For The Record

For The Record

2021
booklet and mobile app Prototype
Typography II
Print, UI/UX, Identity

For The Record explores brand identity through a typographic guide booklet and its respective introductory mobile app prototype. The booklet hones in on record stores, expressly independently-owned record stores of Los Angeles County. The app, tailored to music lovers and collectors, goes a step further: I flesh out an online social space wherein users may buy and sell music paraphernalia, including but not limited to vinyls, CDs, and cassettes, as well as discover local music-related events.

A series of smart phones laid out on a flat surface. The phones display various screens of the "For The Record" mobile app prototype.

Booklet

In this guide booklet, deemed a “passion guide,” I delve into my hobby of collecting vinyl records: I design spreads that highlight some of the best record stores in Los Angeles based on personal experience and Yelp reviews. The ensuing pages feature a table of contents, quote callouts, select record stores*, and a comprehensive map graphic, all of which adhere to a custom grid and demonstrate thorough explorations of type, image, and hierarchy. Displayed below are some of my initial cover and spread iterations.​

*The descriptive articles for the highlighted record stores were retrieved from the stores’ respective websites: facebook.com/therecordparlour, cosmicvinyl.com, and fingerprintsmusic.com.

mobile app

“Welcome to your personalized record store” reads the inaugural message of For The Record, a mobile app contrived from the ideas collected in my guide booklet. This app combines the music database and marketplace functions of Discogs with the user interconnectivity of social media apps like Instagram or Depop, both of which are largely or entirely based around shopping. For The Record discerns itself from Discogs through its customizable user profiles, local event listings*, user-centered landing page, and refreshing design aesthetic. Additionally, For The Record does not exchange function for an overabundance of features; it is a marketplace first, and a social space second.​

*The “We’re Open” article on the event pop-up screen was retrieved from amoeba.com.

Systems

In order to evince a retro-esque aesthetic, I study vintage record covers (from the 1930s–90s) and discover common color themes and font styles among many of the designs. Accordingly, the primary colors that define my booklet are orange, yellow, and pink, while the dark green and turquoise are secondary colors applied solely to a quote callout spread. The display fonts, selected from the Rama Gothic E and C font families, afford my design its bold, “vintage” aesthetic, while Futura PT brings my design out of the past and into a contemporary setting.

The app, on the other hand, adheres to a tricolor palette comprised of white, black, and orange. The telltale, vibrant orange sampled from my guide booklet distinguishes my app from other similar shopping and social media platforms, none of which utilize orange color schemes. It is important to note that the dark screens use an off-black and an off-white in order to soften screen contrast and ultimately mitigate eye strain.

final application

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