also serves as a platform for graffiti artists to get recognition from the community, to share their work and the behind the scenes of the process.

OVERVIEW

I designed a an image-based social media network platform that helps people discover and learn about street art. Through the app, people can search and get details about a specific artwork on a wall or learn about the artist behind the artwork.

It also serves as a platform for graffiti artists to get recognition from the community, to share their work and the behind the scenes of the process.

Challenges

The brief of the class was to choose a domain that we are passionate about. The constraint was to incorporate a list component.

Street art and graffiti play a huge role in my life. My experience being a street artist and being part of the community was not an easy one. A major issue was the number of graffiti artist are increasing but only a limited number of artists get recognition.

‍Therefore, I as a member of society and street art lover, wanted to deep dive into my past and find a leverage point to support artists on the street.

Why

‍When people think of graffiti, they tend to associate it with 'vandalism'. What often gets missed is the person and purpose behind a piece. This project is for both sides, artists and audiences.

The ultimate objective of the project is to understand the perspectives that our society has towards these artists.

APPROACH

To better understand the culture of street art, and artists, I started by conducting research with the following goals:‍‍
◆ Understand the history of street art
◆ Discover the role art plays in the community
◆ Determine purpose of graffiti
◆ Explore the impact of graffiti on the public
◆ Understand the experiences people have around street art
◆ Discover goals, needs, motivations & frustrations of potential users

process

01/ EMPATHIZE

02/ DEFINE

03/ IDEATE

04/ PROTOTYPE

05/ REFLECTION

01 / EMPATHIZE

generative Research

In order to understand where it started, why it became a controversial topic, and gain more insights on society’s perspective of street art, I decided to start with historical and contextual research. Additionally, I conducted a word association activity with potential users, asking them about their feelings towards graffiti.‍

Where is it from?

Graffiti and street art share a colorful and complex history.

Art on walls started with cavemen and nowadays is created for many reasons. It can be for fun, for art, a form of expression or for no reason except the urge to provoke.

Have you heard of Neolithic cave paintings? Or Kilroy, who popped up in and WW2? What about Blek Le Rat and Basquiat? This got me thinking about the purpose behind these movements.


* disclaimer *


But first, I swear an oath before
we begin with this project.

action involving deliberate
destruction of or damage to public
or private property is Vandalism.


*
‍
On the
other hand.
‍

*


*



‍
‍
‍
90%
‍

It is a common misperception that most graffiti is done by gangs,
when, in fact, gangs are responsible for less than 10% of graffiti.
(HOUSTONTX.GOV)




‍
‍

*

Research
Synthesis

Source : How Does Graffiti Help The Community? - Brittney
What is the purpose of graffiti?
In terms of cultural significance, graffiti and street art are unique in their individualistic nature, in how they beautify and enhance public space, and in how they portray a well- defined cultural trend with a message by highlighting a specific subculture.
Key insights:

◆ One of the most popular forms of street art in our time is the use of physicality to make a point using what is known to the viewer. Street art represents a kind of hybrid artistic expression of our life in a modern world.

◆ Graffiti has been used as a powerful tool for communicating social and environmental issues because it is a raw and honest way to express.

◆ In addition to telling stories, graffiti can also be used to depict moments where everything went wrong or well, to project views about people, politics, culture, art, and places in general, to express oneself anonymously, or to create another artistic expression.
How Does Street Art Benefit A Community?
It is a form of art that cultivates a sense of belonging to a community by setting it apart from others and drawing people. In addition to expressing values, artwork helps visitors and members of the community feel more at home.
Key insight:

◆ Globally, street artists have transformed the drabness of urban areas into compelling representations of local identity through the use of street art. Regardless of what the intent is, street art aims to highlight community characteristics that would otherwise be hidden from view.

02 / Define

*How might we promote graffiti artists and change community's perspective towards them?

