Amanda Higgs
Portfolio
About Me I am originally from San Diego and moved to San Francisco for school as well as to experience life in the city of San Francisco. Since I moved up here I have gained countless new perspectives and learned a number of great things about design. I have acquired some knowledge of the product design world, specifically how graphics and product can come to together to create something truly stunning. I have always been a team player and love working in that kind of atmosphere, but I can also be an independant worker that self motivates. In these past few years I have expanded my verbal and written skills to the point where I can few comfortable in new surroundings. I have always been a hard worker and very dedicated to each project to make sure that they are done by their deadline and at the best possible quality. I am very eager to continue exploring the world of design and expand my knowledge with it!
Table of Contents
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30
Spect Exhibit
The Soup Company
Reductive Series
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56
Chalk Stencils
Book Design
Relief App
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
Spect Exhibit Spect is an exhibition that showcases student work from the Design and Industry department at San Francisco State University. We design the logo, build the floor plan, curate all the students work and create all the marketing materials such as posters, postcards, brochure, digital ads and t-shirts. We had a small team of seven people that executed the entire show in a four month period of time and helped break it all down in the end. Solution We came up with spect as the title because it is apart of a lot of words that we wanted our show to cover. We focused on these ten words: Aspect, Inspect, Respect, Prospect, Spectrum, Spectacle, Introspect, Conspectus, Retrospect and Perspective. These words represent the qualities we wanted to showcase throughout all of the student projects.
Spect Exhibit
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Research
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
Katalyst Transcend Conspectus Amalgam Spect Introspect Chrysalis Kascade
Spectrum Metamorphosis Morph Perspective Flow Retrospect Spect Translucent
Name When it came to picking a name for the show we wanted something unique that would make people question what it meant. That lead to names like Amalgam and Chrysalis, but when someone noticed that spect was apart of a lot of words on the board, we all started to see a lot of fun directions we could take it in. Research Originally, we started off with the blocky look that had different weights. Then we were playing with the idea of have letters, created with the prefixes and suffixes of spect words, scrambled up around it. Another approach we were thinking of doing involved a more mixed media theme. We weren’t sure what kind of materials we would use but we experimented with different textures such as metal, wood and glass. Spect Exhibit
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Logo Iterations After we chose the name of the exhibit we had to come up with a logo. We went through many fonts and designs to find something that would express the simplistic theme we were going for. We did consider putting mixed media elements into the logo at first, but later decided to build upon the simplistic look and feel. We knew we wanted to incorporate the prefixes and suffixes in somehow so we needed to create something that would lend itself to that later on.
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
spec t spect
spect spect
Final Design This top iteration is what our overall logo ended up being. We liked the elegance of the black and white as well as how elegant the font is. We added the lines in front and back so that we could add suffixes and prefixes using the main words we associated with spect. We went through multiple versions to test how long to have the lines. There is one with no lines, short lines and long lines. We settled for half way in between so there was enough room for prefixes and suffixes
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Branding Font We chose to use Avenir cause it was modern and classy. The font family offered a lot of variety that we could use for the suffixes and prefixes as well. With this font it worked well with the overall theme we had going.
Color We considered doing color for a second but we all like the simplicity and elegance that is white and black. The black was bold and pulled your eyes away from all the white walls. The white was a good complementary color that added to the simplistic look.
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Ave n i r Bl a ck ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? @ # $ % ^ & *
CMYK 0, 0, 0, 100
CMYK 0, 0, 0, 0
Project
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introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect susp pective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective p ive spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrosp rum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective introspective perspective retrospectiv inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectr spect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ spect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect ect introspectiveintrospective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect pros introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect susp spective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective ive spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective introspective persp spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospec inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectr spect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ prospect aspect suspect introspective introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ spect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect spect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspec perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspec spective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective ive spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrosp rum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle sp cumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspectiveintrospective perspective retrospective spectacle spectr spect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ spect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect spect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspec introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect susp spective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective spective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective r spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective specta insp ion circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle 15 Project spectrum respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumsp
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect susp pective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective p ive spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrosp rum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective introspective perspective retrospectiv inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectr spect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ spect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect ect introspectiveintrospective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect pros introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect susp spective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective ive spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective introspective persp spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospec inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectr spect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ prospect aspect suspect introspective introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ spect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect spect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspec perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspec spective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective ive spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrosp rum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle sp cumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspectiveintrospective perspective retrospective spectacle spectr spect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circ spect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect spect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspec introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect susp spective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective spective spectacle spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective r spectrum inspection circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective specta ion circumspect respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum insp respect prospect aspect suspect introspective perspective retrospective spectacle spectrum inspection circumsp
Amanda Higgs Portfolio
Project
Amanda Higgs Portfolio
The Soup Company The Soup Company was a project focused on re-imagining an existing logo and improving the design before rebranding the company. I was focused on embracing the atmosphere and culture of San Francisco to design something that appealed to a more fresh and healthy approach. Solution I chose to use brighter colors as well as a new font that created a more modern look and feel to it. I tried to keep some aspects similar by incorporating the spoon into the design but did it in a more simple and clean way.
