BRANDING & UX/UI DESIGN
HOBBY HORSE
THESIS STATEMENT: This project involved the marketing, branding, and design for Hobby Horse— a learning platform that curates the journey of learning a hobby to a user’s individual interests and needs. In order to accomplish this, research was conducted into the user experience of the target market and existing online learning platforms. Design decisions in branding, user interface design, and advertising were also determined through the analysis of this research. This project resulted in the creation of a logo, brand identity design, app design, web design, and advertising design.
RESEARCH
Case Studies: Competitive Analysis
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Skillshare’s website, app, social media presence, and advertising were utilized as a case study. The online learning service is a community for creators in the areas of illustration, design, writing, business, and more. Skillshare started with in-person classes to promote a collaborative experience where creatives could be a student and/or an instructor. Skillshare transitioned online in order to become more accessible and scalable for their users. The platform is project-based and gives its students the opportunity to learn at their own pace. Research from this case study built a foundation for building a service that focuses on and is driven by its users.
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Research conducted into MasterClass’s site, app, social media, and marketing was also utilized in this project. MasterClass is an online streaming platform for video content hosted and taught by leading industry experts. Over a hundred classes are spread across nine categories ranging from business to cooking to sports. This resource not only informed design choices in this project, but also served as a study on what competing services provide their users.
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Research was conducted into the social community app Hobify. Hobify connects users with similar interests to experts in their area. Users can monetize their hobby in any of the categories: Social Work, Arts and Crafts, Lifestyle, Culture, and Sports. This research provided more insight into user interface and user experience of both interface design and hobby communities.
Surveys
Did you find it difficult to start a new hobby?
Where did you go to practice or learn?
Pain Points
Appropriate investment of time and money
Need for a more tailored learning experience
Proper/direct guidance throughout learner’s journey
Lack of accountability or support
DEFINE
User Personas
In order to further solve pain points, three personas were created to better understand potential users of Hobby Horse.
Journey Map
Showcases user’s steps and feelings throughout learning experience.Understanding this journey is important to clarify pain points and give insight into the opportunities that could be created.
How Might We…
Curate resources based on the user’s needs?
Provide an individualized learning experience?
Join together a community of hobbyists?
Offer incentives or motivation?
DELIVERABLES
Branding
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The name Hobby Horse was selected for the brand for its origin as a children’s toy horse as it relates to both hobbies and familiarity. As an alliteration, the name is not only memorable, but also unique and professional.
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The logo’s clean sans-serif typeface was chosen to establish the brand’s professionalism. The typeface, Momcake Bold, is only available in uppercase and the increased tracking emphasizes the brand’s boldness. The distinctive character of the brand is also portrayed through the dramatic crossbar heights of the “B” and “R”.
In terms of other forms of copy within Hobby Horse’s design, Open Sans was employed for its excellent legibility and contrast in web and mobile interfaces. The humanist letterforms feature wide apertures and large x-heights which makes the text legible at any scale.
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Blue: #0D05F2
White: #F5F5F5
Navy: #00003D
Purple: #817DF3
Hobby Horse’s primary color is a deep, bright blue. Not only is it memorable and associated with cleanliness or strength, but it also serves another purpose. When it comes to creative tasks, blue encourages enhanced performance and positive achievements.
To add more diversity within the color scheme, the Hobby Horse brand also includes a dark navy, white, and light purple as secondary colors. The navy reflects their professionalism, while the white acts as a neutral, supporting base. Purple is also the color of royalty, so it is fitting in this analogous theme and its connection to the brand’s icon of a horse.
Logo Design
The main logomark is a geometric representation of a knight—the horse game piece in chess. It is a more unconventional connection to hobby horses, but it ties into a more abstract, playful idea of hobbies and horses. The graphic icon may stand on its own or be paired with type.
In its variations, the icon may be positioned to the left and the type in its entirety or as a stacked composition. If the background does not allow for the logo to be blue, the logo may be presented in any of the brand colors to allow for increased contrast.
App: Thumbnails
App: High Fidelity Screens
App: Promotional Video
Multiple Device Mockup
Ad: Instagram Story
Ad: Instagram Video
CONCLUSION
The Solution
Hobby Horse was conceptualized and developed through extensive research which resulted in a platform that curates content for those seeking to learn a hobby. Since the users are the focus of the platform, those who are seeking a new passion or to rekindle their love for a hobby, can find what they need on Hobby Horse.