Projections
What is Projections?
A website and simulator with the function of sparking inspiration for those who may experience a creative block.
My Role–
UX/UI, Web Design
Team–
Jalyn Metra-Lopez, Cyndia Zhou, Cang Le
Tools–
Figma
Skills–
Iterative Design, Competitive Analysis, Wireframes, Prototypes
CONTEXT.
The Problem–
The problem is that we don't know the problem! Having a creative block hinders artists and designers from generating meaningful content. The issue is that the problem remains unidentified. There is no real research done on having a creative block and no peer reviewed research on it. It is possible this is because research methods and techniques are not quite advanced enough and because the traditional view to psychology may be hindering the research approach.. For the sake of this design/project, the brain is treated more as a black box versus distributed cognition. This creative block hits people differently– diverse problems require diverse solutions. That being said, presenting creatives with novel suggestions and inspiration may help!
Inspiration-
Similarly to writers combating writers block, those in the creative space often experience a creative block. It can be quite a frustrating feeling when you have the urge to create something, but you don't know what. This setback stunts the creative process and delays the creator of their final product.
Black box: The behaviorist perspective that the brain/mind is a "black box". That is– we know the inputs and outputs but not the inner workings.
Distributed Cognition: The approach where external stimuli and insights of the social and material world. affect and influence the inner workings of the brain.
USER RESEARCH.
Research Papers-
Existing Generators-
Competitive Analysis-
Competitor A is artprompts.org.
This site is framed for artists and has a couple features. It allows for a selection of eight different categories or prompts and it has a refresh button. It also has challenge option links to other sites that host art related challenges. However, although there is a "contribute your prompt ideas" option, there really is no other options for personalization for user input. Additionally, other limitations on this site is that there is no history feature and that its limited to single category selection.
Competitor B is artres.xyz.
This site is more complex than Competitor A and has a couple more features: an idea generator, a color generator, and a reference generator. The idea generator is strictly text based and includes a clipboard option to save "favorite ideas". The color generator only generates nine colors with rotated hues. And lastly, the reference generator, produces mood boards of different images pulled from Unsplash and they are separated by about 10 different categories. The limits to artres.xyz include the fact that the generators live on separate pages. That being said they require extra clicks to access. In addition, there is no option for use input. Given that both Competitor A and B are specifically made for artists, the sites themselves are ironically not very aesthetically inviting and are rather plain.
Competitor C is coolors.co.
Coolors.co is a great resource for generating color palettes. Their landing page is rather bright and energetic because the user is immediately presented with many different color palettes. This site gives the user the option to browse already existing palettes as well as the ability to create their own. The color generator is defaulted to five shades but is adjustable. It allows for manipulation for an individual color and ability to lock colors. This site also allows the user the option to create an account and have their own library of saved palettes. Although coolors.co is inviting and allows for many options, it is limited to only color generating.
DESIGN PROCESS.
Sketch Ideations–
Features–
Generator that presents tangible ideas and concepts
01.
Ability to customize which allows users to add their own ideas
02.
Discover page that shares trending and curated posts
03.
Ability to add works to design community
04.
Wireframes–
Lo-Fi Prototypes–
Hi-Fi Prototypes–
REFLECTION.
What I Learned–
Trusting the Vision!
In many of the other teams I have been on, I typically gravitated towards assuming a position of lead. However, my experience in with this team was quite different and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My teammate, Cyndia, had the idea of designing something to combat the creative block and making some sort of generator. The rest of us loved the idea and happily let her take the reins. She was clear in what she wanted and I loved helping her vision come to life! As I was accustomed to taking lead in other projects, through this project, I learned to to trust my fellow teammates and also how to understand someone else's ideas and deliver.
Thanks for reading =)