The Soup Company
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Research
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Filling
Savory
San Francisco Organic Easy Soup Quaint
Hearty Quick
Simple Warm
I wanted to create a more healthy and playful look to the new logo. I played around with the idea of having an object mixed in with the words similar to The Veggie Patch logo and the Mango Salsa logo. I also looked at intriguing ways of incorporating a spoon and bowl. Then during the ideation stage I would write down words that I wanted associated with my logo for inspiration.
The Soup Company
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Sketches
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The top logo was inspired by my research which was similar to The Veggie Patch. I liked the direction of the top logo so I continued on with it while making small adjustments. Although I did like the bottom right version because it was more of the big kitchen and family style aspect.
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Iterations Final Design In the end I went with a more modern font that still encompassed the healthy style I was attempting to brand it as. The font is modern but still has a playfulness to it with the bright colors and illustrated spoon. I thought this logo would refresh the Soup Companies restaurants and be able to pull more of the San Francisco community in.
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Branding
D K M an g o S m o oth i e
Font This font looks modern but also has a playful mood to it. I also liked the clean and fresh feel to it.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? @
Pantone 130U
Pantone 115U
Pantone Neutral BlackU
Color I chose these colors because they have a warm and homey feel to them. This would pull families in and make people feel more comfortable. I also liked that the color orange has been known to cause our mouths to water making us want to eat.
The Soup Company
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Project
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
Reductive Series This Reductive assignment was meant to take an everyday object and assign an unrelated word to it in order to create a narrative. This was shot with an app called Adobe Shape which vectorized the image and imported it into illustrator. Solution The words and colors I chose are meant to create a calming effect that connects with my narrative. My story was focused on the feeling you have at the end of the day.
Reductive Series
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Research
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TWIST S
TWIST
I liked the idea of turning a reductive poster into a series similar to the top left example. I wanted to tell a story with these images and using multiple images would help express it more smoothly. I considered using my object multiple times in order to create dimension but in the end I liked the clean sleek look of it on its own. Adobe Shape App By using the app Adobe Shape we were able to play with the lighting and position of our objects. I chose a corkscrew because I liked all the intricate shapes it could create as well as playing with the positive and negative shape between the object.
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Iterations Final Design After many revisions and some refinement this is the final design. I cleaned up the corkscrew as well as settled on this font, which creates a sophisticated element to it. I started off with brighter colors but then transitioned into more muted tones. The brighter colors didn’t really match the mood of the object. The cracked looked also made it seem messy, which was not what I wanted associated with this object.
Un
w ind
U
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N WIND
Branding Font Since my object is more adult related, I wanted something that would appeal to the classier side. It needed to be sophisticated and refined in order to fuse well with my object. This font made it possible and blended in well with my object.
John Hancock CP ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? # $ % ^ & *
CMYK 60, 14, 11, 84
CMYK 55, 6, 100, 25
CMYK 33, 0, 85, 0
CMYK 18, 1, 44, 0
Color These colors are more calm and relaxing which represent the words I associated with it. Not only does it work with the overall theme but assists the words in creating a serene atmosphere.
Reductive Series
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Project
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Chalk Stencils My team was in charge of creating the art, executing the stencil production and prototyping, including testing the different surfaces, materials, and procedures. No one in our class had experience in creating a stencil so we were researching and creating a guide along the way that could be used in the future by other students. Solution We used a laser cutter with chipboard to cut our design out and later spray chalk over it onto sidewalks. In this process we learned how to create the file for the laser cutter, the settings for the laser cutter as well as which materials worked best for our project. Then we were also in charge of executing the spraying of the chalk spray. We quickly learned a few tricks that would assist with a clear and crisp image in the end.
Chalk Stencils
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Research
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In the Next Room Laser cutting In this stencil we focused on trying to capture as much detail in the woman as we could while still meeting the requirements for the laser cutter. We worked a lot on the letters to make sure that they could be legible when sprayed with the chalk. That required tweaking the leading, kerning as well as connecting the counters. Chalk Spray We experimented a lot with the chalk spray, which lead us to create a specific process for others to learn from. When too much chalk is sprayed it starts to spread. We also learned that after spraying one thing, that it needs to be covered before spraying another things or you get a line like in the far bottom left picture.