Hypothetical
Persona

I created a hypothetical persona to gain a basis for who I would conduct user interviews with.I created a hypothetical persona to gain a basis for who I would conduct user interviews with.
The Explorer
Goals:
‍
◆ To walk on the street and taking pictures of street art
◆ Discover new artists in different country
◆ To post photos of street art on social media
Pains:
‍
◆ Difficult to find artist names or information about the work
◆ Hard to discover new artists
◆ Using Google Maps to find street art
The Art Student
Goals:
‍
◆ Have a style of graffiti
◆ Get a commission by the city to paint
◆ Get recognized by people globally
Pains:
‍
◆ Difficult to find opportunities
◆ Difficult to differentiate from other artists
◆ Difficult to build a network and collaborate with other artists

User
Interview

I developed a hypothetical persona to gain a basis for who I would conduct user interviews with. In order to learn about the real experiences people have had while seeing arts on the street, I prepared a quick activity to run with participants who matched the persona. I asked them to write down all the words that came to their mind when they hear the words street art & graffiti.

Mainly, I focused on asking open-ended questions to learn as much as possible about and individual's perspective and their experiences & relationship with street art.


*
‍
“The majority of graffiti artists
were self-taught on the street.”

- By The Art Career Project Staff on July 09, 2021
‍

*

KEY INSIGHTS




* Discover & explore *"I couldn't find the name of the artist..."

‍

KEY INSIGHTS



* Relationship & Share *"I want to know what the artist's intention is with a piece..."


"I wanted to follow the artist on Instagram..."
‍

‍

KEY INSIGHTS


‍
* community & SUPPORT *"I was so excited to show this mural to my friends..."


"This piece livened up our neighborhood..."
‍

USER
INTERVIEW KEY INSIGHTS*

01/
Discover & explore
"I couldn't find the name of the artist..."




A common frustration was being unable to learn more about a mural that people saw on the street.
02/
Relationship & Share
"I wanted to follow the artist on Instagram..."

"I want to know what the artist's intention is with a piece..."

Art helps build deeper connections with people, and people build connections with street artists through art.
03/
community & SUPPORT
"This piece livened up our neighborhood..."

"I was so excited to show this mural to my friends..."

The reality is people want to support local artists.

User
Persona

I created a user persona that concisely represented who I am designing for and helped me to understand the use cases.

Hypothetical
Persona

Now I had a better understanding of society’s perspective on Street Art & Graffiti. I wanted to start exploring and identifying our potential target users. By creating a hypothetical persona, I was able to quickly start empathizing with Graffiti artists and People who love graffiti culture (like me) and gain a basis for who I would conduct user interviews with to validate this information.
The Explorer
(24 - 35yrs)
Goals:
‍
◆ To walk on the street and taking pictures
of street art
◆ Discover new artists in different country
◆ To post photos of street art on social media
Pains:
‍
◆ Difficult to find artist names or information about the work
◆ Hard to discover new artists
◆ Using Google Maps to find street art
The Art Student
(22-28 yrs)
Goals:
‍
◆ Have a style of graffiti
◆ Get a commission by the city to paint
◆ Get recognized by people globally
Pains:
‍
◆ Difficult to find opportunities
◆ Difficult to differentiate from other artists
◆ Difficult to build a network and collaborate with other artists

KEY INSIGHTS*

Through this activity, I found that many people had their own, unique experiences with Street Art/Graffiti art.

I was able to synthesize all of the findings and uncover these key insights.
01/
Discover
People shared that it is hard to find out more about the artist. It was also difficult to find artist/art work closest to them or even in another country.
02/
Connections / Share
Art helps build deeper connections with people, and people build connections with street artists through art.
03/
Opportunity / Reality
When they start to look at them as an artist, People are curious about how they maintain their lives. The reality is people want to support local artists.

Define
Solutions

Now I had a clarity on who I was designing for. I was then able to use the insights and goals that I gained from research to guide the main problems that I am trying to solve for.

