This city guide will extend from the Disclosure series. Taking inspiration from travel guides, this variation places its focus on informing artists and creatives of resources within a chosen region versus introducing food, scenic attractions, hotels and so forth.
Disclosure is an editorial magazine that is a former project of mine. It dives into storytelling of creative artists of different disciplines and shares unique points-of- interest for those looking to explore new areas, find inspiration, or simply escape from reality to recollect.
Seeking to expand upon this project, I want to aid those in need of information for resources within their city.
Reviewing various stores online and in- person throughout Portland, OR allowed me to see what was available in relation to materials, tools, resources, and location.
A select from my discoveries include IPRS (Independent Publishing Resource Center), Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books, Oblation Papers, Blicks, and The Portland Darkroom.
Lonely Planet is a travel guide that was founded by a married couple, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. It originally began with a guide that spoke about things to do in Asia as a tourist within a low budget, then has later expanded in multiple directions. This demonstrated the possibilities of expansion with my product and where it could exist.
Guidebooks
• 60+ Countries
• Pocket Guides
Art and Inspiration
• Epic Bike Rides
• Food & Drink Trails
• Honeymoon
Language
• Audio Phrasebooks
• Physical Phrasebooks
Kids Travel Books
• Stickers & Mazes
• Brain Teasers
User experience is a grand concern for mobile design and utilizing decluttering techniques would align with my brand elements.
Editor-in-chief of UX Planet, Nick Babich stated that it’s okay not to get your app right on the fist attempt.
The primary goals of this aspect is to inform and guide users to physical locations utilizing visual location elements.
Creating a web presence was another direction that Lonely Planet took. Pulling inspiration from this, I wanted to consider the idea of expanding in a direction of creating a mobile companion.
This would allow the product to be accessible to a wide population due to the nature of mobile devices being nearly an essential to the modern day person.
With this in mind, I took a look at mobile design practices.
Taking a look at preexisting travel guides from print to digital, I was able to assess differences and what I found successful with each and how they could steer my project.
The physical guides I looked at outside of Lonely Planet were from Cereal and the Zinester’s Guide to Portland. As for digital, there were a variety, but the ones that had most of my attention were Kinfolk’s and On The Grid’s
Cereal
• Favors Imagery
• Utilizes White Space
• Less Condensed
Zinester’s Guide to Portland
• Favors Text
• Includes Illustrations
• Congested
On The Grid
• Populated By Approved Contributors
• Utilizes Color, But Has No Meaning
• Categories Are Distinguishable By Icons
Kinfolk
• Difficult To Navigate Through Categories
• Utilizes White Space
• Discerning and Consistent Imagery Edits
Within Portland, OR exists a high volume of spaces for resources, so where do you begin?
Throughout the city, there are five main quadrants (or quintants). Each of these quadrants have their own history and hold variations of personalities. They are divided by relative location to the Willamette River – Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, and North Portland (also known as NoPo).
• Bold
• Power
• Mature
• Modest
• Purity
• Cozy
Colors are strong supporting assets for design, but are meaningless without tone or personality. A single color could indicate different meanings depending on the feel or character. This is due to personal experiences and contexts that we associate the ideas with.
I decided to pursue a color scheme revolving around neutrals that share the connotation of sophistication, mystery, and comfort.
Printed City Guide
With a tangible product you begin to develop more of a personal connection than you would with something that exists in digital space – And with this book, you will be able to personalize it, brand it with your touch, and feel ownership as it is in your possession vs opening an app or website. With the collected information that I have gathered, I seek to compile it into this format to make it accessible, shareable, and easy to take along during travels for discoveries.
Mobile App
Although there is a certain quality of a book that will never be comparable to using an app on a phone or reading from a screen, it can’t be denied that having less physical objects to worry about is more convenient. The mobile app will allow users to easily navigate to specific content with a few presses and focus more so on a digital map that could utilize geolocation and user input to customize what is visible tailored to the users wants.
