JustRef
Project goal: Design a reference photo app that can serve as a companion to artists throughout their entire creative process.
Role: UX Designer, UX Researcher
Duration: 6 Weeks
Team: Just me :)
Tools: Figma, FigJam
The Problem
Artists can’t stand finding references, but can’t live without them
References are essential to art. They serve as a guiding force for artists when painting and drawing. References are used by professional and hobby artists alike. Photo references are a go-to for many because they are accessible, providing diverse perspectives and subject matters.
But, finding and working with references can be a tedious process. Many artists use popular photography and inspiration board apps to find their photos, but these interfaces are not built with an artist’s workflow in mind. Existing solutions contain repetitive and dubiously sourced photos. They lack the tools to work with images in-app, resulting in artists adding to their workflow.
Artists want an art reference app that allows them to discover reference photos and seamlessly work with them during their creative process
Understanding My Users
To better grasp the frustrations artists have when finding and using reference images, I explored spaces where artists naturally discuss their workflows and pain points.
For this project, I took an ethnographic approach to conducting user research, as being an artist myself, I was already embedded in artist spaces. I spent hours browsing and analyzing conversations on art subreddits such as r/ArtFundamentals, and r/ArtistLounge. I also reflected on my own experience as an artist, and observed the workflows of other artists that I know in real life.
Insights & Recommendations
Insight
Artists feel slowed down and overloaded by searching for references
Many artists online expressed frustration regarding finding references while browsing their go-to apps. Ads and repetitive photos can make finding unique references difficult. In watching friends draw and search for references, I observed that they would prefer to work with unique images of a similar category, rather than images that looked identical.
Recommendation
Searching for references should be minimalist and rely more on general categorical relations rather than exact image similarities when recommending images
Insight
Artists utilize references in diverse ways, and often utilize many tools to support their process
Artists use references throughout every stage of their process, beyond collecting images and currating collections. For example, a common exercise practiced by artists is timed gesture drawing. The practice requires photos to change on a set interval. For these kinds of uses, artists turn to outside tools and additional steps to actually utilize the references they find.
Recommendation
Searching for and working with references should be an integrated process, requiring one app to achieve the desired output.
Early Ideation & Iterations
At this phase I started brainstorming possible features and flows for my app. To guide my choices, I broke the artists workflow into user flows and explored potential features that could support each of those phases.
Discovery and Search
Artists use references as a gateway to new ideas. They are looking for inspiration, whether it be in line with previous works they’ve created or something entirely new.
Features: Search page, tags, topic categories, suggested references, suggested collections of references, references that other artists have liked
Collecting and Saving References
Once an artist sees a reference they like, they will need a place to put it. Artists want to group references that belong to a specific project, category, or idea.
Features: Collections, nested collections
Sketching Support
When artists want to engage in a structured sketching practice, there should be a way to easily select a collection, tag, or reference and begin a sketching session.
Feature: Sketching mode with a customizable timer, ability to select collections and references mid-session
Working off of a Reference
When an artist is using a reference in a piece, they may rely on a variety of methods to ensure they are capturing the photo accurately.
Features: Focus-mode for viewing references, lightweight tools for editing references, image zooming
Some of my sketches from brainstorming
Wireframes
Visual Identity & Branding
I explored several visual directions for the app. The natural choice was to embrace the feeling and colors associated with creating art.
I wanted opening the app to feel like opening a sketchbook: customizable, focused, creative, and warm. My goal when choosing typography and brand colors was to balance being distincive without outshining the users’ creative control. I found inspiration in art studios, leather-bound sketchbooks, acrylic paints, and graphite pencils, wanting to capture the quiet yet comforting and inspiring aesthetic of art materials.
Color and Typography
The final app color scheme consists of warm, charcoal greys and blacks, bone white, butter yellow, and deep mustard yellow. Yellow stands out as a creative, cheerful color that leans more oraganic than some of the other colors I experiemented with such as blue and purple. The warm hues within the neutrals allow for a cohesive feel against the yellow accent colors.
Poppins made for a great friendly yet readable text. It has a payful tone yet remains simplistic due to its geometric nature.
Logo
The logo I created is inspired by Picasso’s Cubism period. It is an abstract face composed of the initials of JustRef. To fit with the tone of the rest of the app I wanted to keep the logo minimalist but warm. It is a simple logo artists would be able to identify as being art-related.
JustRef = Just Reference
The name JustRef came from the concept of “Just find a reference”. It is meant to convey ease, a reliable tool that is only a click away.
Final Designs
Reflection
Iteration is Key
Over the past six weeks I’ve gone back to the drawing board dozens of times. Each screen looks completely different than how I first envisioned it would. With this project I tried to remain impartial my initial ideas, and focus on refinement. As a result, my iterations improved over time.
Overthinking leads to overcomplication
At the begining I had a lot of ideas for how to streamline using references, and a lot of them were overcomplicated. This was a problem especially when I was building my collection and reference tool interfaces. I had to focus on abstracting the goal of the design from the details, and determine what was necessary in order to achieve that goal. Remembering to focus on flexibility rather than structure helped me in this area.
What Next?
The next steps for this project is experimenting with animation. While I animated many pieces of my prototype, I’d like to explore micro-interactions that I could integrate into the app and test on users.