Alyssa Spickermann


WEATHER IMPRESSIONS



minimalistic weather app



project focus



GRAPHIC DESIGN



SKILLS

Graphic design


TOOLS

Adobe Photoshop



Weather applications provide a range of information. The pieces of information included in this project were weather, time, location, temperature, and date.


This project explored compositional balance and movement, Gestalt principles, and color harmonies to create a minimalist weather app. The screens were required to use composition elements only, and include a variety of compositional balances and movements.



BACKGROUND



design elements



balance & movement



the choice of balance and movement compositions were inspired by the weather types and motions



color harmony



the color choices are based on natural colors found in the various weather types and times



gestalt principles



the Gestalt Principles used in the designs help create the weather representations with the individual elements (points)



inspiration



Beyond the design elements, I was inspired by several artists from the Impressionism period. I used natural colors that are found in Monet's and Van Gogh's paintings, as well as the pointillism technique that Seurat is famously known for using.



DESIGN



concept sketches



initial designs



key changes



Based on design critique sessions and feedback, several changes were made to the designs. Key changes impacted the overall design, as well as three of the weather-specific screens.

  1. Overall: the city was moved right above the time, and the weather type was moved right above the temperature, using proximity to better define the information types
  2. Rainbow: the background's hue was changed to better distinguish the background and foreground, the overall shape is more arched to better resemble a rainbow
  3. Clouds: the cloud formations were moved inwards to create a better overall balance
  4. Fog: the color palette was changed to be more consistent with the entire design


final designs



REFLECTIONS



next steps



The weather app began as a graphic design project, but I'd love to extend it and create the rest of the app, focusing on the user experience. Since it is a minimalistic app, I intend for it to show the most commonly referenced information for one city. This extension would begin with a brief user research, determining what kind of information is most important to potential users.



reflection



This project taught me how to use compositional balance and movement, color harmony, and Gestalt principles to make a cohesive system of designs. The design requirement of using a variety of these techniques ensured that my screens and designing experiences were diverse. After creating these screens, I had a better understanding of some of Photoshop's tools. In the future, if I chose to continue this project, I would look into the user experience, designing and researching the user interactions.