“Tag is a virtual graffiti app which encourages users to explore and create in their city.”
In a pairs, we began by brainstorming ideas for apps/devices which we believed could make navigating an area more fun. We believed that having both an app and a device that worked in combination with one another would be the best option as it would allow for more versatility in our idea and more creative possibilities.
We eventually settled on the idea of an app which would focus on people who wanted to produce accessible art in their local area. Taking inspiration from the mural underneath the Tay Road Bridge, we decided to go with an app which would allow people to create digital graffiti in their local area. After the recent success of apps like ‘Pokémon GO’ we liked the idea of using ‘augmented reality’ to accomplish this.
Research
We believed that the idea of people creating their own graffiti would be a great incentive for people to explore their local area, and to interact with the people and community around about them.
We conducted some research into the history of graffiti, as well as recent examples of modern graffiti. In our research we discovered that the first graffiti artworks were referred to as ‘Tags’or ‘Tagging’, we liked the idea of people leaving their ‘tags’ all over the city and this is what influenced the naming of our app.
We initially wanted people to draw their graffiti into the virtual spaces using their phones as the spray can, but we quickly realised how difficult that would be in practice. So instead we have a part of our app which allows user to draw their graffiti on their phone/tablet and then paste in into the virtual space with the help of a phone attachment. We had the idea of using an attachment which would resemble the head of a spray paint can. This device is what would allow users to paste their graffiti into the virtual space, like a real graffiti artist. The can would even rattle and shake like a real spray can when activated.
In addition to the creative side of our app we wanted to put an emphasis on the navigation/social side of it. We wanted to give people an incentive to go out and explore their local area and believed that different graffiti hubs around the city would be a great way to do it. Users could use the app to view popular graffiti in their area on their device and hopefully be encouraged to go see the artwork for themselves in the actual space. To accomplish this, we created an explore tab in out app. This tab would show the location of the most popular artworks and artists in the area without showing the graffiti itself.
One of the main features in the app is the ‘Hub map’. This is where you can view all of the nearby ‘Graffiti hubs’ / ‘Virtual spaces’ that you can travel to. The app also allows for Waypoint to be placed on these hubs to help with navigation and travelling to them. Users can also see the location of their previous graffiti, and keep track of things such as likes/upvotes.
Users can create profiles and follow other users/artists. Following a user enables you to see their recent activity, so that you can go view their graffiti wherever it is around the city. The more popular an artist is the longer their work stays in the ‘Graffiti hubs’, which will attract more people to the area. As well as help popularise lesser used hubs.
The part of the app is where users create their own graffiti works and paste them into the virtual spaces for others to view. Each virtual space is refreshed every 24 hours, meaning there is new graffiti uploaded daily. Graffiti can also be made collaborative, which allows others who travel to the virtual space to add to your artwork.
Graffiti can also be ‘liked’ and ‘upvoted’. A large quantity of ‘likes/upvotes’ means that your creation could be featured on the ‘explore page’, encouraging more people to come and view your graffiti. The more ‘upvotes’ the graffiti receives, the longer it stays in the virtual space. By viewing other graffiti in the ‘Graffiti Hub’ you are able to view the artists profile and see where they have been previously.
Reflection
In reflection, I believe we managed to capture the essence of what the design brief had asked of us. Our app provided a fun new way of exploring a city, as well as getting to know some of the people who live there. It also provided users a more ‘creative’ incentive to go out and visit an area they weren’t previously familiar with. If I could re-visit our idea I think we could have also provided users with a different and more interesting means of reaching locations instead of just relying on a basic map and Waypoint.