Week 9 (Apr 11 - Apr 15)

Colors Speak Louder than Words

Hello blog viewers,

Do you know why Japanese train platforms have a blue light installed at their end? I was surprised to learn that it's sole purpose is to prevent people from jumping in front of oncoming trains, and thereby reduce the suicide epidemic in Japan!  

While researching for my project, I was fascinated to learn that color is one of the most powerful tools in the world. Color impacts our psychological state of mind, our perception, our creativity and our cognitive skills. Every color inflicts a different effect on our moods and emotional responses.   

Blue is the most popular color around us, whether in the skies, national flags, our old comfortable jeans or in the icon-world. Its symbolism is complex and paradoxical. While 'feeling blue' implies depression or sadness, the color also evokes feelings of calmness and serenity, and is associated with freedom, imagination and confidence. I've therefore decided that blue will be the perfect background color for my app design.

This week was both challenging and fun, as I had an opportunity to learn a few new skills. I spent some time learning Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. These are sophisticated and powerful tools to create professional graphics.  

Besides coding, I watched a few tutorials on how to use photoshop. Once I got the handle of using this tool, I designed a few app icons. The app icon design should portray a person experiencing a stressful event. I have come up with a few designs, and posted the best one (so far) below.

You may have also noticed that the backgrounds of app icons have different shades. For example, the official Apple weather app icon (displayed below) makes use of color gradients.  Using different shades of the same color makes the app design more dynamic. Brighter shades draw our attention, while darker shades help to create more depth and focus. I have used a similar concept of color gradients in different shades of light blue to add an illusion of depth, while maintaining a soothing appearance to the icon.

Here is Apple’s weather app icon:

Here is the draft icon I have designed so far.

I also designed these images for the stress button. Please vote for the best one (1 or 2) in the comments.

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I designed an animated background for the first 'stress' tab. When the user is stressed, they can tap the button, which then opens a page view. The series of pages will provide helpful coping tips and strategies. The animated background makes the app feel more dynamic and lively rather than a static white background.   

Next week, the last official week of the SRP, I am excited to wrap up the initial version of the app.