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Sofa Sin Casa Laser cutting This stencil was a lot harder on the laser cutter because it was so detailed. The laser cutter could handle a lot of the small parts but this design required it to be on for a longer time so it started loosing some of its power towards the end. This meant we would have to run it twice to make sure the laser was cutting through all the way. Chalk Spray For this spraying process, we focused on capturing the little details such as the bricks and windows. We wanted to also try it on gravel instead of cement to see if we could have the black of the gravel replace the black spray chalk. We discovered that the texture was too much and distorted the image, like in the bottom middle image.
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Shifting Perspectives Laser cutter This stencil required the most steps because we wanted to have the dancer overlapping the words, which required another color. We also tested out a thinner font to see if it would come out cleanly. To our surprise it did and was especially clear, but we learned after a few uses the thinner type would get clogged making it unusable. Spray Chalk This stencil required three colors: one as the background color, one for the words and one for the dancer. Although this meant another step, we all thought it created more movement. We discovered early on that the guy had to be the darkest color so he was the highlight and not the shadow, as you can see in the bottom left image.
Chalk Stencils
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Book Design How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer is a book that interviews multiple designers as well as displays some of there works. We picked one designer that inspired us and mixed our style with theirs to recreate a new book. Solution I focused on Carin Goldberg for my designer. I liked her use of shapes and colors as well as how simple her designs were but still conveyed a message. I played with the shapes and symbols to create an appealing book layout with contemporary styling.
Book Design
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Research
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
Carin Goldberg Carin Goldberg used many random things in this poster but the color helped connect it together. This is some of Carin Goldberg’s work that I took inspiration from. I used random shapes that worked together and linked them with colors. I liked the shapes and simplicity of it all.
Book Design
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Sketches
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Branding Helvetica
Bodoni
ABCDEFGHIJKLMN N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmno abcdefghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz pqrstuvwxyz ABCDEFGHIJKLM
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? @ # $ % ^ & *
0123456789 !?@#$%^&*
Garamond ABCDEFGHIJKLMN OPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdef ghijklmno pqrstuvwxyz 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? @ # $ % ^ & *
Font I wanted to have an elegant font that connected well with the illustration style. Bodoni was stylish and fit in well with the mood of my book. Helvetica works well with Bodoni as a secondary font.
Color Carin Goldberg used similar colors in a poster before and it was bold and striking. I wanted to have a similar effect but to also add a more fashionable impression.
CMYK 18, 92, 93, 8
CMYK 1, 64, 84, 0
CMYK 9, 12, 18, 0
Book Design
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Project
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Relief App Problem Statement Anxiety Disorders effect more than forty million people. Of those people, 66% of them do not seek treatment for the fear of being too reliant on medication. Solution I spent time researching, brainstorming, prototyping and building the structure of my app. During the researching process I executed multiple interviews, analyzed numerous responses and created different personas. During the ideation stage I was able to come up with a number of solutions before concluding that a self help app was the best solution for my problem. Then I began prototyping and building the structure for the app.
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Research Symptoms Feelings of stress and apprehension
1/3
Only of those suffering from an anxiety disorder receive treatment.
Irritability Trouble concentrating Fearfulness Sweating and dizziness Shortness of breath Irregular heartbeat Muscle pain and tension Headaches Frequent upset stomach or diarrhea
Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illnesses affecting children and adults. An estimated 40 million American adults suffer from anxiety disorders. Only about 1/3 of those suffering from an anxiety disorder receive treatment, even though the disorders are highly treatable.
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Anxiety disorders develop from a complex set of risk factors including:
genetics, brain chemistry, personality and life events.
it is more important “ toOften manage your emotional
reaction to stress than to try to change the stressful situation, which may not be fully under your control.
”
—Lisa Smith
Director of BU’s Center for Anxiety & Related Disorders and a College of Arts
& Sciences Clinical Associate Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences
80% 75% say they frequently or sometimes experience daily stress
Forty million
U.S. adults suffer from an anxiety disorder
36%
of people with social anxiety disorder report experiencing symptoms for 10 or more years before seeking help.
of them experience their first episode of anxiety by age 22
Relief App
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Key Insights • All anxiety disorders share similar symptoms • Anxiety disorders and depression are usually linked together and it is very rare to have one without the other. • Medicine seems to help them all but doctors believe psychotherapy is the best. • “I think behavior training works better than medication. Exposure Therapy is also a good way of limiting the impact of anxiety on their lives.” (Hagan) • Something turns on in their brain that creates a psychological change and shrieks danger. • The brain is layered oldest part is at the bottom part, which governs how you breathe and walk, middle brain is more emotional/hunger/ sleep etc. and the highest part of brain is more of thinking, organization and planning. Anxiety operates at the lower sections of the brain. • Medication isn’t very effective because it can be addictive and cause high relapse rates in anxiety attacks.
