I was put in charge of creating a postcard for a restaurant called ” EL Mill”. For the first page of the card, I was instructed to add a Mexican/style look to it and I was also told to showcase a new burrito bar there as well. This new bar had recently been created so they wanted that to be the focal point of the front of the postcard. A 2 dollar coupon was also offered to anyone who took the card to the El Mill Restaurant.
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On the bottom of the postcard, I had to include some of the additional items that the restaurant offered. Since it is spring I also had to give the bottom of the card a spring feel which is why I added items like flowers, a rainbow, and the caption ” Hello Spring”. The restaurant also serves a signature Lavazza coffee so that was to be advertised in which I included that logo just below the middle image. Overall I like the colorfulness of the postcard and can say this was one of my favorite designs to do.
For this week, also tried out the Sol Lewitt app, which takes the user through the legacy of Sol Lewitt, a famous artist well known for his Minimalist and conceptual art. This app is unique in that it uses features such as Ai to allow the audience to have a deeper look at the creative process of LeWitt.
Home Screen Of app
Bio Section
When you open up the app, you are shown a series of icons. These include icons such wall scanning section, A “mapping Lewitt section, a work theme section, and a virtual studio tour section. Tapping on the “Artist Bio” above allows the user to read a short bio about Sol Lewitt and the influence he has left on the world of art.
In the Mapping Lewitt section, the user can find sites or areas that have scannable artworks from Lewitt, a timeline map of Lewitt and locations that he traveled, and areas where his studio is located. I went to one of his artwork sites on 59th street – Columbas Circle called Curvy and loopy lines and bands. Once you scan the artwork, you are able to explore more information about it and Lewitt’s design process behind that artwork.
Lewitt’s Work Theme Section
Virtual studio tour section
A section about Lewitt’s themes for many of his artworks is also included in the app. The section states that these themes have been used across many of Lewitt’s art mediums such as his wall drawings, paintings, structures printed books, and photographs. there is also a section that allows the user to virtually be in a 3d room using VR technology. The user can turn around 360 degrees in a room and tap on the icon they see to learn more about that object in Lewitt’s studio.
In my opinion, the Sol Lewitt is a great app to learn more about the artist himself and the type of art pieces he made throughout his life. Th use of virtual reality is also a plus and a good way for users to interact with and have a small feel of how it was for Lewitt as an artist and his work process.
For app week, I recently downloaded the Ted talk app on my iPad so that I can review it. This app allows you to view thousands of informative and inspiring videos and also gives you the ability to watch videos on topics of your interest. The user is able to do all of this for free.
The first thing that you have to do when opening the app, is to pick something of your interest, the app gives you a list of categories such as Health, Design, or Science. After that, it also goes even more specific by asking what you are looking for, that list includes “a new perspective”, “A sense of hope” or “ideas for self-improvement. After that, you are asked to sign in or up with any google or apple account that you use.
Home Page
Watching a video
After signing in, the user is sent to the home menu of the Ted app, there you will see a complication of videos based on what you have chosen as your interest previously. The first video you see in this section is the biggest and is a recommended video. Once you swipe all the way down, you will see a “surprise me!” which once tapped, chooses a random video that you can watch.
When you tap on any video of your interest in the home section, you have four buttons right below the video. One is a like button, the second one allows you to add that specific video to a list, so you can always go back and watch it, the third icon is a share button and the last icon allow you to download the video directly to your device.
Podcast Section
Below to the right of the home icon is a headphone icon. This section is composed of the podcast. These podcasts allow you to listen to discussions of your interest on the go. Most of the podcast has multiple episodes and the app allows you to listen to them while you are off the app, meaning you can do other things on your device while listening to the podcast.
Search Section
To the right of that Headphone, the section is a search section. The user can choose from the already mentioned series of topics and can also choose the language they want the video to be in. There are quite a few languages you are able to choose from. Lastly, you are able to choose the duration of the video.
Personalization/Settings Section
The last section allows has features such as your listed and liked the video, the history of the video you view and downloaded along with your settings. In the settings, you can turn on and off light mode, and change features such as autoplay, video resolution, change notification settings, and many other options.
Personally, I like the look and feel of the app. The design is very simple and easy for anyone to understand. The fact that all of these videos and podcasts are also free is a plus for the user.