I used those insights and needs to create POV statements to better understand the problem from the user’s perspectives and then created HMW questions to come up with possible solutions.
I NSIGHT
N EEDS
P OV
H MW
01/
People are curious about who painted and the message behind the work when they see a mural or artwork on the street
To be able to discover by scanning the art work using their camera
Julia wants to know the artist because she wants to tag their work on social media.
How might we use technology to enhance the experience?
02/
People want to discover new artists all over the world and explore different movements that are happening
To be able to explore different street art in different ways (location, color, name...)
Julia needs to be able to find new artists because her kindergarten is looking for artists who can paint the facade of the building
How might we empower graffiti artists and increase their potential?
03/
People want to know more about the artist and love to see their journey
To be able to see the process of the work
Julia wants to find more information about an artist she saw on the street when she travelled to Japan
How might we build a community around graffiti artists?

POV
STATEMENTS

In order to develop a deeper understanding of the persona, I created a POV statements that helped me define more considerations for the solution.

KEY FEATURES*

01/
XXX
XXX
02/
XXX
XXX
03/
XXX
XXX

03 / I deation

Information
Architecture

Based on my research, I defined my value proposition and outlined the different features to define the scope of this project. I created an information architecture that gave clarity to the user flow.

Wireframes

I created a lot of iterations for the different screens of the app. The wireframes helped me make informed decisions on how to structure these screens to achieve our ultimate goals.

04 / P ROTOTYPE


*
‍
We introduce our
final screens.

‍
*

SPIN TO EXPLORE

*BROWSE THROUGH ARTISTS

The main screen of the app allows users to discover street artists. The list can be filtered alphabetically, by location, and even by color.

The interactive wheel of artworks creates curiosity, excitement and encourages users to explore the world of street art. By laying out the pieces in this way as opposed to a traditional grid, there is no hierarchy amongst the work.
* SPIN TO EXPLORE
INTERFACE EXPLORATION

SCAN TO DISCOVER

*IMAGE RECOGNITION FOR CONVENIENCE

Through image recognition technology, the app makes it extremely easy for user's to explore at their own pace.

By scanning a mural, they can immediately learn more about the artwork and the artist behind it.
* SCAN TO DISCOVER
INTERFACE EXPLORATION

STREET
is your gallery

*EXPLORE AN ARTIST'S PIECES

This mobile experience is inspired by the act of visiting exhibitions, not the specific works of exhibitions.

It is important to have digital experiences that can mimic our real world. The feeling of scrolling through the pieces will make you feel as if you are in a gallery.
* STREET IS YOUR GALLERY
INTERFACE EXPLORATION
Behind the Scene
Learn more about artist's message behind the work
Explore By City
Travel to other side of the world
Filter to Find Your Taste
Sort all the artist by Distance, Name and Color.
Artist Profile Screen
Know more deeper about their journey

05 / Reflection

VISION 1

FOCUS ON THE ARTISTS

This solution was mainly focused on the perspective of the community. For the future, I would like to develop the flows for artist contribution and focus on different ways of promoting them in the community.

VISION 2

TESTING & FEEDBACK

To be successful, I need to focus more on primary research and get more insights from the community. Also, user testing with the community and engineers will be valuable in order to develop the screens further.

VISION 3

CREATORS & COMMUNITY

Through this project, I realized how important supporting creators and building community is to me. I couldn't just sit and watch all these talented artists stop making art because they don't have a platform to shine. I plan to keep pushing myself to build and create an safe and free environment for all creatives.

TAKEAWAY 1

SIMPLE ANSWER

Even the simplest answer could unexpectedly turn into a complex problem. While exploring buttons and searching tools every solution seemed to be simple. Not every solution has to always be creative. An effective and efficient solution must not only bring clear values to the users but also be intuitive.

TAKEAWAY 2

TALK TO THE EXPERTS

There are no such a thing as a dumb question. However when I meet a professional, I refine my questions. For this project, I had an opportunity to talk to developer. As a designer, I had to understand what is implementable and what the technical constraints are. It was a great opportunity to see a different perspective.

TAKEAWAY 3

LEARN THROUGH PROCESS

Putting on another's shoe is the key to find user's needs. From this project I got to think about developer's perspective. While designing I had a chance to research and check if all my designs are reasonable and implementable. This helped me have a great conversation with the developer and enabled me to quickly find a leverage point.

☜ CCAD PROMO

PLAY YOUR MOOD ☞

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LAST UPDATED
08. 20. 2024

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