571 3.1 CSAware App

PROJECT 3.1: MOBILE APP ICON Graduate Studio 571: SIGNS & Symbology Spring 2013 | Whitley R. Kemble

Contents CSAware App 4 Research 6 Matrix 8 Sketches 10 Iterations 12 Semi-Final(s) 14 Refinements 16 Final Experiments 18 Final & Icon in Use 20

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CSAware CSAware is a Santa Cruz-based service that provides software for managing the administrative tasks of running a consumer supported agriculture (CSA) program. It is a subset of Local Harvest, a website that helps connect shoppers with CSA grocers and retailers.

At this time, CSAware and Local Harvest operate independently, and currently neither has a mobile application. This opens up an opportunity.

CONCEPT My concept for this project was to create an application that would connect shoppers, CSA grocers, and local growers socially. The app would allow users to list their businesses, recommend or “like� grocers and farmers, and form groups much like Facebook.

Group pages, for example, might be a way grocers can show which farmers have produce at their stores, what produce is in season at the store, or even share event or recipe information.

This, I believe, would help foster a greater sense of community while incorporating aspects and connecting users of Local Harvest and the existing CSAware services.

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IMAGES This app would represent two related companies, so cues were taken from both. The websites and logos shared a lot of the same color and concepts, which made blending them easier.

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RESEARCH Bringing these sites together was tricky, but it seemed like a logical next step. Conceptually they represented both sides of the CSA exchange between farmers, grocers, and the community.

Because this would be a social app, as well as a practical app, I felt it was important to look at simple shapes and objects with bright but simple colors. The carrot seemed a very logical choice, as it appeared on both sites, but the concept of a radish was also something that intrigued me in this process.

IMAGES

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This mind map informed some of the research at right. I looked more closely at produce and onsite iconography for this app.

Photo from CSAWare.com

Photo from CSAWare.com

Photo from CSAWare.com

Photo from CSAWare.com

Photo from CSAWare.com

Photo from LocalHarvest.org

Personal photo taken at HyVee

Personal photo taken at HyVee

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MATRIX During this phase of the project, it became clear to me how complicated the concept for this app was. It was social, entrepreneurial, agricultural, etc. This made generating attributes easy. Coming up with different solutions was not a problem.

Although some worked better than others, I felt that there were a lot of really good representations of what the CSAware would offer. I was especially fond of the abstract symbols in which the plants themselves became people. This, to me, signified growth, growing together as a community, sustainability, togetherness, and the grassroots nature of how a lot of these groups begin.

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IMAGES

IMAGES

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For this project, we were asked to create a matrix with attributes along one axis and design principles along the other.

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SKETCHES

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REFINEMENTS As you can see here, I did a lot of experiments with different vegetables and people.

Some, like the radishes shown here, were a little too abstract. The people part of the concept was really important, so unfortunately these had to be ruled out. The cabbage iteration was also very nice, but it seemed to lack representation of exchange.

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ITERATIONS The farmer-customer relationship was a strong image for this symbol. Although it ruled out the CSA grocers, it seemed to signify a more direct relationship between shoppers and farmers, which is integral CSA. Reference to the social aspect were incorporated subtly in the foliage of the vegetables.

Some work better than others, but the double meaning lent itself nicley to the concept.

IMAGES Many of these iterations were given more depth. The colors were difficult to establish. Notice how the pants and the body parts are lost against certain backgrounds.

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SEMI-FINAL Although the background still presented major problems with this iteration, there were several factors that made this a strong symbol. The movement of the farmer toward the consumer, for example.

There were still a lot of experiments to be done with color. Although some of these seem clsoer to what was needed, I didn’t feel any of tesehad the pizazz necessary to stand out as an app icon.

IMAGES Though some of these backgrounds are nice, they wouldn’t necessarily hold up in a smaller size. More experimentation was necessary.x

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FINAL EXPERIMENTS

IMAGES Different color combinations were tested for contrast and clarity.

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FINAL I chose this as my final symbol for several reasons. Firstly, I like that the blue background is representative of the sky, but also that it is a bright and friendly color. It presents a nice contrast against the blues here, too, which was a definite plus. The carrot here changed, too.

The form was simplified by removing the extrusions. The “holes� were taken out of the carrot greenery, and the figures were enlarged to help fill the frame.

IMAGES

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Changing the background and foliage colors gave this symbol greater contrast. These colors are also brighter and more inviting.

ArtGrA

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