ARTS & ARCHITECTURE
UI/UX
Arts & Architecture Application
Duration / 4 Weeks
Role / Brain Storming & Ideation
Tools / Adobe Illustrator, Aftereffects; Prototyping: Figma.
Immerse yourself in the world of modernist architecture with our revolutionary iPad application. Rediscover the iconic Arts and Architecture magazine, meticulously curated for a seamless digital experience. Explore the legendary Case Study Houses, bridging the past and present effortlessly. Say goodbye to heavy books and embrace a research and navigation tool that empowers your passion for art, architecture, and travel. Unleash the potential of modernity with interactive features, dynamic visuals, and a distinctive identity that redefines exploration. Elevate your appreciation of modernist history with our Arts and Architecture iPad app, where the past and future converge.
Art & Architecture
Art & Architecture application pitch film which encapsulates the essence of the features and the big idea of the application!
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH
Arts and Architecture, an American design and architecture magazine, was initially published and edited by John Entenza. It holds a noteworthy place in LA’s cultural history and the growth of West Coast modernism. The magazine’s backing of the Case Study House program also gained considerable recognition.
Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture. It was a program where a lot of major architects were commissioned to design and build modern and affordable houses. The goal of this program was to provide the average American with opportunity to access affordable and simple-designed and easily duplicated houses as an effort to tackle postwar housing shortage. The program ended up becoming so successful some open houses got hundreds of thousands of visitors who come tour even before the clients took up residence. Today, approximately 20 of the 36 experimental prototypes for these houses still exist.
As part of our research process, we analyzed the content of the magazine A&A, which is an informative publication covering a broad range of art and architecture topics. It covers everything from music to essays to furniture design, and even includes advertisements for the latest building materials of the time.
As the initial step in reimagining this magazine as an iPad app, we meticulously curated and organized the most relevant information into a comprehensive content list.
User Persona
Objective: Danny has a long-standing passion for Art & Architecture Magazines, which he initially discovered during his college years. These magazines were a source of inspiration for Danny, and he became a modernist historian. Now, after gaining more experience, he wants to dive deeper into the Case Study Houses and explore how they have changed over the years. He is interested in comparing the past and present, and observing how the same architecture and craftsmanship have stood the test of time.
Scenario: Danny is an avid traveler, but carrying books is a cumbersome task. He desires an iPad app that can act as both a research and navigation tool. Specifically, he is interested in the Case Study Houses, and he wants to visit the public ones after conducting in-depth and easily accessible research about them. He is searching for an app that can provide him with the ability to access both the past and present, allowing him to be in both worlds at once.
The arts and architecture website was put together by David Travers. On the website, users can get access to all issues of the magazine from 1945 through 1967, look at the magazine spreads in PDF format.
Taschen also produced their version of The Case Study Houses book, where readers can learn about case study houses program in depth with various beautiful sketches and photographs.
By comprehending the existing CSH program and A&A magazine, we aspire to create an iPad app that surpasses the versatility of any book or PDF. Our objective is to provide modernist architecture enthusiasts with an immersive experience of “flipping through” Arts & Architecture while discovering more about the iconic Case Study Houses that revolutionized aspirational living.
Though the A&A website is a valuable resource, we acknowledge the limitations of PDFs in terms of user experience and aim to overcome these shortcomings with our own innovative approach to information organization. By incorporating interactive features and the inherent flexibility of digital devices, our app will outshine any book that offers the same level of information. For instance, if you’re reading about House B and wish to revisit the sketches of House A but can’t recall the page number, our iPad app will shine in such moments.
Graphic Strategy
Since this is a design magazine, we really wanted this app to have its own identity system. Something that reflects the aesthetic of the magazine but translates well in a digital environment.
Graphic Strategy
Images are stacked and animated
Graphic Strategy
We started off vertical and then switched to horizontal to emphasize upon the images.
Art & Architecture
We created an Art & Architecture application pitch film which encapsulates the essence of the features and the big idea of the app!
Art & Architecture Final Application (Figma film)
AA Flight Path Diagram