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
• There is no way to get an anxiety disorder to go away but you can adapt qualities that help. • “My meds keep me happy but if I miss it one time then it makes me really sad. They also make me more talkative, approachable and overall more confident.” (Interviewee 2) • “The medicine has mellowed me out a lot and the small things don’t get to me as easily now. I have had withdraws and it usually makes my anxiety worse than before I started taking the medicine.” (Interviewee 3) • “Often it is more important to manage your emotional reaction to stress than to try to change the stressful situation, which may not be fully under your control.” (Smith)
Design Drivers
Relieve Help relieve the daily stress of anxiety.
Acknowledge Inform people of the symptoms and encourage them to seek help if they are experiencing problems with it.
Inform Give them an understanding of what is happening in their body and what specific exercises and remedies can assist with it.
Resources Create easy resources for anxiety ridden people to access in any environment and that will alleviate their symptoms quicker.
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Inspiration
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Sketches
Relief App
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Audio Player
4-7-8 breath
Structure
Equal Breathing
Audio Player
Abdominal Breathing
Breathing
Audio Player
Progressive Relaxation
Audio Player
Alternative Nostril Breathing
Audio Player
Guided Visualization
Audio Player
Skull Shining Breath
Audio Player
Login
Home Page
Sign Up
Passion Flower Ashwagandha Siberian Ginseng Hawthorne Kava Valerian Root Chamomile Tea
Teas
Peppermint Tea Lemon Balm Tea Green Tea
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Accuppressure
PC 6
Audio Player
HT 7
Audio Player
K1
Audio Player
Ears
Audio Player
Profile Fish Pose
Audio Player
Standing Forward bend
Yoga
Audio Player
Child’s Pose
Audio Player
Corpse Pose
Audio Player
Half Moon Pose Tree Pose Leg Up the Wall Eagle Pose
Audio Player Audio Player
Menu
Account
Password
Support Notifications Sound
Audio Player Audio Player
Relief App
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Wireframes Menu
= Icon = Image Bold = Soft Key
Company
Breathing Exercises
Company
4 - 7 - 8 Breath
Choose an Icon
Logo
Accupressure
Name E-mail
Username Password Password Login Don’t have an account? Sign Up
Company
Equal Breathing
Yoga
Birthday Sign Up
Teas
1. Sit with your back straight and your hands resting
Company
Company
Company
Abdominal Breathing
Accupressure
PC 6
PC - 6
1. Begin with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of
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Amanda Higgs Portfolio
1. Begin with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of
Calms your mind Relaxes you Regulates your heart beat
Company
HT7
Company
Company
Company
K1
Yoga
Fish Pose
Eagle Pose Calms your mind Relaxes you Also for insomnia,
Calms your mind Relaxes you Regulates your heart beat
1. Begin with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of
Company
Company
Eagle Pose
Child’s Pose
Company
Company
Account Name Name
To set a new password, please enter
E-mail@email.com
Link to browser
Password ********
Password
Birthday 00/00/00
Forgot your password?
Support Sound On
Sound Calms your mind Relaxes you Also for insomnia,
1. Begin with the breath. To start, inhale for a count of
Relief App
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Branding Font I wanted a font that was easy to read and had multiple weights. This font seems friendly but also had an alluring quality to it that would appeal to a more modern taste.
Colors I started to look into color psychology to see which colors would be more open and inviting to users. In the beginning, I focused on calming tones but was concerned about having colors that were too common for calm and tranquility apps. After looking into the meanings of the colors I was able to narrow it down to beige, green, orange, turquoise and red. These colors had the calming effect that I was looking for but there was also a couple deeper tones that made it more sophisticated and called the users to action.
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Neutraface Text Book ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxy !@#$%^&*?
Neutraface Text Demi ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXY abcdefghijklm nopqrstuvwxy !@#$%^&*?
C:11 M:11 Y:14 K:0
C:21 M:0 Y:100 K:17
C:0 M:35 Y:85 K:0
C:62 M:13 Y:43 K:0
C:26 M:85 Y:57 K:10
Beige
Green
Orange
Turquoise
Red
Dependable but also flexible Neutral, calm and relaxing.
Benefits mind and body Calming effect Tranquility and calmness Emotional safety
Represents success Represents encouragement Represents stimulation
Calmness and Peace Emotional Balance Focuses on ones own needs, thoughts and feelings
Represents an action that is sophisticated Thoughtful action
Project
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Final Design