The global pandemic has shut down a number of traditions, including Sacramento State's annual Spring Show. The Spring Show is an opportunity for graduating students in the Design Department (Graphic Design, Interior Architecture and Photography) to showcase their final projects and celebrate their hard work. The event takes place in the Sac State Ballroom, allowing for a large number of visitors, such as friends and family, to see the work that has been created. Not only is the Spring Show a culmination of years of work for these students, but it is also a chance for potential employers to find new hires.
However, COVID-19 has taken away that opportunity. For instance, 2020's Spring Show was moved to an online format, but there is room for improvement for 2021. By taking proper COVID safety precautions, such as wearing masks and social distancing, people may be able to attend the show in the Axis Gallery, located in downtown Sacramento. It is also imperative to take student work and visitors into consideration when fitting all of it into a small art gallery.
The goal of this UX case study is to create a memorable and engaging experience for those attending the show. In order to achieve this, we will create an app that uses augmented reality to allow users to easily navigate the gallery and experience a large amount of student work — all while allowing users to be safe inside the gallery.
Our initial branding concepts involved shapes that imply motion, more specifically, triangles and arrows. Arrows are an obvious representation of movement, and could also double as wayfinding and social distancing markers. We also took animation and augmented reality into consideration for branding. In terms of color, we initially looked at tri-color variations to make the branding simple. We wanted to create a distinguishable mark that didn't take away from the students' work. We were generally inspired by gradients and spring colors. More specifically, colors that represent warmth and "looking on the brightside."
Engaging, Community, Celebratory
nouns: laughter, friendships, finale, party, togetherness, ceremony, victory, excitement, society,
adjectives: immersive, augmented, virtual, cheerful, jovial, rewarding, festive, triumphant, jubilant
verbs: showcase, complete, design, create, anticipate, interact, tour, change
Source: http://www.impossiblethings.co/project/reblink/
ReBlink takes a modern approach to getting people engaged at an art showing. It brings new technology to older pieces of art. It's gives attendees a chance to experience art they may have seen before or just heard about in a new way. The technology is also very accessible because it works on most smart phones, something most attendees will already own. By changing the art in radical ways, it also encourages the user to become more engaged with the original piece, looking to see what was changed.
Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/106995609/AR-in-bookshop
In contrast to ReBlink, this Bookshop concept uses AR in a more informational and functional way. The project introduces the idea of viewing book and author information after scanning the book on your phone. It also gives you the option to purchase and view reviews.
This concept heavily influenced features of our app in this project — we wanted our the AR on our app to be more than just visual. More specifically, we borrowed this idea and reintroduced it when it came to viewing a student's portfolio.
Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/92240433/Forum-Internacional-de-Gaia-2019
The Gaia International Forum takes dynamic branding and utilizes it in both physical and virtual formats. Every physical composition could be scanned with their app, including, billboards, fliers, and shirts.
The branding for The Gaia International Forum also heavily influenced the physical deliverables of this project. We loved the concept of having distinctive and dynamic branding for this project that didn't distract the audience from the students' work.