Flat-lay Experimentation

For this part of my experimentation, I will be working with Adobe XD, a new software to me. Due to this, I will be watching tutorials first to get my bearings with the app before I begin experimentation with flat lay plans. From my basic understanding, so far it has become apparent to me that I will need to create my work in a different software such as Illustrator or Photoshop and bring the work in, much like the use of InDesign.

I am finding the software a struggle the currently, getting used to the features and different appearance of tools which could be found anywhere within XD,  the one pro to using Adobe XD so far is the fact that the screen size option is very quick and useful to use, allowing Adobe to moderate the app size is far better and time efficient than creating the new document yourself, I am also finding it very frustrating that the program seems to assume what you as a user would like; for example; It will often zoom in and out whenever it pleases which can be very distruptive when focusing on other work on the page, this alone is one of the reasons I have decided to work with InDesign for the prototype of the app and Adobe XD later on for the interactive aspects. I have yet to complete a piece of layout experimentation in Adobe XD due to the level of frustration I am facing, I am finding myself have less a belief in what I can create with Snapthat.

Moving to Adobe Indesign was the most move for me, from choosing a different software I have been far more productive in creating a flat lay plan that I work from. Indesign 2018 has the same screen sizing feature of XD and so it made my progression even better, here is a basic concept for my design;

As you can see, my design is very simplistic. I would like to add more interactive features such as the 'swipe up' arrow to directly move up, I think that this will be a strong detail to add to capture users in. Another issue I will struggle with is adding in the access of a phone's camera through Adobe XD and something that I will need to research into and may just had to leave as an example image if my skill level does not reach which is being offered as a suggestion. Finally, I would like to add in social media sharing links, in the 'Buy it' section of the app, I believe that in doing this some may choose to find the styles they like and share them, in doing this a strong word of mouth success can work for Snapthat really well in order to promote. Adding in the hand-drawn social media prompts really added to the social media aspect of the app, it made the branding of the app look consistent together; Overall, I am happy with the progress I have made from making the choice to change software to planning a flatlay idea of how my app will progress, I think that my app will take a very similar form to this, however small tweaks will be added to make it look professional. I will continue this progression in my production phase.