App Development, Pages 2, 3 and 4

November 30, 2015December 1, 2015 Francesca Hannah Veal Development, Experiments, Project Two, Reflection App Development, Infographic, Layout, Project Two, Timeline

After creating my homepage for my app, I used the example of somebody searching for Albert Einstein. One they search the name they will be directed to
his page which will feature a large drawn image of the figure on the left side of the screen, and a short piece of text down the right explaining why this figure is so historic. I have kept the layout and colours of the screen the same as the homepage to keep the brand of the app continuous, sticking to the house colours of stone, maroon and black.

On Einstein’s page it gives the user two option; to view a timeline of Einstein’s life, or view some of his most famous quotes. I then created the pages to these two links to show what they would look like.

For my timeline I used an infographic to get across the information. Returning to the brief set and Einstein’s theory, I used his notion of ‘light travels faster than sound’ by focusing the timeline around a comet in space. Again this image has a ‘drawn’ effect which will be evident throughout my app and already seen on the homepage and on Einstein’s homepage. The comet represents Einstein’s life with his birth at the top and death at the bottom. I am considering adding small images next too each date to represent the event being stated however I want to work on my online desktop and A2 print first.

My final app page is the link from Einstein’s home page about his most famous quotes. I created another infographic here; Because he was famously know for his attitudes towards science, religion and peace, I used a large hollow peace symbol and filled the icon with his most famous quotes. As the user clicks on a particular one, more information will appear below regarding that quote.

I thought this would be a unique way to display information that looks visually more appealing than if it was all written out.

Research into Timeline Infographics

November 26, 2015December 1, 2015 Francesca Hannah Veal Project Two, Research ideas development, Project Two, Research

After browsing round the internet I gathered a portion of what was hundreds of infographic timelines of Albert Einstein’s life.

A large amount of them were very text-heavy, something I want to steer away from as less text with an image is more effective then a paragraph.

I wanted to relate my timeline to Einstein’s theory of relativity so thought again about his work. His revelation of ‘light travels faster than sound’ got me thinking about space, light and sound. From this little brainstorm, I developed the idea of my timeline being centred around a dash of light from space (a comet, shooting star, fire ball etc) and the top of the light will be his birth and the bottom being his death, with major events in his life going down the light source.

App Development

November 25, 2015 Francesca Hannah Veal Development, Project Two, Reflection App Pages, development, ideas, Project Two, reflection

I started by creating the ‘home page’ for my app. I used the apps on my own phone for inspiration and imitated the layout. I created the signal circles, digital clock and battery along the top to make the app look more realistic for a mobile.

The title “History Figures” is written in ‘Charlemagne Std Bold’ as the spikey serifs with the clean lines looks like a late twentieth century font which links to the historical factor of the app.

My choice in colours, stone, maroon and black, I feel connote an ‘old, history’ appeal, effective most when minimally used.

The cartoon characters of Pocahontas, Issac Newton and Cleopatra add an appealing factor for a possible younger audience. I got this idea from watching the children’s TV show ‘Horrible Histories’.

After feedback and advise on what to fill my homepage with, I have decided to fill the middle with pictures of historical landmarks which, when the app is functioning, will automatically fade into another random picture on a cycle of roughly 20 pictures. Below are three prototypes of what they would look like;

Proposed Idea for Project Two

November 25, 2015 Francesca Hannah Veal Development, Experiments, Project Two ideas development, plans, Project Two

After finally defeating my blank mind, I have an idea!

For this project I will be creating an informative website, which will also have an app, and an advertisement poster for the website. The website will be called “Historic Figures” and will hold information about famous figures from our past including a gallery of images, timeline of their lives, facts and figures about them, and a short bibliography about them. The website allows the audience to have their own “page” where they can bookmark figures and create a scrapbook of information they want to remember. There will be discussion boards so users can chat to other users and they will also be able to share links via Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social media’s.

Linking back to Albert Einstein’s theory….

The pages of the apps I will be focusing on will be Einstein; a page with an overview of why he is so historic, a page with a timeline of his life (as an infographic), and a page of his famous quotes (also as an infographic) which when you hover over them with your curser it will reveal more information relating to that particular quote.

App and Website Research

November 25, 2015December 7, 2015 Francesca Hannah Veal Project Two, Research App and Website, ideas development, Project Two, Research

Whilst slowly developing my ideas for my website and app, I found an example of an app and website which incorporates a history element, something I was interested in doing.

The site appears to be very modern, using metallic colours of silver and blue to represent this. The structure and layout is one in which I hope mine will look as professional as, and I will try to do this by using features from this. (such as, a banner across the top, the main section being a mock-up one side and text the other, an image banner with text inside.)

The layout of the app looks very easy to access and manoeuvre around, and using a font for the text that looks from the 19th century which fits in well with the objectives and aims of this app. The colours again are metallic and bland, and I hopefully want to avoid this by using a more vibrant colour but still representing the theme of my app.