My next brief is based on one of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. I must select one of the 17 SDGs and design a branded app/website etc, geared towards a 10 year old audience or undergraduates. It requires a style guide/visual grammar to accompany the design. It will be fully prototyped in figma.
The SDG I have chosen is number 14, Life below Water.
It aims to Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.
Before diving in (I’m hilarious) I did some in-depth(nothing but bangers today) research into my chosen SDG. I looked at the impact of humanity on oceans, what the main goals are for 2030, how close we are to achieving them, and how we can make an impact. It was useful to get an idea of where abouts we currently are in terms of ocean conservation. This allows me to include up-to-date information in my app. I like to think educating kids will make an impact to the ocean, even on a tiny scale.
The brief says that I can either target this project towards children of about 10, or undergrad students. I am definitely going the child route, as I believe that educating children about these issues at an early age makes them more likely to contribute to fixing these problems as they get older. As well as this, I think it would be interesting as I have never designed for this demographic. My projects so far have been for a young adult user base, like my bank brand.
Designing for 10 year olds will be a nice opportunity to use fun illustrations and theming to appeal to children, without making it too babyish or simple. It also means I could add a sort of gamification aspect to it, as well as information. Maybe some ocean themed minigames or a score system to keep them engaged.
My first thought when considering a design was to make an app for kids that resembled an aquarium touch tank. I actually got some inspiration from a kids game I remember playing as a child. In the mini game you would find certain animals in the touch tank and the game would give you some information about each of them.
Screenshots from Animal Jam minigame
I would like similar elements in my app, but with more of an emphasis on information. And with a very different interface and visual design. Mine will be on a bigger scale, and hopefully include more species. This gave me a good idea of where to start. I think for my app I will let the user explore different parts of the ocean and tell them a bit about the habitat and creatures that live there. I brainstormed the kind of things I could include in the app and narrowed it down til I felt it could work as a game. Here’s what I am going to sketch:
Features I want to include