To start, I’d like to give you some background information (from a design perspective). We had an idea, we called it Tappr, and I just started creating.
In the beginning, we had a limited amount of time and didn’t have anything to go off of. I didn’t have a mood board or color palette, and I probably didn’t pick the best font. Because honestly, I just wasn’t sure. It’s been months since that first round of designs and we have gotten an outstanding amount of visual feedback.
Now I am able to tell what is and isn’t working visually. I look at design as a learning process that will be forever changing. No design is perfect and never 100% completed.
We are now in the middle of a redesign — a much more stable design. It goes off of a mood board, theme and color palette. There is still only a limited amount of time to complete this redesign, and where that time is spent determines how beautiful our product will be. It’s crucial for designers to set priorities and follow through on them. Considering the first round was web-only, I chose to spend most of the time on research/mood rather than creating plain-Jane wireframes. Mobile will be a different story.
This redesign has to be focused mainly on communication. We want to communicate how Tappr will benefit the customer and/or bar owner. It was a challenge to pull imagery through to the desktop design, because the only screenshots available were from the old application (and the new design is a complete 180 from what's already out there). As designers, we are prone to tell stories through pictures. But in reality, a website is almost all text-based. Once our redesign is underway, we will able to pull more imagery to create a more complete design.
Since we want to highlight the message of Tappr, there has to be an immense importance on typography. And by typography, I’m talking about details a non-designer wouldn’t even know exist. They don’t know because they don’t realize that they are there ... but it’s what makes typography so beautiful and intriguing (if it’s done right). It grabs the attention of the user to make them want to learn more. We need to give air to the text to reduce stress level, making it easier to focus. Who likes a website that is crammed full of stuff? I wanted the website to communicate, and if it communicates poorly what’s the point of it even existing?
One thing I find most intriguing in the world we call “design” is that designers have the ability to change how people think, how they act, and even how they make decisions. Generally speaking, people draw their attention to visual things. Why do you think beauty is so popular in our culture? As humans, we are prone to one thing vs. another because “it looks better” or “it’s prettier." And that's where designers come in — they create that “pretty” image and attach it to something physical. Then it’s up to the viewer to take any information they want from it.
In my eyes, the redesign is only 65% complete. Even designers don’t know what they want all the time. Knowing that, it’s pretty hard to communicate to your team why you placed items where, size proportions, etc. There’s still a lot more to create but as I do, I am constantly learning ... which is OK with me!
GO DESIGN
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